Salvation Mountain

Salvation Mountain near Niland, California, is a hand-built art mountain in the Colorado Desert. Leonard Knight (1931–2014) began shaping a hill as a statement of faith in 1984 on the edge of the Slab City settlement, north-east of Niland and a few miles from the Salton Sea. His first structure collapsed in a rainstorm in 1989, after which he rebuilt it. The work is about 50 ft (15 m) high and roughly 300 ft (90 m) wide and consists of adobe bricks with straw, old tyres, windows and car parts, covered in thousands of litres of paint. The central message reads "God is Love", accompanied by Bible verses and Christian slogans.

Knight lived for about 27 years without electricity or running water on the bed of a pick-up truck at the foot of the mountain. In 2000 the Folk Art Society of America declared the site a folk art place worth protecting. Since 2011 the non-profit Salvation Mountain, Inc. has looked after its upkeep with volunteers and donations, which the desert climate makes very demanding.

Lonely Planet describes the route: from Highway 111 it is about 3 miles (5 km) via Main Street and Beal Road, past the railway tracks and trailer parks.