Slab City’s Salvation Mountain
Activated in 1942, Camp Dunlap — just 85 miles southeast of Palm Springs — was a Marine CorpsΒ training facility during World War II. When the base was subsequentlyΒ decommissioned, the land was returned to Imperial County, California, andΒ only concrete slabs remained. Today it’s known as Slab City — a strange haven for squatters and off-the grid living. It’s also home to two unconventional art installations: Slab City’sΒ Salvation Mountain and East Jesus.
A year ago, I’d never heard of Slab City, Salvation Mountain, or East Jesus. Yet again,Β Instagram was the instigator. It was the reason I first laid eyes on Salvation Mountain. And from the very first glance at images of the cool and colorful creation I thought to myself: “Must. Go. There.”Β
Last Wednesday, that’s just what I did!
Southwest Road Trip
Currently I’m wrapping up a mini Southwest road trip that started in Las Vegas and ends in Tucson, Arizona. My sister and I decided to meet in Vegas two weeks ago to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon. We successfully completed the run theΒ Sunday before lastΒ and it was a blast! We had The Strip all to ourselves. Along with 25,000 other runners, that is!Β
I told my sister, Anne-Marie, of my plans for after leaving Las Vegas: to visit Palm Springs, Joshua Tree National Park, Salvation Mountain, then on to Phoenix, Arizona. After that I’d head to Tucson and even further south, to Rio Rico, Arizona, where our parents live.
Just like myself a year earlier, Anne-Marie hadn’t heard of Salvation Mountain either. But when I showed her some pics, she told me she’d seen the iconic imagesΒ recently in a new music video by Kesha. We looked it up on YouTube, and — sure enough! — there was Salvation Mountain.
(You can check out the video yourself below. But, FYI, the song starts one full minute in.)
Salvation Mountain also makes an appearance in the movie adaptation of Jon Krakauer’sΒ Into the Wild, which I’ve yet to see, but have added to my watch list!
On the Road Again
After four nights in Sin City, I dropped my sister off at Vegas McCarran International Airport early Monday morning, crossed the Nevada-California border, and drove southwest to Palm Springs.
Two days later a beeping alarm woke me at ridiculous-o’clock. (That’s 3:30am, in case you were wondering.) I was up at that profane hour in order to check out of the downtown Palm Spring’s Motel 6, so as to arrive at Salvation Mountain by sunrise.
California has 20 million acres of forest, 1,200 miles of coast, and countless wilderness areas, but withΒ Moon California Camping, you’ll always find your perfect campsite.Salvation Mountain
So let’s talk about the “mountain.”
lovely post..
enjoyed reading it and some part of this city are like rainbow..
keep it rocking up !
I had seen photos of this before, but didn’t know where it was. I think I drove close by it back in 2011!
Oh man! Looking at all of your photos I’m bummed we didn’t stop here on our own cross country road trip with the kids when we moved back east. We would have loved this stop! We keep talking about a trip back out west, so I think I’m adding Slab City to our ever growing list.
Weβve just returned from nearby there and am so sad we didnβt know about Salvation Mountain. Looks amazing. It will have to go on our list for our next US road trip.
We are planning a California road trip for next Summer, so this is really interesting! It’s easy to plan in the big cities but the quirky more out of the way ones are great to find.
Wow. This is incredible. If only I’d known it existed a few months ago when we were on our road trip in California…this would have been a great additional stop. Great pictures!
LOVE this entry in your delightful adventures. So glad to be ‘along for the ride’. π
Awe, thanks so much, Sandra! Glad to have you along for the ride! π π
I’m lovin’ the hats! LOL (What an interesting place, too!)
Haha! Glad you approve of our hats! Happy travels! π
one of my favorite movies ‘Into the Wild’ is when I first heard about Slab City, next month I’ll be talking a road trip California and plans are to stop at slab city, Into the Wild is on Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Thanks for the info, Arvin! And have fun on your trip! π
It’s so funny how Instagram fuels our sense of wanderlust for these things, isn’t it?! You saw Slab City on the social media site, went and blogged. Now I’ve read your blog, I really want to go myself! Thanks for sharing, I’m adding to my bucket list! x
So true, Becca! That’s how I ended up in Chefchaouen last year as well! Thanks for reading! Take care and happy travels! π
I too have never heard of this place but looks like a really cool place to go and visit π Love how it’s been decorated, the artwork brings just brings it to life. It does look like a place that looks like it’s been made up for a movie rather than out there in there in the middle of nowhere π – Gonna have to see this place with my own eyes someday π
amit recently posted…Marrakech, Morocco: A spontaneous trip
Hope you get the chance to check it out sometime, Amit! Also, have fun in Marrakech! π I went to Morocco last year and absolutely loved it!
