Slab City, also known as The Slabs, is located in a town called Niland in Imperial County. It’s an 1.5 hour drive southeast of Palm Springs and just minutes away from the Salton Sea. Slab City is one of the last few communities that is lawless and mortgage free. The community is comprised of squatters, snowbirds, artists, and individuals who looking for an alternative way of living. There’s no modern amenities, such as sewage and electricity. But for many people that’s an easy compromise to be able to live in a community that allows freedom.
Slab City was formerly a U.S. Marine Corp base. It was eventually abandoned and all that was left were slabs of concrete, which is why it has it’s current name.
So you’re probably wondering why I would consider visiting this desolate desert community. As I mentioned before, Slab City has a prominent art community. There is two well-known art installations located in Slab City: East Jesus and Salvation Mountain. And the fact that it is a community so different from San Francisco, made it that much more intriguing.
To get to Niland we traveled down Highway 86 South then hopped onto Highway 111, which took us along the Salton Sea. Just 8 miles down Highway 111, you’ll come across Desert Camp which has multiple Palm Date farms. Date Palms, a native plant of the Middle East and North Africa, was brought over the Greater Palm Springs in the 1900s. Turns out they thrived the most because withstand dry, arid conditions. Now there’s several date farms and roadside date shops selling date products. Shield Date Gardens is very popular date farm just south of Indio is Oasis Date Gardens. They have a store and cafe that serves deli food and date desserts.
After a trip to a date farm, we continued our journey along the Salton Sea. An hour later we came across Salvation Mountain, which is located right at the entrance to Slab City.
Salvation Mountain is an art installation created by Leonard Knight, a well known artist in the local community. Leonard was a religious man and wanted to pay ode through his artwork. Four years later after he started, his man-made mountain crumbled due to the weak frame. He saw this as a sign from God insinuating that the mountain wasn’t safe. He then made a second attempt to build a stronger frame. Twenty-eight years and half a million gallons of latex paint later, Salvation Mountain is what it is today.
Admission to Salvation Mountain is free. However, donations are welcome. They are volunteer docents on site monitoring visitors. Because its a religious site, they expect you to have appropriate attire on. I’ve heard from friends that they can scold you and even kick you out!
To enter Slab City, continue onto Beal Road and you’ll enter the community. As you drive through you’ll notice several RVs, campers, and tents, with an occasional art installation scattered throughout. Slab City is an established community with a library, hostel, Internet cafe, and an open-air nightclub.
Towards the northeast end of the community is an art exhibit called East Jesus. This outdoor art collection is all-immersive. The docents there encourage visitors to touch and play with the art. The most popular art piece is a collection of televisions piled on top of each other with nonconforming statements painted on the screen. This art installation pretty much sums up what you’ll see throughout the outdoor exhibit. Several of these art pieces are odd, quirky, pokes fun at politics and attest to societal restrictions.
Overall, the experience is different, but you NEED different. Otherwise, what is the point of traveling?!
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