kristinwelker's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Calipatria, California

Salvation Mountain

A hand-built folk art installation covered with messages of God's love.
Calipatria, California

Slab City

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.
Niland, California

East Jesus

An off-grid art installation that encourages its visitors to imagine a world without waste.
Lancaster, California

Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve

Each year these high desert hills are absolutely covered with poppy flowers in a surreal show of nature.
Pomona, California

Spadra Cemetery

This graveyard is the eternal home of the residents of a vanished California town.
Tehachapi, California

Tehachapi Loop

Where a railroad loops under or over itself to rise or drop more than 70 feet in a short distance.
Pomona, California

The Southern California Medical Museum

A small medical museum with a recreated doctor's office.
Tehachapi, California

Tehachapi Wind Farm

Thousands of turbines whir at at the origin of North American wind power.
Bodfish, California

Remington Hot Springs

One of the last free public hot springs is decorated with hippie art.
Hemet, California

Hemet Maze Stone

This mysterious petroglyph evokes the ancient swastika symbol but was later vandalized with the more troublesome Nazi one.
Rancho Cucamonga, California

Sam Maloof House

A living museum dedicated to the legendary woodworker and his soulful furniture.
Mount Baldy, California

Bridge to Nowhere

Abandoned bridge hidden deep in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Quartzsite, Arizona

Reader's Oasis Books

The shop's owner has spent decades in the desert wearing nothing but a strategically placed sock.
Mecca, California

International Banana Museum

World's largest collection devoted to one fruit.
Inyo County, California

Mount Whitney Summit Shelter

The first life claimed by this record-breaking peak wasn't lost to exposure or a fall but rather lightning.
Palm Desert, California

Smiler's Point

This simple highway curve has become a comedic pilgrimage site.
San Bernardino, California

Unofficial McDonald's Museum

This unlicensed collection of fast-food memorabilia sits on the site of the first ever McDonald's restaurant.
Cathedral City, California

Museum of Ancient Wonders

Nestled in Coachella Valley, this museum transports guests from the Mesozoic Era, to the land of Egyptian kings.
Palm Springs, California

Ruddy's General Store Museum

This general store offers visitors a glimpse back into the 1930s.
Indio, California

Dr. June McCarroll Monument

A monument to the frontier doctor who came up with the idea of delineating highways with a painted line.
Cabazon, California

Cabazon Dinosaurs

The "world's biggest dinosaur" once housed a creationist museum in its abdomen.
Lone Pine, California

Mobius Arch

This rock formation named for its unique shape is one of many that call the Alabama Hills home.
Crestline, California

Heart Rock Falls

Carved by a waterfall in a hard-to-reach rock formation, this heart-shaped rock has inspired romantics for decades.
Erie, Pennsylvania

Schaefer's Auto Art

A quirky collection of outsider art made from automobile parts.