10 interesting roadside attractions between Vegas, LA

The desert can be a weird place. But hey, we love it that way, right? The Mojave is speckled with weird monuments, isolated communes, abandoned art, mines and just about anything else you can think of.

Nowhere is that more apparent than the drive between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, which millions of people travel each year.

We’ve gathered 10 sites you can see along, on or by taking a detour from the typical 4½-hour drive, but there are plenty more landmarks to discover the farther you go into the desert.

Keep in mind that many of these stops are not exactly quick exits and will extend your trip quite a bit but are fun to see nonetheless.

Along Interstate 15 from Las Vegas

Seven Magic Mountains

Almost everyone who has made this drive has seen the colorful and isolated monument in the desert, as it’s visible from the highway. The artwork by Ugo Rondinone has been easily accessible and open free to the public at all hours since May 2016.

Sloan

Pioneer Saloon

“Fallout” fans know this one well, but it’s much more than a location from a video game. The oldest bar in Southern Nevada (established in 1913) offers a full bar, a menu, live music and a haunted history (ask your bartender).

Goodsprings

Mojave Phone Booth

The internet picked up on this oddly located phone booth back in ’97, and it still stands today, 12 miles from the nearest paved road. According to the National Park Service, it was installed in 1948 to provide local miners a way to communicate with the outside world. Now, it remains a shrine to the pop culture of years past.

Mojave National Preserve, California

Zzyzx

It’s fun to say, even if you say it wrong. (Though, it’s truly “Zye-zix.”) The name traces back to the ’40s, when a sel-proclaimed medicine man, Curtis Howe Springer, filed a mining claim to build a health resort in the area. He chose the word (which didn’t previously exist) because he wanted the last available word. The resort project didn’t end well for Springer, as he was booted in 1974 by the feds for squatting on federal land. Now, it’s just a fun-to-say exit.

Baker, California

Lake Dolores (Rock-a-Hoola)

Maybe Bob Byers was ahead of his time. Surely, when he built a theme park in the middle of nowhere, he expected more development to follow? That wasn’t the case, as the ruins of Lake Dolores (later Rock-a-Hoola, then Discovery Waterpark) attest. The park, which saw peak attendance in the ’70s and ’80s, closed in the late ’80s. It reopened in 1998 with a ’50s theme, then filed for bankruptcy two years later. A final attempt to reopen the park on weekends in 2002 and 2003 failed, and it closed for good soon after. It last sold for $1.3 million in 2013 and was recently on the market for $11 million, but is currently not for sale.

Newberry Springs, California

Along U.S. Highway 95 to Interstate 40

Keyhole Canyon

This slot canyon outside Las Vegas is a low-key favorite of climbers for its granite. Canyoneering is popular here, but we recommend seeing the Indigenous rock art — well-preserved and undisturbed — and keeping it that way.

Boulder City

Walking Box Ranch

This gem just west of Searchlight was the property of Hollywood actors Rex Bell and Clara Bow. The beautifully preserved ranch now offers tours and hosts art exhibitions. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, and once you visit, you’ll immediately understand why.

Searchlight

Kelso Dunes

Solitude amid seas of sand. Formed millions of years ago, the dunes are one of only seven in North America known for booming: a “deep, eerie, rumbling sound you can feel in your bones,” according to the National Park Service. The best way to hear it: Get a big group of friends to the crest of a dune, and together, shove off as much sand as possible, like an avalanche. Bring plenty of water and sun protection as you climb this 3-mile, 600-foot gain hike, taking two to three hours.

Mojave National Preserve, California

From Barstow on I-15

Calico Ghost Town

Just before Barstow, pull off for this well-preserved ghost town, occupied for only 12 years. At its height, it produced millions in silver. But silver crashed, and so did Calico. Thankfully, Walter Knott (as in Knott’s Berry Farm) bought the town in the ’50s and restored it to its 1880s appearance. It’s now a Historical Landmark, open to the public to experience the Old West.

Yermo, California

Peggy Sue’s

You’ve driven by, but have you stopped? Peggy Sue’s ’50s Diner and Diner-saur Park is a one-of-a-kind kitsch stop in the desert. With a heavy dose of ’50s nostalgia, the cafe is a home-turned-pie shop in 1954. Peggy Sue and her husband, Champ, reopened the diner in 1987, decorating it with their collection of film memorabilia. After a bite, check out the dinosaurs outside.

Yermo, California

Contact Kristen Di Chiara at kdichiara@reviewjournal.com. Follow @kristendichiara on X.