Zzyzx Road is named after Carl Zzyzx, the first person to eat a cat in space. Please, no corrections, since facts don't care about your feelings! Yay!!! 😁
@@SurrealAdventure There's still a lot of controversy surrounding whether Carl Zzyzx was the first to consume, or merely choke, on one. Some say the "choking" controversy was just to drum up support for fellow astronaut, Ezra Zyphron, who was jealous of Carl and wanted to alphabetically be the last astronaut logged into the flight manifest. But, even though Zzyzx DID survive the trip, thus making the degrading of his legacy (by apparent choking) all the More demeaning, Ezra wasn't even on the same Shuttle mission as Carl Zzyzx! There's widespread and well-known video footage of him saying they were each in different programs, and only had a shared career timeframe period as astronauts of 4 months; During which time, NASA had no planned orbital missions. (We had already gone to the moon at this point.) But whatever theory you believe, it does well to keep an open mind about getting to the truth, and not letting passions stir you away from any of the hard evidence, as much of it is bound to continue to surface! It is as Oliver Wendell Holmes the II once said, "To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized man." We must never let the chore of continual reassessment turn us one-sided and stubborn; When the effort is not ours to make, there is neither crime nor shame in pondering towards such moments with wonder, and uttering the common, yet simple words, "I just don't know."
I am 70 years old. I can still remember driving to Vegas with my parents when I was a little girl and seeing that sign. We sailed past it in our big yellow Buick and it always remained a mystery. They were not the type to venture off the beaten path. Thanks for being brave and for the interesting video.
Your welcome. I wish I could have seen this place during it's heyday. There is a certain energy to this place that I missed being too young. Check out this photo: www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=ov9HuPsT&id=3DC85A8EF449993CC01AD2FE837DF2DB09F3617B&thid=OIP.ov9HuPsTxw17suUsKD83lQHaE5&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.kcet.org%2fsites%2fkl%2ffiles%2fatoms%2farticle_atoms%2fwww.kcet.org%2farts%2fartbound%2fimages%2fZzyzx_Mineral_Springs_pools_CSU_Desert_Studies_Center_Mojave_Desert.jpg&exph=384&expw=580&q=zzyzx+road+pool&simid=607990906067094934&ck=1748B4100179882CC50A5D021ABC1807&selectedIndex=2&ajaxhist=0
@@SurrealAdventure I'm with u If i had time machine i would go back. Its amazing he made all that for the gov to swoop it out from under him. But iij am sure there are truths to the stories unknown
I visited ZZYZX resort in 1969. I was twelve years old. We were staying at Mountain Air Ranch family nudist camp in Indian Hills, Colorado; when we met Mike, the manager of the rock group "The Chambers Brothers'. He told us about a health resort called "Zzyzx" in the Mojave desert in California. So, we traveled in our rambler station wagon to the resort (my parents and five brothers and sisters; I was the oldest kid). We stayed in one of the rooms and took alot of vitamins as it was definitely a HEALTH resort. At midnight we went hiking because it was so hot in the day that you couldn't hike. We hiked out on Soda lake. I had never seen anything like it to hike on; it was like white sulphur! We were from New Jersey and had just moved to Colorado the year before. I had never seen or been to any place like it. It was like another planet to me! Like Arizona was!! Anyway, I loved it and we then drove on to Calico ghost town and I bought a ring there which I mailed to Paris Hilton, forty years later!!! She MIGHT have it? I can never forget visiting ZZYZX health resort in the Mojave desert! TOM LIPPI Denver, Colorado
Thank you, Tom, for sharing the memory. Your maybe the 3rd person now to share an experience of actually having gone there back in it's heyday. Do you remember if you met Curtis Springer? He would have been the old white haired man that ran the place...
@@SurrealAdventure After seeing this video; I recall the building looks the same, and I remember how when we ate at the table in like a small cafe, he had vitamins laid out next to the cereal bowl, which reminded me of my Dad at home; how he laid out a line of vitamins for us every morning. I loved hiking at night because I had never done this, it seemed like walking on the moon or something, a little scary but adventurous! I think I remember the mineral baths, and my dad became mineral crazy after that. He bought a water softener after that for our water at home. Plus Aurora, Colorado has some of the cleanest water in the USA; our hometown at the time. I think I barely remember the guy but my Dad was extremely interested in his philosophies. My Dad's reason for moving to Colorado from New Jersey was because his chiropractor, Dr. Pagano, told him that a dry climate would cure his bersitus! Then I saw Dr. Pagano on "Unsolved Mysteries" because of his UFO studies! I was on that show once in Telluride, Colorado, playing the brother of Eva Schoen; who was murdered (U-haul family). Staying on this subject; Zyzzx seemed like a special place, very healthy. The leader might have looked like Dr. Smith on "Lost in Space"! I felt like an explorer, like Will Robinson. I really loved visiting the Petrified Forest in Arizona a couple years before! I still have a piece of Petrified wood from the sixties, which I treasure. When we visited Arizona, I was taking a leak by the roadside, and when I got back to the car, my Dad said, I said that I thought I saw space creatures!!! I was ten years old then. I saw in the movie about Jim Morrison, that he had a similar experience in the desert. Also the guy who guided us while hiking might have been him. I have traveled thru the 48 states mostly by myself. South Dakota is another fascinating area. The Lakota woman in a gift shop, asked me, if it was okay that she burned sweet grass while I was in there. I then felt like my body was halfway in the ground! I pulled over and laid down on the ground in a rest area, til I felt okay to continue. When I got back to Colorado, I asked a person they called, "The Church Lady" ( native American) what happened, and she said that I was bound to the Earth by an Indian maiden. She said that this can only be done to a special person! I felt important. I was born on Easter Sunday on Queen Elizabeth II's birthday. I have also hiked up thirty-two fourteeners to the top, almost all by myself. I have had an OBE (outta body experience) after being hit by a car, while walking in the crosswalk, and it made me an even more devoted Catholic because I realized that God is my Father! Thanks, Tom Lippi
@@tomlippi7763 Wow! I enjoyed reading about your experiences and adventure, especially the grounding with the Earth. You should have a website featuring your travel experiences in the 60s and 70s. Thank you 😊
I was named after that road due to how my parents thought it was cool. At one point I had the opportunity to visit the resort and was in awe to learn the real origin of the name and history. Can't wait to visit again.
