Love, art and religion off the grid
Several acquaintances on my Facebook have “checked into” Salvation Mountain over the past year, and it’s hard not to scroll past their beautiful photos of a mountain completely covered in religious scriptures and colorful paintings of flowers, trees and waterfalls.
Before I visited in late April, I was always curious about seeing what Salvation Mountain was all about. For one, it never struck me as a place for just religious folks, despite the Christian sayings and Bible verses painted across numerous areas of the man-made mountain. Instead, I was more blown away by the artistic aspect of the monument.
Located in a remote area near the infamous Salton Sea, Salvation Mountain was created by the late Leonard Knight in an effort to spread the word of Jesus. Over a period of almost 30 years, the mountain was built with adobe clay, bales of hay, and hundreds of thousands of gallons of paint.
When I say remote, I really do mean remote. Barren. Desolate. Quiet. Aside from the unincorporated Slab City right next door and the small town of Niland a few minutes away, the top of Salvation Mountain overlooks miles and miles of vast desert wilderness.
It was my boyfriend’s idea to stop by here during our recent one-week vacation in the Inland Empire. For one of our many day trips, we went to Joshua Tree National Park, and since we still had a few hours to spare in the early evening before heading back to the hotel at a not-so-early/not-too-late time, we agreed to make our way to Salvation Mountain around 7 p.m. He had only heard of the place because a location inspired by the monument was featured in one of the Grand Theft Auto video games he has played.
According to Google Maps, we were about an hour away from Salvation Mountain, but what we didn’t realize was, we would then be at least 2 hours from the hotel by the time we would arrive. It didn’t help that we made a random detour to Indio to see what the area was like with the Coachella Music Festival going on that weekend.
After driving on a ridiculously dark, empty road for a couple miles, we decided to turn around and go back to the hotel. At what must have been 8:30 p.m. or 9 p.m., it was going to be much too late to be on pitch black roads in areas we were totally not familiar with.
I’m glad we ended up seeing Salvation Mountain on another day that week because, during our time there, we saw the place closes its “gates” at the end of the day around 6 p.m., so we wouldn’t have been able to see or do much if we had continued our drive that one night.
The area at and around Salvation Mountain is rather peaceful. You’re basically off the grid. And one thing’s for sure — it was a wonderful change from being in the hectic LA Metro area, where I work and live.
There were a few other visitors when we arrived, including one girl who was taking countless selfies of herself in a wedding dress (no partner/possible groom with her).
Anyways, moving right along…
There was a couple of old, abandoned cars throughout the premises, which I thought was pretty cool. Like the mountain, colorful Biblical verses and unique drawings of nature-related subjects covered each vehicle, including the windows. The cars must have been here for an extended period of time too as they’ve all sunken into the ground by a good 3 or 4 inches.
I always wondered how Salvation Mountain was kept clean, and we got our answer when we saw a few RVs parked close together nearby. They were clearly some people’s homes out here in the Colorado Desert, belonging to those who keep an eye out on the mountain day in and day out.
Overall, we couldn’t have been here at a better time. I always wanted to stand or walk around in a desert while watching the sunset and this evening was the opportunity; it was absolutely breathtaking and incredible. It’s always a joyful and peaceful experience seeing the sun go down, whether I’m by the ocean, in the city or up in a mountain… but in a desert? There was something almost therapeutic about it. Was it the beautiful colors? The fact that we were practically in the middle of nowhere? The flat and empty land? It may just be all of the above. And I’m glad I got several great shots of the sunset.
The lifestyles led by residents living nearby in Slab City was quite fascinating as well, and I have done a bit of research here and there about that area’s culture and people on my own time. Like the residents, Salvation Mountain and its immediate surroundings were so laid-back and care-free.
Salvation Mountain is a fairly long drive from where my boyfriend and I each live (173 miles for him, 200 miles for me), but it’s a place I would consider returning to in the future to “get away.” There was something for everyone here, whether it’s religion, art, vintage cars or nature, and I particularly appreciated everything during the 30–45 minute we spent there.
