The Mystery of Creepy Dolls
Sometimes you find some mighty strange things in the desert. Dolls, for instance. Abandoned, ragged, caked with grime. The creepier, all the better…
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Seligman’s Eternal Rest Stop on Route 66
Did you know there’s a fascinating connection between Seligman, Arizona, the Panama Canal and President Lincoln’s widow, Mary Todd Lincoln? Despite Seligman Cemetery’s close proximity to busy Interstate 40 and nearby railroad tracks, the cemetery imbues a sense of peace and majesty of the not-forgotten past…
Noah Purifoy Outdoor Museum: Joshua Tree’s Little Secret
Where do you go in Joshua Tree when you’re not in the mood for the National Park experience? We opted for Noah Purifoy’s old place. Down a dirt road, on the left. We saw it before we were there. Are those commodes towering in the air? we wondered. Yes indeed. Porcelain monuments to the private…
Calico Ghost Town Campground: Spirited Glamping
Calico’s reputation as a ghost town is well deserved as there are numerous reports of actual ghosts being sighted. Lucy Bell King Lane, a longtime resident who ran Lucy Lane’s General Store has often been seen in her store.
Margaret Olivier, the last schoolteacher, has been seen teaching in her classroom. Tourists who have talked with Margaret thought she was part of the staff dressed in period costumes, only to find out she has been dead since 1932. There is even the ghost story of Dorsey, the shepherd dog that carried the US Mail between various mines.
Was that really the howling wind that woke us up at 3 a.m. at our Calico campsite, or was it Lucy Lane?
Bagdad Cafe: Calling You to Route 66
For us and countless others, Jevetta Steele’s haunting lyrics from the song, “Calling You,” from the 1987 indie cult classic “Bagdad Cafe” will forever evoke the particularities of a small desert town on Route 66 contrasted with the vastness of the Mojave Desert. However, Bagdad Cafe was not actually shot in Bagdad. Not Bagdad, California, and not Baghdad, Iraq. The award-winning German film, directed by Percy Adlon, was filmed in Newberry Springs at the former Sidewinder Cafe, which decided to let the name “Bagdad Cafe” live on, drawing throngs of international tourists.
Harper Dry Lake: A Marsh Most Mellow
Harper Dry Lake bed in the Mojave Desert was the site of secret flight test programs conducted by the Hughes & Northrop aircraft companies during the 1940s, including the first flight by an American rocket-propelled aircraft. Howard Hughes tested aircraft and built a hangar here. Years later, it was decided Harper Dry Lake was the best place to launch the space shuttle’s heir apparent, the Lockheed Martin Venture Star…
Celebrating 30 Years of California Desert Protection
UPDATE July 9, 2025: Will the 625,000 acres Chuckwalla National Monument in Riverside County keep its designation? This spring President Donald Trump asked the Department of the Interior to consider removing those protections. In May the Department of Justice concluded that the president “can and should” reverse the monument designations. Many thanks to La Quinta…
Giant Rock: Between a Rock and an Odd Place
The next time you ask someone what rock they crawled out from under, consider this cautionary tale about Giant Rock. Technically, Frank Critzer was a squatter, since he was living on government land. In the 1930s, Critzer became known as “straight road Critzer” by locals because he built 60 roads all leading in a spider…
Big Bear Valley Historical Museum: A Tale of Two Cities
Have you ever wondered if the vastly different cities of Big Bear City and La Quinta, California, could possibly have anything in common? One is high in the San Bernardino mountains , a few minutes from Big Bear Lake, and the other is near the Santa Rosa mountains in the low desert, approximately an hour’s…
Desert Christ Park: Home of the Unwanted Christ
The desert has often played an important role in religions, spiritual enlightenment and artists seeking the esoteric. A half-mile past the turnoff to Pioneertown Road in Yucca Valley, 40 larger-than-life biblical statues from the mid-century rise from the rocky sandscape to offer a peaceful place for contemplation and renewal. It all started when Reverend Eddie…