My husband and I drove down this road twice, once in daylight in 1996 and again at night two years later in 1998. The second time we got out by our SUV, watched the stars in the nighttime sky and it was soooo quiet you could hear the sky humming.... Very peaceful....
I love stories like that I love the desert I would rather go to the desert than anywhere else and I'm 25 minutes away from Sequoia Park National monument don't get me wrong it's a gorgeous place to go visit and I would want everyone to go see it but I would much rather be in the desert I love it
Being a trucker I passed there everyday when I had a dedicated route from the Central Valley to Las Vegas. I didn’t pay much attention to it coming from Vegas, but going into Vegas.... I always looked forward to see it, since I knew my shift was almost over. Mexican truck drivers call this exit EL ABECEDARIO ( the alphabet ).
I love this place. I used to always stop here on my way from L.A. to Salt Lake City driving my 18 wheeler. Would sleep here and frequently hike up in the hills overlooking this place. Would usually see coyotes and wild sheep. Would walk through all the structures and imagine what the place was like in the past. I’m quite an elderly man and my boss and children would always worry I would get snake bit or break a leg when hiking around alone, but I always did and never had a bad experience.
One of my co-workers mentioned that he and his friend drove down this road several years back. He had passed it many times going to Vegas but decided on a whim to exit and see what lay beyond the sign. He said that he saw some guys digging in the dirt. They turned right around after that LOL.
This is great. I drove by the Zzyzx Road sign many years ago and chuckled at the name, and certainly wondered what was down there but didn't care enough to turn around... now I know, thanks.
I’ve driven past that road hundreds of times! When we used to be headed into Vegas is was kind of a sign that we were getting close. Never stopped and always wondered about the name of the road out in the middle of nowhere. Thank you for the tour.
Thank you for watching! Please give the video a like, and subscribe! I'm out of commission for a few months, was in a bad accident, broken bones, wrecked shoulder and physical therapy, but the videos will start again soon!
Sorry to hear about your accident, I’m laid up at the moment as well. Had a work accident on the tablesaw and almost lost two fingers back in November. Surgery went well and I had an amazing Dr! He was able to save my fingers and they are still attached! Two pins in my left index finger and lots of stitches! Just finished my PT and will hopefully be back to work next week! It’s been a long 4 months. I have partial use of my index finger but I’m happy with that considering is was severed and hanging on by just some skin! Heal up soon
Yes! We did a hike back there. I think it was called Painted Canyon. Amazing! And driving through to AZ with those mountains that look like they were turned on their sides. Just fascinating!
I was part of a Geology field class that stayed there several days in the spring of 1983. We were in that valley for a week studying the amazing Geology in the area and this provided an excellent base camp. Looks about the same as it did nearly 30 years ago. Apparently there is a large bull dozer that sunk into the playa to the north. It got stuck and could not be recovered. Springer had used a mining patent to occupy the property. If you hold a patent, it's required to spend a certain amount on mining and complete mineral assays every year. When he stopped completing the annual requirements, the BLM seized the patent. It's pretty clear that Springer's mining effort was purely ceremonial. There were thousands of patents developed using the same ruse all over the Mojave. The BLM has since cleared many of them out. This same loophole is currently being used for occupied properties in the national forest in Boulder County CO. Folks have built some fairly high end places on these mining patents.
Yup $17 a year. My father had multiple claims, turquoise, opel, & agate mines. Drove out to them twice a month in order to get the $100 a month assessment you needed to spend in order to keep them. Until Coors funded the Bureau of Land Management; in I believe 1973, to ban all motorized vehicles to pass across the land we needed to in order to get to our mines. I don’t drink Coors to this day cuz of it. At the time I was upset about it to the point that my father and I went to the Bureau of Land Management meetings to try and stop the restrictions, to the point of writing a school report about the issue. Knowing what I know today, I’m happy that they did restrict motorized travel. That was a time that people started creating rail buggies out of VW motors and not respecting the already established roads. Been a bit since I discussed this! My two cents.
Same here -- a week-end geology field trip in the mid1990s' -- it was "trippy!!" I was surprised to see the disrepair that the place is in today -- I think that the CSU system still owns the place and still for field trips.
I find it so fascinating that people are always so intrigued about Zzyzx on their way to and from Vegas. I live in Baker so I know all the Mojave and Death Valley deserts. I also recommend taking KelBaker road all the way to Desert Springs, lots of unique stuff out there
Wow! Thank you so much! I was born in Las Vegas and moved to Southern California when I was 12. I moved back to Las Vegas about 5 times because of construction work. My family always stayed in Southern California. The reason I bring this up is because I have driven past this road over 250 times. At least. And I never checked this road out, so thank you for checking it out for me! Awesome video!
