If Los Angeles is a dream factory, then the High Desert is one of its abandoned backlots, where old props are warehoused, waiting to be reused.

Five miles east of Pearblossom, in the southeastern corner of the Antelope Valley, lie the ruins of a town that wanted to change the world. Drive too fast and you might miss them.

As you slow to a crawl, a couple of chimney stacks come into view, the final remnants of a large building a few feet from the road’s shoulder.

Standing atop its foundations, you will begin to notice rocky outlines through the greasewood and creosote, revealing the outlines of hundreds of structures, including houses, storage tanks and open-air aqueducts, stretching into the distance.

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The orchards that once lent the area its name are gone, but it is a stunningly beautiful setting.

If you look south, you can see the road to the alpine resort of Wrightwood wind its way into the San Gabriels, and if you turn north, you’ll glimpse the purplish Tehachapis at the end of a flat, desert expanse.

Read more: Los Angeles Times