Desert art and strange sculpture

Route description

Start in Las Vegas at the Neon Museum, whose “Boneyard” holds retired casino signs; go after dark, when several of them are relit. South of the city near Jean, Seven Magic Mountains stands just off Las Vegas Boulevard, seven towers of stacked limestone boulders painted in fluorescent colors against the bare desert.

Continue on I-15 into California and across the Mojave toward Victorville, leaving the freeway for old Route 66 at Oro Grande and Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch, where thousands of glass bottles chime in the wind. The route then drops through Cajon Pass and turns east on I-10 to Cabazon, where a brontosaurus and a T. rex stand beside the freeway and you can climb up into the T. rex’s mouth.

Palm Springs, a short drive further east, makes a comfortable base. To the north, Joshua Tree National Park is where two deserts meet among granite boulders and spiky yuccas; explore early or late in the day and stay for some of the darkest night skies in Southern California.

Finish by driving south along the eastern shore of the Salton Sea to Niland and Salvation Mountain, a hillside of adobe, straw and donated paint built by one man over almost 30 years; stay on the marked path. Summer temperatures here are extreme, so this trip is best from October to April, and carry more water than you think you need.