Thank you, guys. Imagine that. For a couple of years I lived just down the road in Apple Valley of Roy Rogers fame, and passed this sign a hundred times. Always wondered what was down there. Moved back East and never found out. You folks did a great job on the video, too. Don’t know if you’re into “filmmaking,” but you’re vid was really enjoyable, very professional.👍👍
Thank you. No, I'm really an amateur, but I've since learned to edit better, and upgraded to a mac/final cut. I think there has to be some inspiration behind a video, and I would like to think these make people "feel" a certain way when they watch them, at least that's my goal. I hope they feel the same way I did, when I was creating them. Thanks for watching, please give it a like and subscribe!
I know it’s mostly open desert between the two, and thus distance is relative, but I still chuckled at an almost 100 mile drive being described as “just down the road.“
Into “filmmaking”…. ??? This is amateur for sure. At least he can admit it. Nothing artistic about this. It’s just a vlog with music slapped onto it and captions that you can barely read against the sunlit areas.
wow... always wondered where this road's name came from whenever I saw it on my way to Vegas. He must have found some gold since it would have taken a fortune to build in middle of nowhere. If you exit on this road at night, you will see beautiful sky full of stars.
I really enjoyed this very intresting video. But what was even more interesting was that I just couldn’t pull myself away from reading all the interesting and funny comments😄
I've always wondered where that road led to. I pass it all the time. Now I'll have to check it out for myself. I love your choice for background ambient music. Great video, thank you.
Nice discovery. I did always wonder when we passes that sign. Pity we never drove down there. Do wish the background music was lower...so your commentary was is the foreground.
The post production quality of this video was pretty poor, it was edited in Windows 7, using Windows Movie Maker. I think this was the last video I made before I ended up buying a Mac for editing purposes. I don't really have anything very interesting to say. This was an impromptu visit, and I hadn't done any research. Thanks for watching! Please give the video a like and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
I got a picture of me in 1978. I was 4 years old. I stood in front of the sign with my arms up like what the hell does that say🤣😂🤣pretty cool seeing this video
I would love to see that. I bet it's one of the signs in the KCET article? www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/zzyzx-revisiting-doc-springers-boulevard-of-dreams
I too, like many others, have wondered for years what was down this road and how it got it's name. We were always in a hurry to get where we were going or in a hurry to get back home. Thank you for sharing this!
10 years ago, I lived in Tehachapi for almost a year while I was helping build a windfarm. I remember seeing this exit sign many times as I drove around exploring the area. I always wondered about that name. So cool finally understanding the history of that area. Now a have to get back out and see SoCal again. I miss it out there!
Okay keyboard warrior!!! You talk big for someone who can talk big without having to worry about getting a punch in the mouth!! I come from a generation that doesn't take getting called a liar lightly!! I drive all over Socal when I lived out there!! So shut your damn mouth dumbass!!!
Excellent video, drove past that road I don't know how many times during the 33 years I lived in Long Beach California. Probably came within moments of turning off that exit so many times, but there was always something that couldn't wait and I figured I'd get back there. Left California nine years ago, and now my personal mystery has been solved LOL. Thanks for posting this!
I'm really digging your choice of music for this video, I had to finish watching it in the other room because my wife was anticipating screaming any minute. lol Thank you for sharing & I will definitely check the place out the next time I'm in the area.
Thank you. Have respect if you go there, the maintained buildings are part of the CSU School system. Also, the road is very long and washboard, so don't take your lowered 350z there. Also, don't go in the middle of summer, or you might not come home. Thanks for watching, please give the video a like and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!~
A long time ago I was told this was the only road in America that was that was spelled with all consonants. (NEVER FACT CHECKED,LOL) That is why I always stop there, as a toast to individuality. Strange I know!! But it is what it is...
It was mandatory for my ecology-based Biology class to attend an overnight stay in Zzyxz. I never expected the trip to fulfill my wish to see a wild tarantula.
@@Daniel-yd8jg The purpose of the trip was to study desert ecosystems. All my classmates needed to observe the environment in order to answer our worksheet questions.
We've driven past the sign many times and wondered what the name meant and what was down the road. We never checked, so seeing this video is enlightening. Thanks.
When I was 10 in 1965, I met Mr Springer there at Zxyzx Springs. I remember him telling us that when he first arrived there were a few descendants of Beale’s camels still around.
Wow! We used to go out to Apple Valley, to visit friends that moved out there; but my dad wouldn't have let us explore elsewhere, because we had to get back home to tend to our farm.
I used to camp out there with Alan Romspert who contributed greatly to The Herbarium at the CSUF Desert Studies Consortium that is mentioned in the video and one of my mentors from college Dr. Allan Schoenherr....man those were some good days. ‘ROMS’ (as he was known by his friends) unfortunately passed from cancer in 2009. May we meet again. -JIm
Your welcome! Here's some more info on the place I think you will enjoy: www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/zzyzx-revisiting-doc-springers-boulevard-of-dreams
I've driven past that exit many times and always wondered what was down there. Thank you so much for your entertaining view of that wonderful old establishment.
