Getting Sidetracked Into the Quirky

If the East Mojave Desert could speak, what stories it would tell! Tales of Indians and Spanish explorers, trappers and trailblazers, pioneers and gold miners, cattle ranchers and restless spirits.

This desert has been crossed by an incredibly varied assortment of men and women. Native Americans began the procession more than 10,000 years ago.

Getting to know the new 1.4 million-acre Mojave National Preserve and the surrounding desert means exploring several stunning landscapes. And it means getting a sense of the past, because the landscape of the imagination might be the most important one of all.

The East Mojave’s colorful history comes to life in a trio of intriguing places off Interstate 15 between Barstow and the Nevada state line. Next time you’re motoring from Southern California to Las Vegas, get off the highway and take the time to explore these sights right off the road.

Remember, it’s all matter of perspective: One person’s interminable stretch of highway is another’s road to adventure.

Camp Cady: This former army outpost embraces the Mojave River floodplain where desert willow, cottonwoods and tamarisk flourish. The land is owned and maintained by the California State Department of Fish and Game. The agency plans to develop nature trails, but hiking and bird-watching requires a bit of improvisation for now.

Camp Cady was once the westernmost string of tiny military forts established during the 1860s to protect westbound settlers and travelers. The post has been reduced to a crumbled corner of rocks chinked with mud nestled in a stand of willow trees.

A turn-of-the-century Greek immigrant, movie theater magnate Alexander Pantages (of the Hollywood Pantages Theater) built a thoroughbred ranch and stable at this site. You can just imagine the sight of these pampered animals being put through their paces in this out-of-the-way place.

A hike through the Mojave River floodplain reveals evidence that people lived throughout this area not so long ago: A ramshackle lean-to here, a thatched willow hut there, rusted-out abandoned vehicles and even a boat or two. Yes, boats. The Mojave River not so long ago had enough water to permit rowboats and motorboats to patrol this territory that in places resembles the setting for the classic movie “African Queen.”

The resident bird population, along with the seasonal migratory short-term residents makes this a prime bird-watching area. On your one-mile or so walk on sandy roads along the Mojave River, you may spot hawks, quail, owls and several other species. Frogs and mud turtles inhabit the ponds.

Fish and Game staffers here are responsible for this 2,000-acre site, and for studying the bighorn sheep in nearby mountains.

Access: From Interstate 15, about 20 miles northeast of Barstow, exit on Harvard Road. Head south 2.7 miles to Mojave Trail. Turn east (left) on this dirt road and drive two miles to the signed entrance for Camp Cady. Turn north (left) and drive half a mile to the parking area.

Zzyzx/Soda Springs: Formerly a Cavalry outpost and later a health resort run by the late radio evangelist Curtis Springer, Soda Springs today is occupied by the California Desert Studies Center, a field station of the California State University, which was established in 1976 in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The self-contained, energy-efficient facilities include classrooms, science labs, a complete kitchen and dormitory space.

Conceived as a research facility for use by university faculty and students, the center has evolved into an educational retreat for those interested in all facets of desert study. The public can sign up for classes through the Office of Extended Education, California State University, San Bernardino.

Promising health to thousands of visitors and financial supporters, Springer built the Zzyzx (pronounced “zeye-zix”) Mineral Springs and Health Resort in the middle of the East Mojave. When Springer and his wife Helen arrived at Soda Springs in 1944, they described it as a “mosquito swamp” and built a self-contained town unlike anything else in the desert.

A labor force recruited from L.A.’s Skid Row--each man was paid $10 per week--built the resort’s extensive facilities. A 60-room hotel called The Castle, a dining hall, indoor baths and a large swimming pool shaped in the form of a cross were among the original projects. Springer broadcast his daily religious programs from the radio station and conducted services at Zzyzx Community Church.

The main road in the complex was named “Boulevard of Dreams,” and for many years it was a fitting title. For 30 years, believers, health-seekers and the curious flocked to Zzyzx, lured by Springer’s promises and products.

Although the self-proclaimed “old-time medicine man” never attached a fee to his services or herbal concoctions, the donations poured in. “Health Is Wealth,” he reminded the faithful.

But Springer’s kingdom crumbled in the 1974. Called “King of the Quacks” by the American Medical Assn., he was convicted on federal charges of false advertising for his claims and unauthorized use of federal land. He was evicted from the land and his facilities were seized by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management; he died in jail in 1986 at the age of 90.

An agreement between the Bureau of Land Management and the California State University system established the Desert Studies Center at the former site of the Zzyzx resort. Some of Springer’s buildings are in use. Many have been rebuilt or improved.

Scheduled two-hour weekend tours of the Soda Springs facilities are offered. The walking tours include information about the area’s natural history, human habitation, plants, animals and insights into the former resort’s history.

Access: From Interstate 15, about 60 miles northeast of Barstow, exiting on Zzyzx Road. Drive four miles south on the graded road to Soda Springs and the California Desert Studies Center.

Nipton: This is the kind of desert town that often appears on television or in newspapers as a human interest spot. The town’s motto is “Where the past is present.” It’s perfectly appropriate, especially when the midnight freight train rumbles through.

Jerry Freeman, a former hard-rock miner who purchased the entire town in 1984, designed a self-guided walking tour of it. He and his wife, Roxanne, moved from the famous sands of Malibu to the abandoned ghost town and have gradually brought it back to life.

Hotel Nipton, where silent film star Clara Bow was a frequent guest, is a pleasant Southwestern-style bed and breakfast (tel. [619] 856-2335.) For a hedonistic desert treat, the hotel even offers an outdoor hot tub.

Hotel Nipton was constructed of railroad ties and adobe in 1904 in order to serve miners and railroad travelers. The Freemans restored the hotel in 1986. The five-room bed-and-breakfast inn, decorated with period antiques and historic photos, is particularly popular with European guests.

In front of the hotel is a historic rock and cactus garden designed in 1930 by “Big John” Silveira, onetime Nipton resident and deputy sheriff from Searchlight, Nev. Cactus and succulents are interspersed with mineralized rock taken from nearby mines, including silver ore, quartz, feldspar and geodes.

From the cactus garden, the walking tour visits railroad cars, a blacksmith shop, a hay barn and a pond that offers a rest stop for migratory birds. Towering above Nipton to the southeast are the mile-high Castle Buttes.

Nipton at night is a very special place, even if there’s absolutely nothing to do. You can see the lights of Las Vegas 50 miles away--a testimonial to the clarity of the desert sky, not Nipton’s proximity to civilization. For us city dwellers all too accustomed to viewing murky night skies, gazing at the Milky Way is a revelation.

Access: From Interstate 15, about 40 miles east of Baker, exit on Nipton Road and drive 10 miles east to Nipton.

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East Mojave Desert

WHERE: Along I-15 on northern boundary of Mojave National Preserve.

DISTANCE: 1/2-mile to 1-mile leg-stretchers.

TERRAIN: Mojave River Valley, dry lake bed, springs.

HIGHLIGHTS: Historic town, military post, horse ranch.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Easy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Nipton Station; tel. (619) 856-2335.