Salvation Mountain Niland California

Up until recently, Knight, who lived just a stones through away from his mountain in an old Chevy truck, would personally greet all visitors, and willingly provide a tour of his mountain and his latest creations including nearby hogans (huts created from adobe), a replica of his partially inflated balloon, and a multitier museum.

However, the 77-year old Knight is no longer at Salvation Mountain because he has been suffering declining health. He now resides at a nursing facility in El Cajon, but the mountain is still open to visitors every day until dusk, and remains completely free.

The near-deserted town is home to a pair of other interesting sights, starting with Bombay Beach with its half-submerged abandoned buses and vehicles.

Like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie, there are also the remains of dozens of trailers and houses that sit rotting, half-buried in salty mud, along with what remains livable in this watery wasteland, with its shoreline of pulverized fish bones.

Just beyond Bombay Beach is Slab City, with its WWII-era Marine facility and nearly 2,000 winter "snowbirds" that live rent-free in their trailers and campers scattered among squatters in concrete remnants. Many are refugees of the Great Recession.

Finally, a trip to the desert would not be complete without a stop at the Cabazon Dinosaurs with its meandering path leading through great displays of everything from triceratops to velociraptors.

At the end of the path, you can climb a staircase that leads to the 30-foot T-Rex's mouth, where you look out through his teeth. There is also a gift shop and small museum inside the belly a concrete brontosaurus, as well as a neighboring robotic dinosaur museum.

Mr. Knight refused donations of money and labor from supporters who wished to change his message of universal love to favor to promote a different message and the monument remains exactly as it was built. Salvation Mountain is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Imperial County.

Leonard Knight is no longer able to live at the mountain so volunteers are now guarding the mountain to prevent anyone from vandalizing the property. The future of the sight is not clear however a nonprofit corporation is being set up to help preserve Salvation Mountain.

Salvation Mountain is about a two hour drive from San Diego and three hours from Los Angeles, Salvation Mountain has something for everyone, and is a beautiful tribute to folk art regardless of one's religious identity or lack thereof.