There is more information about this place, as well as some interesting stories here: www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/zzyzx-revisiting-doc-springers-boulevard-of-dreams
My partner and I visited here a few days ago on a small roadtrip out west. They now have most of the campus blocked off with various signs asking people to stay out of the campus. We were allowed to walk around he small pond, but unfortunately didn't want to risk crossing the boundary into the old resort as we saw various vehicles on the lot. Very cools to see what it actually looks like on the inside.
I made this before the band "Stone Sour" sung their popular song "Zzyzx Rd." which attracted a lot of attention to this place, so I'm sure they're just doing what they need to protect the place. At least it's on various videos, which serve a public interest.
When I was a kid growing up in an LA suburb in the 1960's, I used to hear Curtis Springer's radio broadcast. He was a radio preacher who filed a mining claim, but instead of mining built Zzyzx Mineral Springs as a health resort. He was always peddling some kind of herbal health concoction that he referred to as "My delicious Manna". He was quite a character and eventually got 60 days in jail for making false medical claims about his products and ultimately was evicted by the Bureau of Land Management because he was selling home sites on land that he didn't own.
I actually have a box of his “antideluvian tea”. I’ve bid on a couple of eBay listings for “Manna” too, but people want a premium for This stuff. I have a couple of his radio broadcasts that were kept By one of the sherrifs that removed him.
@@SurrealAdventure I know I really miss Huell I enjoyed all his shows and all the interesting places that he would go. I learned alot from him about little hole in the wall towns and all the events that they have and just learning about the history. I am a native Californian and I love all the history of the state. Does the University still run the property? Or is it abandoned now?
I was driving to law Vegas up the 15 North last week and saw this road and wondered what it was and told myself I would research it. I forgot and hadn’t looked it up at all and all of a sudden I’m recommended this video. What a trip but I’m glad I was recommended this and watched cause now my curiosity has been filled thank you
Finally someone else is curious about this road, and how it got it's name, I've been wanting to know about it for years and years and years. It's a shame that they just let it go, I bet it was awesome back in the day. Thank you 👍💯😁
thanks for showing this, when I was a kid we would drive past Zzyzx Road on our way to trips out of town, Saturday morning cartoon taught how to say the name.
We pulled off and filmed a short scene in the movie “Malevolence” there in 2003 on our way from Vegas to LA. Beautiful desert landscapes, handy to the highway, and remote enough to not get hassled by gawkers.
Super interesting, I've always wondered what was down that road during road trips. I thought it was some kind of private road, so I never took the exit.
As with many motorists I’ve driven by the road but never had a curiosity to follow it. Thanks for the enlightenment maybe the next time I come upon it I’ll go and breathe the air.
A great example of what we leave behind as individuals. Within a 100 years nothing. Cherish relationships with family and friends, they are all we really have that has value. Money, prestige, material things all disappear like smoke blown away by the wind.
Maybe you will leave nothing behind but I will leave a dynasty. I have 5 children, 16 grandchildren, and one great grandchild so far. My genes will go on for quite some time. Maybe until the end of mankind.
The saying is like dust in the wind! Kansas recorded in 1977 A meditation on mortality and the inevitability of death, the lyrical theme bears a striking resemblance to the well-known biblical passages Genesis 3:19 ("...for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.") and Ecclesiastes 3:20 ("All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.") as well as to the famous opening lines of the Japanese war epic The Tale of the Heike ("...the mighty fall at last, and they are as dust before the wind.") and from a book of Native American poetry, which includes the line "for all we are is dust in the wind."
Smoke is on the water! Deep Purple 1971 a true story about the Montreux Casino in Switzerland burning down the night before they were set to record there!
Oh this is wonderful. I have a million questions in my head. Who came here? Who worked here? Who lived close by? Fascinating. Thank you, and please post more like it.
Here is a link to a KCET Website that has a lot of great info on the place, as well as old photos: www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/zzyzx-revisiting-doc-springers-boulevard-of-dreams
Thank you so much for the tour....I believe Huell Howser too visited some years back...in your video it is special to actually see people in the picture...'arrested decay'....so much of our California desert in this present status...I think of Salton Sea...that there might eventually bring the place back to past glory....
I've heard that there's been talk about that very thing. But who knows if it would ever come to fruition. We all know that it would take some wealthy developers to get another "vision" to re-build there. And they wouldn't bother to save anything historical. Maybe the Bar. But they are more likely to level it all out, like they do most things. Sorry to sound so cynical, but that seems to be mostly how it is. .
the salton sea is forever doomed, no chance of bringing the place back to its past glory. the sand from the lake that gets blown into the air is deadly.
Trip out! I love exploring old places. It’s so weird to me that there’s all of these massive buildings resorts etc. just abandon in the middle of nowhere. super interesting 🤔
I enjoy being there via camera!...but I would worry about such things as snakes, tarantulas, etc. I would not even want to walk around such a place, fearing to get bitten by something!
They had a belief 100 years ago that desert spring areas were good for your health. They are partially right. Thin desert air does help with lung issues.
Thanks for posting this! All the times I've driven by the exit on I-15, I had no idea any of this was back here, and no idea how bizarre its founder was. (And, I've never found out whether "Zzyzx" is supposed to rhyme with "Isaac's" or with "physics.")
The late Huell Howser's PBS TV series "California's Gold" had a show on Zzyzx resort and Springer. It was pronounced to rhyme with Isaac's by Huell and several docents. Having driven L.A.. to Las Vegas past Zzyzx Road many times I always thought it rhymed with physics myself, but I guess I was wrong.
