A Look into the Creative Living of Slab City

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You drive down a long road surrounded by barren land to get to it. Once you pass the art piece claiming “the last free place,” you know you’ve reached it. Slab City is like nothing I’ve ever seen.

Before taking a detour to experience the place known as Slab City, I got some skepticism from loved ones about my desire to see “a run down homeless camp.” Some of them even suggested that I shouldn’t visit a place like that without a gun. (If you don’t know, I come from a big conservative family in a small conservative town). Sure, it is a “lawless city,” but my trip to Slab City was anything but dangerous or worrisome.

Let me rewind and tell you the little bit of background knowledge that I had before visiting Slab City. I heard about Salvation Mountain before, which is one of the top sites in Slab City, but never about the city itself. I read an article about it and knew I had to visit. Slab City is an unincorporated, off-the-grid squatter community that hosts creative art installations and approximately 150 residents. Oh, and tourists tend to visit. Yep, that is about all I knew before visiting. It sounded intriguing; I didn’t know what to expect, but I wanted to see it with my own eyes.

I convinced my boyfriend to take the detour from Joshua Tree National Park down to Slab City. The drive consisted of wide open space, mountain views, and roads mimicking a roller coaster.

Salvation Mountain

As we entered Slab City, we approached the massive mountain known as Salvation Mountain. The best way that I can describe it as is a colorful masterpiece. I had seen photos of Salvation Mountain online, but it does not do it justice. Even if you aren’t religious, this masterpiece is not one to ignore. If not for the appreciation of the art and meaning of the mountain, then for the dedication of the creator. Even during the time of COVID, which is when we went, there were several tourists out gawking at the mountain. The mountain itself was awe-inspiring, but the story behind it piqued my interest and appreciation.

Salvation Mountain is a man-made mountain created by Leonard Knight, a former resident of Slab City. Leonard Knight started the journey of trying to spread his message that “God is Love” back in 1967 by word of mouth. People did not receive his message well. In 1980, Knight decided to try to spread his message via hot air balloon. His goal was to hand-make the largest hot air balloon in the world with the words “God is Love” on it. With the large size, the balloon wouldn’t inflate.

In 1984, after another failed attempt, he moved on from the dream of a hot air balloon to building a small monument near Slab City. What was only supposed to be a short-term project turned into four years of work. After four years, the 50-foot mountain collapsed due to too much sand used in the building of it. In 1989, Knight began to build his second mountain (this time with clay and straw). He continued working on the mountain until 2011 when he no longer had the physical ability to do so. His work is now an incredible tourist site known as Salvation Mountain.

This story taught me two key lessons:

1. Never, ever give up! Look at what Leonard Knight’s dedication turned into.

2. You learn to appreciate something a lot more when you know the story behind it.

Knight’s story and dedication are worth appreciating!

Knight passed away in 2014, leaving Salvation Mountain Inc., a nonprofit organization, to ensure the conservation and protection of the mountain. To learn more or make a donation to help preserve this masterpiece, you can visit their website here.

Further into Slab City

Most people stop at Salvation Mountain and don’t go deeper to explore more of Slab City. First of all, this may be because people don’t know that there is more to see. Second, many people are hesitant to enter into a lawless city. I, on the other hand, knew I wanted to see more. We drove further down into the city, and as we did, I noticed a couple of things that caught me by surprise.

To start, there are street names and addresses for every residence. Sometimes, the residents even receive deliveries from FedEx and UPS. I don’t mean to sound surprised, but it’s intriguing. Based on what people said and the limited knowledge I had, I thought Slab City was similar to a homeless camp (you know, like the ones that you see on the side of the road in many cities). It’s not like that. Slabbers (people residing in Slab City year-round) have their residences, pets, and neighbors.

On top of that, they have their own bar that they go to where they interact with their neighbors. They have a library. There is a hostel. They even have a pet cemetery, which makes sense, because there are several dogs in Slab City. Most people don’t recognize the structure that is actually in place here. It is not just chaos. It’s not just a homeless camp. It is people’s homes, and they’ve established it as such.

