Salvation Mountain: A Special Roadtrip
If you’ve ever dreamed of stepping into a Dr. Seuss book or of having a Wizard of Oz moment, head to Salvation Mountain.
This place is neat because the person who created it had special intentions. Leonard Knight was the artist who painted this three-story hill made of adobe clay, straw, and a lot of paint. He wanted to get the message across that ‘God is Love.’
His passion for this message led him to write biblical scriptures while creating a colorful mountain containing different meanings. We made the 1 1/2 hour road trip to Salvation Mountain on a weekend that we stayed in Palm Springs, and it was pretty special.
Salvation Mountain: A Special Roadtrip
Leonard Knight
First, it’s important to know the history and the man behind Salvation Mountain if you choose to visit.
Summarizing the Salvation Mountain website information, you will learn that Leonard Knight was a man who served in the army. After serving, he visited his sister in San Diego from Vermont and found himself repeating the Sinner’s Prayer and accepting Jesus into his heart.
Going back to Vermont, Knight got an idea to create a hot air balloon displaying the words “God is Love.” The idea came to life, but unfortunately, he was not successful in completing it.
In 1984, Knight moved to Quartzite, Arizona, and found himself in the Niland/Slab City desert with his boss one day. He moved there with his trailer and pursued the idea of the hot air balloon again, failing once more.
About to leave, Leonard Knight decided to stay one more week, in which he found himself starting a small monument with a half bag of cement. The days went by, and they turned into years. Pretty soon, his small mountain turned into 50 feet, and he painted the words “God is Love.”
Never Give Up
The mountain was not stable and fell because of the weak cement and sand. But, not giving up or getting discouraged, Knight decided to do it again but more wisely. That’s when he started using adobe clay and straw to rebuild. He also began using layers of paint to help it hold better and become stronger. With time, people started showing up with gallons of paint as donations.
As his mountain became well-known, the San Diego county thought there would be problems with the religious monument and set forth to label the mountain a ‘toxic nightmare” and that it needed to be torn down.
Knight and his friends did not allow this by petitioning with signatures and having more samples of the soil checked for lead. It turns out the soil did not contain unacceptable amounts of contaminants, and thankfully, the mountain stayed.
Continued Work
As time passed, Knight kept building and painting. Finally, he created The Hogan, a 10 ft dome-shaped room that he planned to stay cool from the extreme 115F + degree weather. However, he continued to live in his truck.
He also created what’s known as The Museum, modeled after the hot air balloon idea. This structure has many dome rooms held together by tree branches, tires, and wood he gathered throughout the desert.
Salvation Mountain is Special
The philosophy of his creation is based around the Sinner’s Prayer and love. Therefore, you will see many Bible verses and words about love.
This place became so unique that Seann Penn featured it in his movie, Into the Wild, and the band Third Day featured its depiction on their album’s cover image. Salvation Mountain was also featured in other films, music videos, on National Geographic, and Leonard Knight even got his documentary of it, Leonard Knight: A Man and his Mountain.
At age 82, Knight died in February 2014. It is known that he used to give personal tours of Salvation Mountain to explain his work. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the pleasure of meeting him because we went a year after his death. But to me, his work was extraordinary and his story and message are special. I mean, talk about perseverance and love!
The last I read was that volunteers help maintain Salvation Mountain. Although this place is free to visit, paint is accepted as a donation to help support the mountain. Sometimes, you might even get a tour by one of the volunteers maintaining the places like my sister did during her visit.
How to Respect During Your Visit
We saw a sign asking visitors to follow the yellow brick road (think Wizard of Oz) during our visit there. Please follow the yellow road! The volunteers are serious about this. Some visitors chose to climb other mountain areas, and the volunteers had to keep yelling at them from far away.
In front of the central heart, there is also a sign telling you not to climb. So, please don’t sit on the heart for your pictures. Be respectful and treat this like any other art museum. It’s an outdoor museum that took many years for Leonard Knight to build, and his message of love needs to last long enough for others to see.
Other Things To See:
How to get to Salvation Mountain:
The Salvation Mountain sits in Niland, Ca, near the Salton Sea and an hour and a half from Palm Springs.
From Los Angeles or Phoenix:
Coming from Interstate 10, you will get on the 86S and drive 11 miles to Highway 195 (signs for 66th Ave E., or you will end on the wrong side of Salton Sea as we did). Continue 1/2 mile towards Highway 111S and drive about 42 miles to Niland. Turn left on Main Street (turns into Beal Road) until you see the mountain in the middle of the desert.
From San Diego or Yuma
Take Interstate 8 to Highway 111 north. Niland is about 32 miles. Turn east on Main Street (turns into Beal Road) and go a little over 3 miles to Salvation Mountain.
This place was indeed special because it’s a reminder of God’s love. But, even if you are not a believer, this place is special because of Knights’ hard work and dedication to his art that became this beautiful and colorful mountain. Have you ever gone to Salvation Mountain? Did you enjoy it? Or meet Mr. Knight himself?
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Salvation Mountain: A Special Roadtrip