Born in Lonepine, CA and raised in Ridgecrest, CA, then moving to southern Utah and becoming a long distance truck driver and going past this sign so many times I couldn't hazard a guess I gotta tell ya, thanks! Now, I know. Looks like a nice little campground in a primitive way. That's how I like it. Have a great day!
@NiteStorm, there is a Zzyzx road just outside of Las Vegas. It dead ends at the hill and I believe that one may be a native burial ground. Always got creepy feelings just as we passed it.
Thanks so much for the video. I always asked me what this road sign is all about. I am swiss tourist and a Vegas freak and saw several times this road sign and finally I realized what I missed to visit instead of driving direct to Vegas. Wish to visit next time this place.
Next time your in the area, stop at Baker (the town up the road) and check out the cute restaurants. There is a road there, next to the Mad Greek, that goes north into Death Valley - Death Valley Rd. It's one of the more Beautiful and scenic roads in this area. It will take you through Tecopah Hot Springs, the old town of Amargosa, where there is a beautiful old hotel, miles of desert and playa, then you will come to the northeast end of Death Valley, where you can stop at Furnace Creek, and see the beautiful resort they built, the ghost town of Rhyolite, and the old town of Beatty Nevada is nearby. Thanks for watching, please give the video a like, and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
Zzyyzx Road is one of number of desert roads along I-15 coming in from Vegas or Salt Lake City. There is also a Wells Stoddard road that goes to some place called Bell Mountain and the back to I-15.
Here in southern Utah near St George, there is an area designated as the “ lambing grounds”, as I have explored some of the Jeep trails, I’ve seen sheep on the hillsides. If you drive west through the Gorge early mornings, you sometimes will see sheep on the side of the freeway, making their way to the river. It’s a fun experience to see them!
Thanks for this video. I've passed this road tons of times, never knowing it went anywhere. Maybe one day I'll get to drive down it & explore a bit. Just to say I did. I understand classes might be in session, so yes, I'll absolutely be respectful. I love this video! Thanks again! 💞
Glad you enjoyed. Getting to be an old video now, but I’m sure the place hasn’t changed much. Thanks for watching! Please give it a like, and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
Very cool. I've stared at that off-ramp countless times (making the annual drive to Vegas for NFL opening weekend), but I've never ventured off. Figured there was something to see but I should've known better. I absolutely love the Mojave Desert for it's ghost towns and "old west" relics.
Saw it The one time I had to pick up in California. Didn't even know how to say it still don't. Said I'd find out one day when Cali got away from communistic tyranny. Guess before then.
@@dontneedtoknow5836 haha.. seriously though, if you think CA is a communist dictatorship, you need help that even the good Dr. Springer couldn't have provided. The desert does strange things to some people ;)
Like so many who commented on here, I drove past many times on the road to Vegas. I’m glad to have my curiosity sated. It looked beautiful in the first pictures. It would be nice for someone to restore it to be used as a refreshment stop or an overnight inn. I don’t know how far down the road you’d have to drive. Probably too far for it to be feasible and those going to Vegas were probably as anxious to get there as we were. I had been driving that route in the 70’s and I’m happy to see what was out there. Thank you for showing us all. There’s a lot of interested people.
If you watch the whole video, the Desert Studies Center, part of CSULB occupies the maintained portion of the property, which is over 90% of it. Thanks for watching, please give the video a like and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
Wow this place looks interesting. One day i might want to explore it too but with my family or friends I enjoyed this video. like always Safety always is first. I look foard for more Desert videos.😉
I was here about 5 years ago. At that time, I was driving a taxi and I transported a passenger from Riverside, CA to his workstation at the end of this road. He explained that he was a Biologist and that he took temperature and climate readings from his post there! I recall bighorn sheep that lived here, and one that I nearly ran into on the way out! I got some really good photos of this place on my Canon.
I lived in those dorms at 4:00 back in 2001 while researching the desert tortoise, and the pool is life saving but definitely not a hot spring. Thanks for the update!
Cool, and thanks for sharing that! I'm pretty sure Curtis Springer, back in the day, was promoting it as a "Hot Spring" even though he had hot water heaters out behind that spa building heating the water.
@@unclejack41 Springer had big diesel generators for electric power.... Nowadays, DSC has a huge 50 KW solar electric station on site. So everything is still "off-grid".
This was a very nice vid. I think Huell Howser had an episode on this, as well. Anyway, cheers I might stop by there thanks to your reminder of how interesting things are when you look closer.
I have driven past this sign at least 10 times over the years and never turned off there. Once I finish my van build, I'm so going out there. Thanks for the video.
After you check this place out, I recommend going a bit further east on the 15, and exit into Baker, then after you explore kitschy Baker, go north on Death Valley Road. There is a lot more to explore down this road. Stop in Tecopah, a hot springs with R.V. camping, stop at the Amargosa hotel, and explore the remains of the small town there. From there, you can continue north to Beatty/Death Valley/Furnace creek/Ghost town of Rhyolite. Thanks for watching, please give the video a like, and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
Zzyzx Road is named after Carl Zzyzx, the first person to eat a cat in space. Please, no corrections, since facts don't care about your feelings! Yay!!! 😁
?????
I have to correct you. He was the first person to CHOKE on a cat in space. Some say it was a hairball though.
@@SurrealAdventure There's still a lot of controversy surrounding whether Carl Zzyzx was the first to consume, or merely choke, on one. Some say the "choking" controversy was just to drum up support for fellow astronaut, Ezra Zyphron, who was jealous of Carl and wanted to alphabetically be the last astronaut logged into the flight manifest.
