
1942 image of barracks at Manzanar
Photo: Dorothea Lange
In 1942, the United States government ordered more than 110,000 men, women, and children to leave their homes and detained them in remote, military-style camps. Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of ten camps where the US government incarcerated Japanese immigrants ineligible for citizenship and Japanese American citizens during World War II.
Manzanar National Historic Site
Independence, CA 93526
Manzanar is located on the west side of U.S. Highway 395, 9 miles north of Lone Pine, California and 6 miles south of Independence, CA.
Get directions →Manzanar is located in the Owens Valley at 4,000' elevation, at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada. We get little precipitation but we do have four distinct seasons. Summer temperatures can soar over 100 degrees. Winter highs are usually in the 40's. Nighttime temperatures year round are 30 to 40 degrees less than daytime highs. High winds are common in any season.