For a little taste of the unknown, on the fringe of society, and definitely unique, a visit to these grassroots communities will leave you enthralled. Slab City, East Jesus, and Salvation Mountain are all within a couple of miles of each other. Each area is unique, yet they are bonded together by some unseen force that relies on a sense of togetherness, artistic and spiritual expression, and pure, unadulterated free existence.
The people here are friendly, eclectic, and on the outer edges of reality. When you come here, you will find hundreds, if not thousands of humble folks just hanging out and living off the land.
For a true off-the-grid living, the residents of this area have made their own way in the world and embraced this kind of living, which is refreshing in a strange way. Out here under the harsh sun of the California desert, the people have banded together to create a small society that is (mostly) peaceful, sovereign, and without waste. It is full of artists and other creative minds who love to turn everyday objects into art.
Slab City
Deemed “the last free place on Earth,” Slab City is a home for those who don’t fit in. For misfits and those who want a different lifestyle from that which society provides. If you consider yourself an outcast, Slab City will likely take you in.
If you want to check out of the “real world,” if even for a while, this community will welcome you with open arms. It is comprised of roamers, drifters, and those on the fringes of society who embrace communal living.
This town is run by solar electricity – at least it is for those structures with electricity. But most dwellings here have no electricity or running water, giving the entire area a very shantytown feel. No one owns their property. Indeed, they are on government land and are by all accounts squatters. And yet they have managed to make it work for them.
What was once a small community of veterans who decided to make a home here on these concrete slabs that used to be a military settlement, is now comprised of drifters from all over the globe. The land here is not managed, making it truly a lawless place.
People come to live here from all walks of life, but all have a similar ideology; they just want to live a life free. Like one of the more well-known residents, Builder Bill, put it, “Slab City can be your greatest dream or your worst nightmare. It is all that you make of it.”
Pro Tip: Be sure to visit this area with an open heart and mind. Residents here welcome visitors from far and wide, but also be sure to respect their privacy, as this is their home.
Salvation Mountain
Imagine if you will the biggest art project in the world. Designed with a childlike enthusiasm and yet completely organized and exquisite in its religious overtones and messages of love. This is Salvation Mountain.
Rising 50 feet from the sand, it is literally a man-made mountain, made gigantic by hay bales and painted with 100,000 gallons of latex paint. An impressive display of folk art that was first created by a man named Leonard Knight. It seems he wanted to build a hot air balloon and launch it over the Southern California desert with a message of God’s love, but several failed attempts lead him to this endeavor instead.
Over the years, people have continued to build on it, which makes Salvation Mountain just a little bit larger every year. But this, in fact, is the second mountain. The first, also built by Knight, was a giant pile of sand at its base, but that collapsed in a heaping pile of rubbish, and so he soldiered on with this second mountain. And people were drawn to it, as they still are today. Sadly, Knight passed away in 2014, but the mountain lives on and is watched over by his loyal artist friends.
You can actually ‘climb’ the mountain, as long as you stick to the ‘yellow brick road,’ which is literally a yellow-painted pathway created so that visitors can enjoy this wondrous act of love and art. To come here and visit is to witness God’s love through artistic expression and devotion to Knight’s cause. It is evidenced by the colorful paint cans strewn about, and the loving people who have come together to keep his legacy going. Whether or not you believe in a God, Salvation Mountain is truly inspirational.
Because the main message here is love.
East Jesus
In 2007, Charles Russell quit his tech job and founded East Jesus. He first moved out here to Slab City, with the intention of helping out Mr. Knight at Salvation Mountain. Soon though, he started his own project. When he left ‘society’ he brought a big shipping container with all of this stuff, and just started building. Thus, East Jesus was born, and the name is taken from a Midwestern phrase meaning ‘way out in the boonies.’
Eclectic is putting it mildly. There is a sort of fence around the perimeter, constructed with such objects as bicycle wheels, car tires, and bits and pieces of scrap metal, stuff like that. Residents here like to call their creation a sheltered workshop for the work ethic impaired.
East Jesus is a wonderfully interactive type of art gallery, made of (basically) trash that has been transformed into art, right in the middle of the desert. It is the embodiment of the phrase “what is one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” There are a lot of moving parts to the place, and as the wind blows, the museum comes alive with sounds made by the different artistic structures.
The "art" was interesting but it's the people that I loved the most. They were all welcoming and happy. Some had their happiness "enhanced" by pharmaceuticals but I loved talking with them about their life and adventures. There was automatic gunfire in the distance and smell of colitas in the air. If we had just heard Hotel California the scene would have been complete.
This is not really a place for kids, rather it is an adult playground, full of intriguing discovery. If you want an experience and you're open-minded you should have this destination on your list.
Casey Barbles 
Jeff Yelton 