Slab City

Slab City is 600+ acres owned by the state of California and is a designated "free place" where people can squat or camp. It attracts a variety of people, snowbirds, artists, homeless and runaways.

We recently went because we had seen some extremely colorful photographs and wanted to check it out for ourselves.

There are no services at The Slabs, no hookups, no water and no garbage. In my view, garbage is the most visible problem there. In some sections it actually looks like a dump.

That said, we had an incredible experience there, primarily because we had a wonderful host. Seasonal resident Radio Mike took us on an art tour and to the hot springs.

We also happened to be the night of the annual "Prom." We had an awesome night listening to music and people watching.

Oh, another negative for us in addition to the garbage; there are a lot of dogs running around. Our dog was really unhappy here. He could sense the number of dogs in the neighborhood (I guess the howling gave it away).

Negatives aside, we had an awesome stay at Slab City, though it's not for the faint of heart.

Staying at the last free place on earth apparently means you don't have any responsiblity to properly dispose of your trash. The Slabs give you an opportunity to overdose on folk art when you look beyond the squalor. It's a real mixed bag with everything from high end RVs housing winter visitors to other vehicles of all ages and types serving as homes to the more permanent residents.

I didn't have any connectivity on the back side of the slabs so I moved to an open area WSW of Salvation Mountain where I had 3 bars of Verizon boosted to 5 with the antenna and amplifier.

I had heard this was a really interesting place from several sources on the road, and coming up from Baja is was the perfect stop. And stop was all I did. This is an extreme hippy/ alternate life style, and for me not a good vibe. (Silver City, NM is a good hippy vibe). Everything is rundown, slapped together, and edgy. Some will like it - but have backup plans. I didn't stay, and drove up the road to Salt Creek on the Salton Sea. One star because its free.

This may be the most unusual place I've ever camped. Totally primitive sites, no water, sewer or electric hook ups. Personally, I loved it and would have stayed a day or two longer if I could have. I can understand how it wouldn't appeal to a lot of people, but once you talk to locals and understand the concept, and the fact that it really IS the "Last Free Place", it puts the experience in a different perspective. If I had to describe it, I'd say it was a bit like "Barter Town" in Mad Max. I would stay away in the mid summer months, it IS in the desert. I'd like to go back and probably will in September.

Be careful if you go very far past Mojo's Camp-we bottomed out our RV driving over a big dip in the road and did some damage. Stay closer to the front. After the dip we turned around and parked at the first level area we could find-across from Mojo's. There was a lot of trash around, cleaner near Salvation Mountain and the early part of the area. Lots of dogs loose but always with owners, seemed very well behaved. The deeper you go the dirtier it is. People were friendly. Only Spanish speaking tv OTA, but great verizon and fast streaming with our hotspot was an odd experience for me. See my blog for details-posted here.

Upon first glance it appeared to be a hippy paradise or just an escape from the nonstop craziness of the city but once you see all the meth use all around you see that it is indeed exactly like certain groups might label it. Sorry to go on the negative side of the spectrum but the fact that I was nothing but cautious yet respectful to everyone I came in contact with and a group of people STILL raided my camp when I went to Niland for LITERALLY 3 or 4 hours tells me that this place is an escape, sure and there are SOME decent people there, but all indication points to the fact that there are probably more thieves and tweakers than initially perceived. I mean they stripped me clean. Wouldn't recommend this place to anybody who doesn't look homeless. You got to blend in with the surroundings to get any kind of respect. And it's only March when I came here and it's already hot as HELL. Really just please people don't stay here long term. It's a good place to take a drive through and see the little history they have as a day trip but beyond that just turn around after. Not to mention there is SO MUCH noise in the middle of the night and not only that but all night! Loud generators, loud speakers playing annoying, crappy music all night, people screaming and 4 wheelers driving around. It's a homeless or drug addict paradise but nothing more.

The slabs are a uniquely free place. A community for the free spirits. Rough around the edges - dont leave valuables out or unattended etc - but lovely. I come back every year!