Zzyzx
Baker, CA, 4.1.2006 (52 photos)

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Approaching the Zzyzx Road interchange on I-15, about 5 miles southwest of Baker. Very few travelers take this exit. The following photos are mostly in sequential order, as you might take them yourself when visiting.

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BLM sign just off the exit at Zzyzx Road: "Soda Springs Area of Critical Environmental Concern and Desert Studies Center. Welcome. Orientation center four miles ahead." The 4-mile road is dirt but suitable for any vehicle.

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Along the road to Zzyzx, approaching the Soda Lake dry lakebed. The New York Mountains are in the distance.

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Close up of the surface of the lake bed. A the time of this visit (April 2005), there had been a lot of rain recently, and the lake bed was slightly muddy. (In the summer, it becomes as hard as concrete.)

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Distant view of Zzyzx, across a portion of the lake bed. Zzyzx is located on a penninsula jutting into the lake bed.

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Panoramic close-up of the Zzyzx peninsula, blown up from the previous photo. Several buildings are visible.

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Palm trees along the road to Zzyzx. These are California fan palms, the only palm native to western North America. Zzyzx is visible in the distance on the left edge of the photo.

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More fan palms along the road. The trees are shown in their natural, untrimmed state, with a beard all the way down to the ground, providing a haven for wildlife. The photographer has stepped into the picture for perspective.

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The parking area and "Orientation Center". The pavilian in the center used to contain some informational signs and a vintage sign from the old Zzyzx Mineral Springs Resort, but they were apparently vandalized. If you come here, yours will probably be the only car in the parking lot. Although there are many signs of occupation, throughout this entire tour we will never see another human.

I LUV when trees make "tunnels" for us. —Kay (4/19)
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Shaded picnic area near the parking lot.

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An abandoned road near the outskirts of town.

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The head of the main street in Zzyzx, aptly named "Boulevard of Dreams". A bronze sign is in center.

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Close up of the text of the bronze sign, giving a short history of the town.

The building at the far right use to be the power house. There used to be two caterpiller deisel engines in there to run electric power. —Pete Jones, Hinkley,CA. (3/21)
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A residential area on the edge of Zzyzx, reflected in a pond.

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A line of palm trees on the edge of the main pond.

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A view of low buildings along the Blvd. of Dreams.

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A line of palm trees behind the main pond. The concrete structure appears to be a fountain.