Love hearing about new places like this especially when Itβs a bit off the beaten path ! I guess that the Salvation Mountain is something you really gotta see yourself, right ? It’s like no other… In the middle of desert a huge colorful piece of artwork mountain praising God., so amazing !
C-Ludik recently posted…Normandy, between βWar and Peaceβ
Yes, I definitely recommend seeing it for yourself! Hope you’ll get the chance to go sometime, C-Ludik! π
Really interesting place!! I actually JUST saw a photo of this for the first time on Instagram today, but had no idea where it was or what it was. How crazy! I will definitely head out to it next time I’m in the area — looking forward to learning about East Jesus π
Thanks, Kristen! Yeah, I also only heard about it for the first time within the last year! Happy travels! π
Never heard of Salvation Mountain.
Definitely gonna add it to my bucket list!
Happy travels, happily tanned! π
This is so interesting, and I never thought it would be in Las Vegas! I can’t remember where I heard of Slab City, but it’s so vibrant. Don’t get me started on that mountain!
Hi Followingtheriviera, Salvation Mountain is not in Vegas! It’s in Imperial County, California, about five hours south of Las Vegas! π
Nice. It has got an interesting bit of history! I remember seeing it in “Into the Wild” movie. And, it looks damn cool!
Thanks so much, Raksha! I’ve definitely got to watch “Into the Wild” now! π π
Never knew such places existed. Thanks to Instagram I should say and thanks to you for sharing it. I have Uncle who lives in Palm Spring, so I guess I have the reason the visit the place too. Nice photos! π
Thanks, Joy! Hope you make it out there sometime to see your family and to check out all that the area has to offer! Palm Springs is a fun place to visit too!
The number of times I’ve visited a place just because i saw lovely pictures on Instagram – I can totally relate to you when you say that! I have never heard of the salvation mountain myself and I can see why you wanted to visit after seeing pictures- it looks very interesting!
Yeah, it’s a pretty unique place! Thanks, Medha!
I haven’t spent much time in America and had no idea this place existed! Looks super cool though. I’d love to do a road trip at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later. thanks for sharing.
Thanks for checking it out, Nerissa!
I’ve not heard of Slab City – this needs to be added when we eventually do our USA road trip. Instagram is great to find new places to travel to. Salvation is so vibrant – love the colours and the artwork! Where does the yellow brick road lead to? Well done on completing the half marathon!
Thank you Whodoldo! The yellow brick road was the path to stay on for viewing the mountain without stepping on and possibly damaging the rest of the art. Plus, Greg told me it’s also for people’s safety! π
I’ve been to Vegas but never knew about these hidden gems. Thanks to you I now know where I’m definitely going on my next trip to the US. Apart from driving, is there any other way to get to Salvation mountain?
Hi Chandrima,
Unfortunately there’s not really another way of getting out there. I suppose a person could hitchhike if comfortable with that, but it’s kind of out in the middle of nowhere! Thanks for stopping by! π
I had never heard about this place before you mentioned it but looks super interesting and colorful. Also i am really intrigued about the sleeping cat on those colorful rugs. Is it from a shop in the same area?
Hi Ketki,
Actually, the cat is just a header picture on my website, so it doesn’t have anything to do with Salvation Mountain. Although, there were some really cool cats hanging around the mountain, which I’ll be posting more about in a post dedicated solely to cats soon! (I love taking cat pics when I travel!) But to answer your question, the pic of the cat sleeping on colorful rugs was taken in Istanbul! Thanks for stopping by! π
This sounds like such an interesting place! And the road trip brought you to some nice places.
It was fascinating! π
sounds like a great road trip! I think I’ve seen a few pictures of Salvation Mountain in Slab City but I had no idea exactly where it is. May have to add that to my SoCal Bucket List when I return to visit friends and family in San Diego. I mean who wouldn’t want to go to East Jesus
Yeah, who wouldn’t want to go?! Hope you get to make it there sometime soon, Eric! Thanks for stopping by!