Blog
Short, sourced pieces on desert eccentrics and the places they left behind, with notes for visiting them today.
The Integratron: Visiting George Van Tassel's DomeWhat the white dome at Landers is, how Van Tassel said it would work, and what a sound bath there is like today.
Burro Schmidt's Tunnel: A Visitor's GuideHow to reach the half-mile tunnel one man dug through a mountain in the El Paso Mountains, and what to expect.
Salvation Mountain and Slab CityLeonard Knight's painted hill near Niland and the off-grid camp that grew up beside it on an old Marine base.
Scotty's Castle After the 2015 FloodHow a single storm closed Death Valley's Spanish-style mansion for years, and what restoration involved.
Cabot's Pueblo Museum in Desert Hot SpringsThe four-story pueblo Cabot Yerxa built by hand from salvaged materials, and how to tour it.
Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding ClubPancho Barnes's Mojave ranch and bar, where test pilots drank after flying, and why the Air Force wanted it gone.
Frank Critzer and the Room Under Giant RockWho Frank Critzer was, how he dug a home beneath Giant Rock in the Mojave, and how he died there in 1942.
Bill Keys and the Desert Queen RanchThe homestead Bill Keys built in what is now Joshua Tree National Park, the 1943 shooting that sent him to prison, and how to tour the ranch.