On that note, when visiting, I wanted to make sure that we respected these people’s homes as much as possible. Due to the unconventional life in Slab City, many tourists make themselves welcome in these people’s home/city. You can tell which residents embrace the tourists versus those that don’t want anything to do with them. As you drive along, you can see the vans and campers that are set up as gift shops for the tourists. Then, as you get further off the main road, you will notice people having signs that say “Private” or “Keep Out”. It is obvious that these are the residents who want to be left alone, which is why a lot of people move to Slab City in the first place. They move out to the middle of nowhere to escape society.

Art of Slab City

The concept of escaping society is one that is very prominent as you explore Slab City. There are art installations everywhere (one of the main tourist attractions). At first glance, they may seem completely abstract, but you may notice that many of those art installations share a strong message. You will see a lot of them rejecting the typical idea of society and the corruption of society and government. Some of the best and most influential art installations can be found in the East Jesus gallery, but there are some spread throughout the city.

There are several different perspectives that one can take on Slab City. I’ve heard and read other people talking about Slab City, and some describe it as a pile of trash. You know what, that is their opinion, and I can understand where they are coming from. There are heaps of trash around, but that “trash” is also what’s used to build such incredible art pieces.

When you look at the art, they are made up of old household items like television sets, cars, and appliances. These items could be perceived as junk but are recycled into something meaningful. It takes a special eye for someone to notice that and appreciate it. I, for one, do appreciate it. But I recognize that not everyone will. If you take a step back and try to understand the artist’s message, it can give you a whole different perspective and attitude towards a place like Slab City.

Rules of Slab City

I do want to touch on the fact that, although it is considered a lawless city, Slab City still has rules. It is unincorporated, and there’s not any type of police enforcing government laws. Like the sign says, it is the last free place. Based on that, I expected much more chaos. That’s not what I found. To start, there were signs everywhere advising guests to wear their masks. Volunteers stationed themselves at Salvation Mountain to enforce the mask wearing. Also because of COVID, some of the places were closed. For example, typically visitors are able to go into some of the nooks and crannies of Salvation Mountain, but they were all blocked off. Other places in Slab City were also closed such as the library and bar. It was clear that many of the residents were staying isolated as well.

Not only were there rules about COVID, but there are also unofficial rules on how Slabbers should behave within the community. Although there aren’t police enforcing it, a group of long-time Slab City residents maintain some sort of order. In the past, community members enforced rules by burning down someone’s residence and running them out of town for being “out of line.” Now, community members kick out those that break the rules.

Is it worth visiting?

Some may ask, is it worth going out of your way to visit Slab City? It depends on the person. Some people will think it is a pile of trash and waste of time. They may say that there’s nothing too it and not worth the trip. Others, like me, will think that it’s a hidden gem that opens your mind to new aspects of the world.

Traveling is a way to escape the confines of societal expectations. Slab City embodies that mindset in their everyday life. Learning that people live like this will broaden your perspective. I thought that it was well worth it to see such a unique community. It was three hours out of my way, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. If you have a similar way of thinking, then I would recommend doing it. I do wish that I had the chance to visit before COVID, because I couldn’t explore some areas like parts of Salvation Mountain and the community library. I guess that gives me an excuse to go back in the future! If you’re not as interested in free thinking and unique communities, then skip this detour.

My biggest piece of advice is to not let preconceived notions steer you away from exploring Slab City. I’m not going to lie, I also shared some preconceived notions about this place that I didn’t know too much about. I mean, the people living there didn’t have to abide by any laws. There wasn’t a police force to maintain order. It was an unusual concept. But it fascinated me, and I was ready to learn more. I’m glad I did!

The truth is, this place was both unusual and incredible! I had never seen anything like it before in any of my travels. It was something completely new. I went into it with an open heart and an open mind, and I loved what I saw. It lives up to its claim of being the last free place, free for creative thinking and creative living.