Inyo County () is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, located between the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primar ...

and the state of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

. Inyo County is on the east side of the

and southeast of

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...

in Central California. It contains the Owens River Valley; it is flanked to the west by the Sierra Nevada and to the east by the White Mountains and the Inyo Mountains. With an area of 10,192 square miles (26,397 km²), Inyo County is the second-largest county by area in California, after San Bernardino County. Almost one-half of that area is within

Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eurek ...

. However, with a population density of 1.8 people per square mile, it also has the second-lowest population density in California, after Alpine County.

History

Present-day Inyo county has been the historic homeland for thousands of years of the

Mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanes ...

Timbisha The Timbisha ("rock paint", Timbisha language: Nümü Tümpisattsi) are a Native American tribe federally recognized as the Death Valley Timbisha Shoshone Band of California. They are known as the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe and are located in so ...

Kawaiisu The Kawaiisu (pronounced: ″ka-wai-ah-soo″) are a Native Californian ethnic group in the United States who live in the Tehachapi Valley and to the north across the Tehachapi Pass in the southern Sierra Nevada, toward Lake Isabella and Walker ...

, and

Northern Paiute Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

Native Americans. The descendants of these ancestors continue to live in their traditional homelands in the Owens River Valley and in

. Inyo County was formed in 1866 out of the territory of the unorganized

Coso County Coso County was a failed attempt in California to create a county from the territory of Tulare County and parts of Mono County east of the Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Centr ...

, which had been created on April 4, 1864, from parts of Mono County and Tulare County. It acquired more territory from Mono County in 1870 and Kern County and San Bernardino County in 1872. For many years it has been commonly believed that the county derived its name from the Mono tribe's name for the mountains in its former homeland. Actually the name came to be thought of, mistakenly, as the name of the mountains to the east of the Owens Valley when the first whites there asked the local Owens Valley Paiutes for the name of the mountains to the east. They responded that that was the land of Inyo. They meant by this that those lands belonged to the Timbisha tribe headed by a man whose name was Inyo. Inyo was the name of the headman of one of the Timbisha bands at the time of contact when the first whites, the Bennett-Arcane Party of 1849, wandered, lost, into Death Valley on their expedition to the gold fields of western California. The Owens Valley whites misunderstood the reference and thought that Inyo was the name of the mountains when actually it was the name of the chief, or headman, of the tribe that had those mountains as part of their homeland. In Timbisha, ''ɨnnɨyun'' means "it's (or he's) dangerous".William Bright & John McLaughlin, "Inyo Redux", ''Names'' 48:147-150 (2000) To supply the growing

City of Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, water was diverted from the Owens River into the

Los Angeles Aqueduct The Los Angeles Aqueduct system, comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Owens Valley aqueduct) and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system, built and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The Owens Valle ...

in 1913. The Owens River Valley cultures and environments changed substantially. From the 1910s to 1930s the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power purchased much of the valley for water rights and control. In 1941 the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power extended the Los Angeles Aqueduct system farther upriver into the Mono Basin.

Natural history

Inyo County is host to a number of natural superlatives. Among them are: *

Mount Whitney Mount Whitney ( Paiute: Tumanguya; ''Too-man-i-goo-yah'') is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of . It is in East– Central California, on the boundary between California's Inyo and ...

, with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m), the highest point in the contiguous United States, the 12th highest peak in the U.S., and the 24th highest peak in North America. * Badwater Basin, in

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in Nort ...

, the lowest point in North America * Methuselah, an ancient Bristlecone pine tree and one of the oldest living trees on Earth * Owens Valley, the deepest valley on the American continents * Two mountain ranges exceeding in elevation: The

and the White Mountains * Ten of California's twelve peaks which exceed 14,000 feet (a

Fourteener In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least . The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has the most (53) of any single ...

) in elevation; the isolated

Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of , it is the second-highest peak in the Cascad ...

in northern California, and

White Mountain Peak White Mountain Peak (or simply White Mountain), at , is the highest peak in the White Mountains of California, the highest peak in Mono County, and the third highest peak in the state after Mount Whitney and Mount Williamson. It is the fo ...

in neighboring Mono County, are the only California 14ers not (at least partly) in Inyo County * The largest

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

in the United States, rising from the floor of Death Valley to the top of Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range SierraEscarpmentCA

Geography

, the highest peak in the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

, is on Inyo County's western border (with Tulare County). The Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, the lowest place in North America, is in eastern Inyo County. The difference between the two points is about . They are not visible from each other, but both can be observed from the Panamint Range on the west side of Death Valley, above the

Panamint Valley The Panamint Valley is a long basin located east of the Argus and Slate ranges, and west of the Panamint Range in the northeastern reach of the Mojave Desert, in eastern California, United States. Geography The northern end of the valley is i ...

