Emergency Crime Scene and Biohazard Cleanup in Olancha, CA

Olancha is a census-designated place in Inyo County on U.S. Route 395 in the Owens Valley, set on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada next to the now mostly dry bed of Owens Lake.

Olancha was established by Minnard Farley, who arrived in 1860 and discovered silver ore in the nearby Coso Range; the name Olancha is believed to derive from the local Yaudanche tribe.

By December 1862 Farley had completed the first ore-processing mill and furnace in the Owens River Valley on Olancha Creek, and the surviving stone wall of his mill is California Historical Landmark No. 796.

The first post office at Olancha opened in 1870.

Olancha is home to a major bottling plant for Crystal Geyser Natural Alpine Spring Water, one of the desert settlement's principal employers.

The 2020 census counted 131 residents in Olancha, down from 192 in 2010, spread across just 64 households with an average size of about 2 people; nearly 8 in 10 occupied homes are owner-occupied.

Olancha has a cold semi-arid climate because it sits in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada, beneath 12,123-foot Olancha Peak, whose creek flows down past the town toward Owens Lake.

East of town lie sand dunes and a hot spring known locally as 'Dirty Socks.'

Olancha was long a stop on U.S. Route 395, but the 12.6-mile Olancha and Cartago Expressway, completed in October 2025, now bypasses the town entirely.

Olancha is served by the Lone Pine Unified School District, and its high school students attend Lone Pine High School.