But, even though Zzyzx DID survive the trip, thus making the degrading of his legacy (by apparent choking) all the More demeaning, Ezra wasn't even on the same Shuttle mission as Carl Zzyzx! There's widespread and well-known video footage of him saying they were each in different programs, and only had a shared career timeframe period as astronauts of 4 months; During which time, NASA had no planned orbital missions. (We had already gone to the moon at this point.)
But whatever theory you believe, it does well to keep an open mind about getting to the truth, and not letting passions stir you away from any of the hard evidence, as much of it is bound to continue to surface! It is as Oliver Wendell Holmes the II once said, "To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized man."
We must never let the chore of continual reassessment turn us one-sided and stubborn; When the effort is not ours to make, there is neither crime nor shame in pondering towards such moments with wonder, and uttering the common, yet simple words, "I just don't know."
@@bentonrp like a communist party summer camp, I consider myself “re-educated”. Thank you Comrad.
@@SurrealAdventure Thanks for the fascinating video! 😀
I am 70 years old. I can still remember driving to Vegas with my parents when I was a little girl and seeing that sign. We sailed past it in our big yellow Buick and it always remained a mystery. They were not the type to venture off the beaten path. Thanks for being brave and for the interesting video.
Your welcome. I wish I could have seen this place during it's heyday. There is a certain energy to this place that I missed being too young. Check out this photo:
www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=ov9HuPsT&id=3DC85A8EF449993CC01AD2FE837DF2DB09F3617B&thid=OIP.ov9HuPsTxw17suUsKD83lQHaE5&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.kcet.org%2fsites%2fkl%2ffiles%2fatoms%2farticle_atoms%2fwww.kcet.org%2farts%2fartbound%2fimages%2fZzyzx_Mineral_Springs_pools_CSU_Desert_Studies_Center_Mojave_Desert.jpg&exph=384&expw=580&q=zzyzx+road+pool&simid=607990906067094934&ck=1748B4100179882CC50A5D021ABC1807&selectedIndex=2&ajaxhist=0
@@SurrealAdventure I'm with u If i had time machine i would go back. Its amazing he made all that for the gov to swoop it out from under him. But iij am sure there are truths to the stories unknown
I have a couple of his original broadcast recordings. If your interested, I can send you a link?
@@SurrealAdventure I'm interested
Damn 70 years ago How many lanes were there back then. What was that state line 70 years ago
I visited ZZYZX resort in 1969. I was twelve years old. We were staying at Mountain Air Ranch family nudist camp in Indian Hills, Colorado; when we met Mike, the manager of the rock group "The Chambers Brothers'. He told us about a health resort called "Zzyzx" in the Mojave desert in California. So, we traveled in our rambler station wagon to the resort (my parents and five brothers and sisters; I was the oldest kid). We stayed in one of the rooms and took alot of vitamins as it was definitely a HEALTH resort. At midnight we went hiking because it was so hot in the day that you couldn't hike. We hiked out on Soda lake. I had never seen anything like it to hike on; it was like white sulphur! We were from New Jersey and had just moved to Colorado the year before. I had never seen or been to any place like it. It was like another planet to me! Like Arizona was!! Anyway, I loved it and we then drove on to Calico ghost town and I bought a ring there which I mailed to Paris Hilton, forty years later!!! She MIGHT have it? I can never forget visiting ZZYZX health resort in the Mojave desert! TOM LIPPI Denver, Colorado
Thank you, Tom, for sharing the memory. Your maybe the 3rd person now to share an experience of actually having gone there back in it's heyday. Do you remember if you met Curtis Springer? He would have been the old white haired man that ran the place...
@@SurrealAdventure After seeing this video; I recall the building looks the same, and I remember how when we ate at the table in like a small cafe, he had vitamins laid out next to the cereal bowl, which reminded me of my Dad at home; how he laid out a line of vitamins for us every morning. I loved hiking at night because I had never done this, it seemed like walking on the moon or something, a little scary but adventurous! I think I remember the mineral baths, and my dad became mineral crazy after that. He bought a water softener after that for our water at home. Plus Aurora, Colorado has some of the cleanest water in the USA; our hometown at the time. I think I barely remember the guy but my Dad was extremely interested in his philosophies. My Dad's reason for moving to Colorado from New Jersey was because his chiropractor, Dr. Pagano, told him that a dry climate would cure his bersitus! Then I saw Dr. Pagano on "Unsolved Mysteries" because of his UFO studies! I was on that show once in Telluride, Colorado, playing the brother of Eva Schoen; who was murdered (U-haul family). Staying on this subject; Zyzzx seemed like a special place, very healthy. The leader might have looked like Dr. Smith on "Lost in Space"! I felt like an explorer, like Will Robinson. I really loved visiting the Petrified Forest in Arizona a couple years before! I still have a piece of Petrified wood from the sixties, which I treasure. When we visited Arizona, I was taking a leak by the roadside, and when I got back to the car, my Dad said, I said that I thought I saw space creatures!!! I was ten years old then. I saw in the movie about Jim Morrison, that he had a similar experience in the desert. Also the guy who guided us while hiking might have been him. I have traveled thru the 48 states mostly by myself. South Dakota is another fascinating area. The Lakota woman in a gift shop, asked me, if it was okay that she burned sweet grass while I was in there. I then felt like my body was halfway in the ground! I pulled over and laid down on the ground in a rest area, til I felt okay to continue. When I got back to Colorado, I asked a person they called, "The Church Lady" ( native American) what happened, and she said that I was bound to the Earth by an Indian maiden. She said that this can only be done to a special person! I felt important. I was born on Easter Sunday on Queen Elizabeth II's birthday. I have also hiked up thirty-two fourteeners to the top, almost all by myself. I have had an OBE (outta body experience) after being hit by a car, while walking in the crosswalk, and it made me an even more devoted Catholic because I realized that God is my Father! Thanks, Tom Lippi
@@tomlippi7763 Wow! I enjoyed reading about your experiences and adventure, especially the grounding with the Earth. You should have a website featuring your travel experiences in the 60s and 70s. Thank you 😊
I was named after that road due to how my parents thought it was cool. At one point I had the opportunity to visit the resort and was in awe to learn the real origin of the name and history. Can't wait to visit again.