. Thus, Inyo County has the greatest elevation difference among all of the counties and county-equivalents in the contiguous United States. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water. It is the second-largest county by area in

and the ninth-largest in the United States (excluding boroughs and census areas in Alaska).

Lakes

* Camp Lake * Cottonwood Lakes *

Diaz Lake Diaz Lake, elevation , is located in the Owens Valley, just south of Lone Pine, California, United States. It covers . History The lake was formed by the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake on Tuesday, March 26 of that year when of the Owens Valley d ...

* Dingleberry Lake * Granite Lake * Inconsolable Lake *

Loch Leven Loch Leven may refer to: ;Bodies of water in Scotland * Loch Leven (Kinross), a freshwater loch in Perth and Kinross ** Loch Leven Castle, a fortress on the loch ** William Douglas of Lochleven, later the 6th Earl of Morton * Loch Leven (Highlands ...

* Mills Lake * Pee Wee Lake * Robinson Lake * Rock Creek Lake *

Lake Sabrina Lake Sabrina is a lake created by damming the middle fork of Bishop Creek. It is located south-west of Bishop, California on California State Route 168, in the Inyo National Forest. It has a cafe as well as a dock. The dam was built in 1907� ...

* Weir Lake * Wishbone Lake

National protected areas

(part) * Inyo National Forest (part) * Manzanar National Historic Site There are 22 official

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

s in Inyo County that are part of the

National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...

. This is the second-largest number of any county, exceeded only by San Bernardino County's 35 wilderness areas. Most of these are managed solely by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's ...

, but four are integral components of Death Valley National Park or Inyo National Forest and are thus managed by either the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

or the Forest Service. Some of these wilderness areas also extend into neighboring counties. Except as noted, the wilderness areas are managed solely by the Bureau of Land Management and lie entirely within Inyo County: * Argus Range Wilderness * Coso Range Wilderness *

Darwin Falls Wilderness The Darwin Falls Wilderness is a protected area in the northern Mojave Desert adjacent to Death Valley National Park. The wilderness area was created by the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 and is managed by the Bureau of Land Managemen ...

Death Valley Wilderness Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

(part) *

Funeral Mountains Wilderness A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect ...

Golden Trout Wilderness The Golden Trout Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area in the Sierra Nevada, in Tulare County and Inyo County, California. It is located east of Porterville within Inyo National Forest and Sequoia National Forest. It is in s ...

(part) *

Ibex Wilderness An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus ''Capra''), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa ...

* Inyo Mountains Wilderness (part) * John Muir Wilderness (part) *

Malpais Mesa Wilderness Malpais may refer to: * 6370 Malpais, a main-belt asteroid * Malpais, Costa Rica * Malpais–St Michiel Important Bird Area, Curaçao See also

* Malpaís (disambiguation) {{Disambig ...

* Manly Peak Wilderness * Nopah Range Wilderness * Owens Peak Wilderness (part) * Pahrump Valley Wilderness (part) * Piper Mountain Wilderness * Resting Spring Range Wilderness * Sacatar Trail Wilderness (part) * Saddle Peak Hills Wilderness (part) * South Nopah Range Wilderness *

South Sierra Wilderness The South Sierra Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area in the Southern Sierra Nevada, in eastern California. It is located northeast of Bakersfield, and is southwest of Owens Lake and Olancha. Geography Created with the passag ...

(part) * Surprise Canyon Wilderness * Sylvania Mountains Wilderness

Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park is a mostly

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...

United States National Park east of the

mountain range in southern Inyo County and northern San Bernardino County in

, with a small extension into southwestern Nye County and extreme southern Esmeralda County in

. In addition, there is an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

( Devil's Hole) in southern Nye County. The park covers , encompassing Saline Valley, a large part of

, almost all of

, and parts of several

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...

s. National Park Index (2001–2003), p. 26 Death Valley National Monument was proclaimed in 1933, placing the area under federal protection. In 1994, the

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

was redesignated a national park, as well as being substantially expanded to include Saline and Eureka Valleys. It is the hottest and driest of the national parks in the United States. It also features the second-lowest point in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...

and the lowest point in North America at the Badwater Basin, which is below

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...

. It is home to many species of plants and animals that have adapted to this harsh

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

environment. Some examples include

Creosote Bush ''Larrea tridentata'', called creosote bush and greasewood as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and ''gobernadora'' (Spanish for "governess") in Mexico, due to its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of nearby plants. In S ...

