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Friday, October 09, 2026

Montgomery City, California

While not far off the highway, few have visited the ghost town of Montgomery City, California. The town is one of the earliest settlements in Mono County, yet short-lived. Stone walls of structures remain. History reveals a few gems about life and death in the town at the base of the White Mountains, including hoaxes, 6-shooters at court proceedings and a donkey knapping with “murderous intentions.”

*****

She's not lying when she says the road requires a high clearance 4WD truck. I could make it maybe a mile and a half before I had to park it and walk the rest of the way in. No way in hell was I going to bottom my truck out.
The road is so fucked up you can't even walk it without tearing up your knees and ankles - it's much easier to just parallel it on foot. Unfortunately, the sagebrush in that area is so thick you can't drive offroad without the risk of your exhaust system starting a fire, so you're walking it instead of driving.
There's nothing left of the town other some walls as shown in the article. I do recall seeing grave markers - not headstones with engraving, but slabs of stones jammed into the ground in a row. Of course that was 40 years ago, so it's possible they've been knocked over rendering them unrecognizable over the years.