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Ralston

Ghost town · Placer County, California

Michigan Bluff quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1952, 1:24,000)
Michigan Bluff quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1952, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Ralston is a ghost town in Placer County, California. It is one of 16 former communities in Placer County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 18th among the 58 California counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Ralston as a historical populated place on the Michigan Bluff topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 39.0049° N, 120.6760° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleMichigan Bluff
Elevation3,607 ft
Nearest living townForesthill, CA
Distance to it8.3 miles
GNIS feature ID1701178
Coordinates39.00490, -120.67604

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Ralston is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Foresthill, CA (population 1,455), about 8.3 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 3,607 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Ralston?

Ralston is in Placer County, California, at 39.0049, -120.6760.

How many ghost towns are in Placer County?

Placer County, California has 16 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.