[citation needed] Thirty major lake levels occurred during the last 150,000 years, represented by a sequence of salt and mud beds.

[citation needed] The lake is home to the Trona Pinnacles, a spectacular geologic tufa formation and a National Natural Landmark.

In 1873, before the railroad was built to Mojave, refined borax was hauled 175 miles by 20 mule teams from Slate Range Playa (now called Searles Lake) to the harbor at San Pedro.

The Searles Lake borax discovery has been designated California Historical Landmark #774, with a plaque at the roadside rest area in Trona.

Searles Lake is a huge resource of sodium and potassium minerals of the carbonate, sulfate, borate and halide classes of mineralogy.

The manufacture of industrial minerals involves a complex solution mining operation in which naturally occurring brines are pumped from wells completed in several salt beds.