Gold rush returns to California as thousands descend on tiny ghost town
A modern-day mining revival was on display at Calico California Days, a nostalgic festival celebrating frontier life at Calico Ghost Town—the famed desert settlement in San Bernardino County that once generated enormous wealth from silver.
Over the weekend, thousands of visitors stepped back into the 1850s during the two-day event, complete with pony rides, staged gunfights, textile-spinning demonstrations, train-robbery reenactments, and hands-on gold-panning activities. Competitive highlights included a rugged “Beard and Mustache” contest and a classic horseshoe-toss tournament.
The tiny “ghost town” traces its boom years to 1881, when prospectors flooded into what became a silver-mining hub in the Mojave Desert. By the 1890s, falling silver prices forced miners to abandon their claims, leaving Calico deserted.
Calico’s survival owes much to Walter Knott, who purchased and restored the site in the 1950s using historic photographs before donating it to the county as a living-history attraction linked to his nearby theme park, Knott’s Berry Farm.
Today, renewed interest from mining companies suggests Calico could see a second silver boom. Three firms sponsored this year’s festivities: Mitsubishi Cement Corporation, Apollo Silver, and Equinox Gold, which operates the Castle Mountain Mine nearby. Their backing signals serious intent to expand extraction in the district.
According to Apollo’s proposed Calico Project, the area may contain roughly 180 million ounces of silver—far exceeding the town’s original 19th-century output. Sponsorship records reviewed by SFGATE show Apollo contributed $5,000 to the event, while Equinox Gold and Mitsubishi Cement each provided $2,500.
The broader San Bernardino region spans more than 20,000 square miles and hosts about 90 active mines producing materials from sand and gravel to gypsum, salt, and iron. It is also home to the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine, operated by MP Materials, which contains one of the world’s richest rare-earth deposits and remains the only operation of its scale in the Western Hemisphere.
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