Thousands Abandoned California’s Most Toxic Lake | Here’s Why.

They called it the California Riviera. Frank Sinatra came here. So did the Beach Boys, the Marx Brothers, and half a million other people a year. At its peak, this accidental sea in the middle of the California desert was drawing more visitors than Yosemite National Park. Today, Bombay Beach has 231 people left. The Yacht Club that was once the largest marina in Southern California sat abandoned for over 20 years. The streets of Salton City were paved for a city of tens of thousands — most of them are still empty. This documentary walks through what actually happened. How a flooded irrigation canal in 1905 created California's largest lake overnight. How a dead-end sea with no river in and no way out slowly poisoned itself with decades of agricultural runoff. How the fish died by the millions, the birds followed, the smell set in, and one by one — the people left. And what they left behind is still there. Furniture still inside. Roofs caved in. A beach made of fish bones instead of sand. A bar where the walls are covered in dollar bills signed by visitors going back sixty years. And a stretch of empty paved roads with street signs that still say "Sea View Avenue" — pointing at water that has been quietly retreating for decades. This is the Salton Sea. California's most forgotten place. And this is what it actually looks like now. ——— 📍 Locations covered: Bombay Beach | Salton City | North Shore | North Shore Beach and Yacht Club ⏱ Chapters: 00:00 — Intro: A Sea That Was Never Supposed to Be Here 01:23 — How the Desert Got a Sea, and the Sea Got a City 04:22 — Why the Sea Turned and Why Everyone Left 07:12 — What's Still Standing Today 09:14 — Outro ——— If this kind of documentary is what you're here for, subscribe @InsppireHub we cover places like this the way they deserve to be covered. #saltonsea #bombaybeach #saltonsea #ghosttown