Bighorn Sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subsp ...

Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...

, and the

Death Valley Pupfish The Death Valley pupfish (''Cyprinodon salinus''), also known as Salt Creek pupfish, is a small species of fish in the family Cyprinodontidae found only in Death Valley National Park, California, United States. There are two recognized subspecie ...

, a survivor of much wetter times. Approximately 95% of the park is designated as

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

. Death Valley National Park is visited annually by more than 770,000 visitors who come to enjoy its diverse geologic features, desert wildlife, historic sites, scenery, clear night skies, and the solitude of the extreme desert environment.

Other parks

* Alabama Hills Recreation Area * Last Chance Meadow Research Natural Area * California Bighorn Sheep Zoological Area

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

2011

Places by population, race, and income

2010 Census

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

reported that Inyo County had a population of 18,546. The racial makeup of Inyo County was 13,741 (74.1%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 109 (0.6%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 2,121 (11.4%) Native American, 243 (1.3%) Asian, 16 (0.1%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 1,676 (9.0%) from other races, and 640 (3.5%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 3,597 persons (19.4%).

2000

At the 2000

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, there were 17,945 people, 7,703 households and 4,937 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 2 per square mile (1/km²). There were 9,042 housing units at an average density of 1 per square mile (0/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 80.1%

, 0.2%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

, 10.0% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.1%

, 4.6% from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races. 12.6% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 16.4% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, 12.2%

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

, 10.6% Irish and 5.0%

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

ancestry according to Census 2000. 89.2% spoke

and 9.3% Spanish as their first language. There were 7,703 households, of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.88. 24.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways ...

was $35,006 and the median family income was $44,970. Males had a median income of $37,270 versus $25,549 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $19,639. About 9.3% of families and 12.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 16.0% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Voter registration

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

Inyo has been a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. From

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in ...

to 2016, the only Democrat to win the county (and the last to win a majority of its vote) was

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

in 1964. However, the county shifted decisively leftward in 2020, narrowly supporting Joe Biden over Donald Trump. In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislatu ...

, Inyo County is in , and . The county is in . On November 4, 2008, Inyo County voted 60.6% for Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.

Crime

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Cities by population and crime rates

County Sheriffs

*W. A. Greenly (22 Mar 1866- 7 Nov 1867) *William A. Moore (7 Nov 1867- 7 Nov 1875) *Thomas Passmore (7 Nov 1875- 10 Feb 1878)- Killed On Duty *William A. Moore (10 Feb 1878- 4 Jul 1879) - Killed On Duty *Samuel S. Gregg (4 Jul 1879- 7 Nov 1888) *Fred Charles Scott (7 Nov 1888- 7 Nov 1896) *Charles Albert Collins ( 7 Nov 1896- 7 Nov 1916) *Boone Newett (7 Nov 1916- 7 Nov 1918) *Frank Logan (7 Nov 1918- 7 Nov 1924) *Charles Albert Collins (7 Nov 1924-7 Nov 1926) *Tom Hutchinson (7 Nov 1926- 7 Nov 1934) *Emmett L. Shay (7 Nov 1934- 7 Nov 1942) *Charles P. Cline (7 Nov 1942- 7 Nov 1954) *Merrill Howard (7 Nov 1954- 7 Nov 1960) *Merrill Franklin Culbertson (7 Nov 1960- 7 Nov 1962) *Merrill L. Curtis (7 Nov 1962- 7 Nov 1970) *Floyd Barton (7 Nov 1970- 7 Nov 1982) *Floyd Tidwell (7 Nov 1982- 7 Nov 1984) *Don Dorsey (7 Nov 1984- 7 Nov 1996) *Dan Lucas ( 7 Nov 1996- 7 Nov 2006) * William R. "Bill " Lutze (7 Nov 2006- )

Education

School districts in Inyo County are: *

Big Pine Unified School District Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show presente ...

* Bishop Unified School District * Bishop Union High School District * Bishop Union Elementary School District * Death Valley Unified School District * Lone Pine Unified School District * Owens Valley Unified School District * Round Valley School District Deep Springs College is a two-year alternative education college in Deep Springs Valley. Higher education in Inyo County is provided by the Kern Community College District. With cerro coso community college campus located in Bishop CA

Notable locations

* Mushroom Rock *

* Badwater Basin *

Lake Manly Lake Manly was a pluvial lake in Death Valley, California, covering much of Death Valley with a surface area of during the so-called "Blackwelder stand". Water levels varied through its history, and the chronology is further complicated by act ...

