Olancha, CA

Olancha is a tiny desert community situated along Highway 395 in California's southern Owens Valley. With just over a hundred residents, it sits right beneath the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, just south of Owens Lake. Most travelers know it as a quick highway stop on the way to Mammoth Lakes or Death Valley, famous for local date shakes and roadside jerky. For residents, it offers incredible mountain views, quiet nights, and a relaxed, self-reliant pace of life in the high desert.