That's really cool. Thanks for commenting!
Bot.
bs
That's nice so what exactly is down there.
@Tom Jones lol
My husband and I drove down this road twice, once in daylight in 1996 and again at night two years later in 1998. The second time we got out by our SUV, watched the stars in the nighttime sky and it was soooo quiet you could hear the sky humming....
Very peaceful....
I love stories like that I love the desert I would rather go to the desert than anywhere else and I'm 25 minutes away from Sequoia Park National monument don't get me wrong it's a gorgeous place to go visit and I would want everyone to go see it but I would much rather be in the desert I love it
Could you see the light from the Luxor that far out??
You guy did more than that
The hum was the UFO that abducted you. But you don't remember.
It was the hummer he was getting
Being a trucker I passed there everyday when I had a dedicated route from the Central Valley to Las Vegas. I didn’t pay much attention to it coming from Vegas, but going into Vegas.... I always looked forward to see it, since I knew my shift was almost over. Mexican truck drivers call this exit EL ABECEDARIO ( the alphabet ).
Thanks for sharing
@@SurrealAdventure I once knew a woman who had named her female child "Abcd" (pronounced Abeced)..
Wow Miguel, I use to haul sack cement to Vegas then drywall back to the Antelope Valley.
I remember always looking at that off ramp sign.
Jaja it’s true I’m one of them call abecedario exit. Take care fellows
Yes, la salida "del abecedario"
The exit of the "alphabet"
It's amazing how much you can explore in just California alone!
There is lots of great stuff here!
I know when I worked the railroad from Vegas to Yermo and Vegas to Utah, I saw some strange things out in the Desert at night. Strange lights and such
Just stay away from the folks out there !!
Exactly I'm so interested in highway 395 north.
@@applejack2911 man that's baddass
I love this place. I used to always stop here on my way from L.A. to Salt Lake City driving my 18 wheeler. Would sleep here and frequently hike up in the hills overlooking this place. Would usually see coyotes and wild sheep. Would walk through all the structures and imagine what the place was like in the past.
I’m quite an elderly man and my boss and children would always worry I would get snake bit or break a leg when hiking around alone, but I always did and never had a bad experience.
Thanks for sharing, David.
Great share, thank you sir! 🥰
Hope ur well and still hiking David
An elderly man with a spirit of adventure. Love it!
You made good use of your traveling time and explored amazing places. I would do the same.
One of my co-workers mentioned that he and his friend drove down this road several years back. He had passed it many times going to Vegas but decided on a whim to exit and see what lay beyond the sign. He said that he saw some guys digging in the dirt. They turned right around after that LOL.
Don't blame them for turning around looks like a place to bury a body🤔😂
I think he was planting a tree...
I cant imagine being such a sheltered city person that seeing people digging in the dirt scares you....OMG they are DIGGING rUn FoR tEh HiLlS!
Bet all that area is creepy as F at night
probably just digging old valuable glass bottles ,
Always wondered where old Zzyzx went! Nice video.
Thanks for watching! Please give the video a like and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
Thanks to the Internet and the TH-cam algorithm one more mystery has been solved after 32 years.
Yup''''''
Hahahaa.. right .. the source of intelligence these days.. straight from a computer!🤙
It's Bigfoot's summer home.
@@FlyingJournalism cheers to computers and technology.
It leads you to the hidden boss fight.
This is great. I drove by the Zzyzx Road sign many years ago and chuckled at the name, and certainly wondered what was down there but didn't care enough to turn around... now I know, thanks.
I’ve driven past that road hundreds of times! When we used to be headed into Vegas is was kind of a sign that we were getting close. Never stopped and always wondered about the name of the road out in the middle of nowhere. Thank you for the tour.
Thank you for watching! Please give the video a like, and subscribe! I'm out of commission for a few months, was in a bad accident, broken bones, wrecked shoulder and physical therapy, but the videos will start again soon!
Sorry to hear about your accident, I’m laid up at the moment as well. Had a work accident on the tablesaw and almost lost two fingers back in November. Surgery went well and I had an amazing Dr! He was able to save my fingers and they are still attached! Two pins in my left index finger and lots of stitches! Just finished my PT and will hopefully be back to work next week! It’s been a long 4 months. I have partial use of my index finger but I’m happy with that considering is was severed and hanging on by just some skin! Heal up soon
I love these little forgotten places in the Mojave and Anza Borrego deserts! Always hidden gems.
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Yes! We did a hike back there. I think it was called Painted Canyon. Amazing! And driving through to AZ with those mountains that look like they were turned on their sides. Just fascinating!