Furnace Creek, California Furnace Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California, United States. The population was 136 at the 2020 census, up from 24 at the 2010 census. The elevation of the village is below sea level. Furnace Creek holds the reco ...

(Hottest air temperature ever recorded here in 1913 at . In July 1972, a ground temperature of was measured in Furnace Creek. This may be the highest natural ground surface temperature ever recorded.)

Transportation

In the 1920s, automobile clubs and nearby towns started to lobby for trans-Sierra highways over

Piute Pass Piute Pass is a mountain pass along the crest of the Sierra Nevada, between Inyo and Fresno Counties in the John Muir Wilderness area of California. The pass is traversed by the Piute Pass Trail, linking the John Muir Trail to the west with ...

and other locations. However, by end of the 1920s, the Forest Service and the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who b ...

decided that roadless wilderness in the Sierra was valuable, and fought the proposal. The Piute Pass proposal faded out by the early 1930s, with the Forest Service proposing a route over Minaret Summit in 1933. The Minaret Summit route was lobbied against by California's Governor

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

in 1972. The expansion of the

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologis ...

and Ansel Adams Wildernesses in the 1980s sealed off the Minaret Summit route. A trans-Sierra route between Porterville and Lone Pine was proposed by local businessmen in 1923. Eventually, a circuitous route across the Sierra was built across the only trans-Sierra route south of Yosemite: Sherman Pass by 1976. That route is Forest Route 22S05 to the west, and Kennedy Meadow Road ( County Route J41) and 9-Mile Canyon Road to the east.

Major highways

U.S. Route 6 * US 395 (1961 cutout)

U.S. Route 395 U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a U.S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia. The northern terminus is at the Canada–US border near Laurier, where the road ...

State Route 127 * California 136

State Route 136 * California 168

State Route 168 * California 178

State Route 178 * California 190

State Route 190

Public transportation

Eastern Sierra Transit Authority Eastern Sierra Transit is the operator of public transportation for the Eastern Sierra Region in California (between the Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of Calif ...

operates intercity bus service along US 395, as well as local services in Bishop. Service extends south to Lancaster (Los Angeles County) and north to

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...

Airports

Bishop Airport, Independence Airport, Lone Pine Airport and Shoshone Airport are general aviation airports located near their respective cities. Stovepipe Wells Airport and

Furnace Creek Airport Furnace Creek Airport is a public airport located 0.75 miles (1 km) west of Furnace Creek, Death Valley, serving Inyo County, California, USA. This general aviation airport covers 40 acres (16 ha) and has one runway. At −210 feet ...

are located in

Communities

Cities

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

Census-designated places

* Big Pine * Cartago * Charleston View * Darwin * Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek * Furnace Creek * Homewood Canyon *

(county seat) * Keeler * Lone Pine * Mesa *

Olancha Olancha (Timbisha: ''Pakwa' si'') is a census designated place in Inyo County of the U.S. state of California. Olancha is located on U.S. Route 395 in California, south-southeast of Independence, at an elevation of 3658 feet (1115 m). As of the ...

* Pearsonville * Round Valley *

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easte ...

Tecopa Tecopa (formerly Brownsville) is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Mojave Desert, in Inyo County, California, United States. Tecopa is located south-southeast of Shoshone, at an elevation of . The population was 150 at the 2010 census, ...

Trona Trona (trisodium hydrogendicarbonate dihydrate, also sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate, Na2CO3•2NaHCO3•3H2O) is a non- marine evaporite mineral. It is mined as the primary source of sodium carbonate in the United States, where it has repla ...

* Valley Wells * West Bishop * Wilkerson

Other unincorporated communities

Alabama Hills The Alabama Hills are a range of hills and rock formations near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada in the Owens Valley, west of Lone Pine in Inyo County, California. Though geographically separate from the Sierra Nevada, they are part o ...

* Chicago Valley * Coso_Junction *

Death Valley Junction Death Valley Junction, more commonly known as Amargosa (Spanish for "Bitter"), is a tiny Mojave Desert unincorporated community in Inyo County, California, at the intersection of SR 190 and SR 127, in the Amargosa Valley and just east of Deat ...

* Deep Springs * Dunmovin * Haiwee *

Laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

* Panamint Springs * Sandy Valley * Stewart Valley

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Inyo County. † ''county seat''

Notes

References

External links

Inyo County Tourism website

Eastern California Museum
{{Authority control California counties California placenames of Native American origin 1866 establishments in California Populated places established in 1865