It was early afternoon on day one of my “Goodbye God, I’m going to Texas” roadtrip when I turned off I-40 to check out the town of Ludlow, California. I had never been there before, so was looking forward to seeing what it had in store. It’s definitely worth a stop for anyone interested in old abandoned buildings and/or needing gas or something cold to drink. It was 2 out of 3 for me.

Ludlow came into existence in 1883, built as a water stop for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. When ore was found in the nearby hills, that created a new bit of excitement in the desert. Later, borax and other mining products from Death Valley and Beatty, Nevada made their way to town to be shipped to refiners via long distance Santa Fe Railway lines.

As the local mining and railway activity slowly faded away, the town survived by supplying travelers on the National Old Trails Road, which later became Route 66, with the things they needed. Food. Gas. Water. Shade. A place to stay the night. But after the construction of I-40 bypassed the town, Ludlow dwindled away as residents left for other places.

When I stopped by to visit, the gas station/mini mart south of I-40 was bustling. Across the street, the Ludlow Café was open and a motel a bit farther down the road also seemed to still be in business. There was life in Ludlow. But what I was interested in was what might be located east of the gas station, on the old road. So I headed off in that direction to see what I could find.

What I found was a "Road Closed" barricade across the road, no doubt in place due to the monsoon storms several weeks earlier. But someone had moved a few of them apart, so I took that to mean the road was open. I drove past the barricades, into the unknown and forbidden.