Lonely Planet

Continuing our theme of desperate dead ends in America we offer another look at beautiful downtown Keeler, California. The once bustling mining mecca is one more Owens River Valley community left for dead by LA's unquenchable thirst for water.

Moffat Church RIP

According to locals Moffat, Colorado's protestant church closed its doors six years ago. The church was unsafe and too expensive to heat for the 114 residents of the withering town. Once a bustling mining and ranching community of 2,500 and a likely state capitol it has become little more than a wide spot in the road.

This isn't Kansas any more, Toto.

If it weren't for the Sangre de Cristos rising to 14,000 feet in the background this shell of a farm house might be in western Kansas or Nebraska. Instead it resides in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado. At 7,500 feet and measuring 121 miles long and 74 miles wide the San Luis is the largest alpine valley in the world.

Cemetary Hill

At at about 9000 feet in the rugged Sangre de Cristo mountains Elizabethtown is a treasure trove of memories. The town's graveyard sits on a hilltop with a commanding view of the Moreno Valley. This particularly handsome grave lies at the highest point on cemetary hill.

Water Tanks

The wide spot in the road called Nageezi, New Mexico is part of the Navajo Nation and lies far from any significant population center. Without water there is no life so these white tanks symbolize that a few souls actually live and procreate on this unforgiving patch of earth.