A once luxurious resort is now an eerie apocalyptic like site which has since been transformed into indie art. Just half an hour from Salvation Mountain, I explored the Bombay Beach Drive-In, Bombay ruins, scrap sculptures, and the Salton Sea Shore.
The stops I will be showing you are along “Avenue E”.
Similar to Jacumba Springs, in my Highway 80 blog, Bombay Beach was once a thriving resort in the 50’s and 60’s. The go to resort is now lined with abandoned buildings, fish carcasses, and quick sand.
1. The Drive-In
The Drive-In will be the first thing you see on Avenue E and will be on your right hand side. Now I can’t find any solid proof that this Drive-In was or was not actually used in its time, but I do know it is home to local indie film shows. But to be quite honest, I’m not even sure where anyone sits.
It is a small area filled with artistically designed cars. The site in itself, is an art piece. That’s what was interesting about all of Bombay Beach, all of the scraps and ruins have been redesigned into art pieces.
All of the cars had their own theme. I’d say the most themed was the vhs tape car which was my personal favorite. Others had unconventional parts such as a couch as a seat, or a bbq pit as the engine. There were also miscellaneous props, such as these large heels, that seem to come and go. The Drive-In art piece is constantly changing.
2. The Ruins
Continue walking west until the end of Avenue E. You will pass an abandoned opera house, and a blue windmill building. Both of which are currently blocked off from public access. You will also see ruins covered in graffiti. Up the hill are metal scrap sculptures. These were a lot of fun and the majority of them were art pieces from local artists. Along this route were also abandoned ships, some stuck entirely in the sand and others posted atop logs to preserve them. The one pictured below is the “Death Ship”, an art piece by Sean Guerrero.
3. The Salton Sea Shore
The Salton Sea is about 225 feet below sea level making it the 10th lowest point on Earth, and second lowest point in America differing by just 50 feet. In the early 1900’s the Colorodo River overflowed into the valley creating a 35 by 15 mile lake. It was a miracle in the dessert and soon became a hot spot resort.
By the 1970’s the ecosystem deteriorated. There was no drainage, close to no rainfall, and the Salton Sea soon became saltier than the Pacific Ocean. Depleted oxygen led to the death of scores of fish who were washed up on shore and decayed on land.
Because of the sulfur everything around the Salton Sea deteriorates faster. The above photos are remains of what was once the Bombay Beach Pier. It also shows just how far the Salton Sea has dried up.
The entire shore is white with salt. As we walked towards the shore we stumbled upon quick sand which seemed hard on top until we started sinking. All of the sand dries white.
There is a constant large cloud of sulfur hovering over the sea. As we approached the shore the stench was almost unbearable. It smells like rotting eggs. Do not let the photos fool you, I was holding my breath and soon ran away.
Adding the Bombay Beach stop to our trip to Salvation Mountain definitely makes the drive out to Imperial Desert worth it! I would also recommend it to anyone who enjoys exploring abandoned places, or even just folk art.
I live about two hours away from Salvation Mountain. I took Highway 111 to Salvation Mountain, Bombay Beach, The International Banana Museum (upcoming blog!), and the Cabazon Dinosaurs. The farthest point was a little over 2 hours from my house. We took our time exploring, taking photos, and for meals. In total the trip was about 9 hours! Expect a day trip, but less stops and less photos will definitely save you time.