I was part of a Geology field class that stayed there several days in the spring of 1983. We were in that valley for a week studying the amazing Geology in the area and this provided an excellent base camp. Looks about the same as it did nearly 30 years ago. Apparently there is a large bull dozer that sunk into the playa to the north. It got stuck and could not be recovered. Springer had used a mining patent to occupy the property. If you hold a patent, it's required to spend a certain amount on mining and complete mineral assays every year. When he stopped completing the annual requirements, the BLM seized the patent. It's pretty clear that Springer's mining effort was purely ceremonial. There were thousands of patents developed using the same ruse all over the Mojave. The BLM has since cleared many of them out. This same loophole is currently being used for occupied properties in the national forest in Boulder County CO. Folks have built some fairly high end places on these mining patents.
This is great info!! Thanks!!🥰🤩🤩🤩
Very cool, thanks. Geology is an amazing subject
Yup $17 a year. My father had multiple claims, turquoise, opel, & agate mines. Drove out to them twice a month in order to get the $100 a month assessment you needed to spend in order to keep them. Until Coors funded the Bureau of Land Management; in I believe 1973, to ban all motorized vehicles to pass across the land we needed to in order to get to our mines. I don’t drink Coors to this day cuz of it. At the time I was upset about it to the point that my father and I went to the Bureau of Land Management meetings to try and stop the restrictions, to the point of writing a school report about the issue. Knowing what I know today, I’m happy that they did restrict motorized travel. That was a time that people started creating rail buggies out of VW motors and not respecting the already established roads. Been a bit since I discussed this! My two cents.
Same here -- a week-end geology field trip in the mid1990s' -- it was "trippy!!" I was surprised to see the disrepair that the place is in today -- I think that the CSU system still owns the place and still for field trips.
@@matthewg4956 id like to hear more of it. best way to get ahead is to know the past I'm 33
I find it so fascinating that people are always so intrigued about Zzyzx on their way to and from Vegas. I live in Baker so I know all the Mojave and Death Valley deserts. I also recommend taking KelBaker road all the way to Desert Springs, lots of unique stuff out there
Julia, thanks for the tip. I probably will next time I’m out there.
I've driven by this thousands of times, and never really knew what it was.
Same here!
Me too
To Greg: Make sure your car doesn't break down on you.
Flatulence will engulf your soul.
Dear Greg Webster: Why were you driving though so frequently? Where were you going or doing?
@@msohsosolo: Why were you driving though so frequently? Where were you going or doing?
Wow! Thank you so much! I was born in Las Vegas and moved to Southern California when I was 12. I moved back to Las Vegas about 5 times because of construction work. My family always stayed in Southern California. The reason I bring this up is because I have driven past this road over 250 times. At least. And I never checked this road out, so thank you for checking it out for me! Awesome video!
You are so welcome!
Thank you, guys. Imagine that. For a couple of years I lived just down the road in Apple Valley of Roy Rogers fame, and passed this sign a hundred times. Always wondered what was down there. Moved back East and never found out.
You folks did a great job on the video, too. Don’t know if you’re into “filmmaking,” but you’re vid was really enjoyable, very professional.👍👍
Thank you. No, I'm really an amateur, but I've since learned to edit better, and upgraded to a mac/final cut. I think there has to be some inspiration behind a video, and I would like to think these make people "feel" a certain way when they watch them, at least that's my goal. I hope they feel the same way I did, when I was creating them. Thanks for watching, please give it a like and subscribe!
@@SurrealAdventure be
I know it’s mostly open desert between the two, and thus distance is relative, but I still chuckled at an almost 100 mile drive being described as “just down the road.“
Into “filmmaking”…. ??? This is amateur for sure. At least he can admit it. Nothing artistic about this. It’s just a vlog with music slapped onto it and captions that you can barely read against the sunlit areas.
@@gramirez72 who pooped on your Pop Tart?
10 years ago no one would give this place a second thought...now it speaks of peace and quiet we wish we had in our communities.
Other than the several decades that people inhabited it, you mean? ;)
Lack of upkeep & crumbling decay?
(Singing)
I wish,
I wish,
I wish I could be a Zzyxx...
(Apology to Mr. Limpet.)
@@HeadNtheClouds
Like the Rust Belt?
You can have this quiet in your community , it’s called don’t live in a community ,, the woods are peaceful
wow... always wondered where this road's name came from whenever I saw it on my way to Vegas. He must have found some gold since it would have taken a fortune to build in middle of nowhere. If you exit on this road at night, you will see beautiful sky full of stars.
Dude that founded it was a preacher and hustled "herbal remedies".Plus, back then you could homestead for free on BLM land..
@@joeschmidl3837 today they hustle CBD so what is the difference?
@@savannahsmiles1797 one actually works lol
I really enjoyed this very intresting video. But what was even more interesting was that I just couldn’t pull myself away from reading all the interesting and funny comments😄
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Please give the video a like, and check out some of the others in my library!
I've always wondered where that road led to. I pass it all the time. Now I'll have to check it out for myself. I love your choice for background ambient music. Great video, thank you.
I used to run loads back and forth between Los Angeles and Denver. That sign was definitely a landmark when coming back into Southern California.
Nice discovery. I did always wonder when we passes that sign. Pity we never drove down there. Do wish the background music was lower...so your commentary was is the foreground.
The post production quality of this video was pretty poor, it was edited in Windows 7, using Windows Movie Maker. I think this was the last video I made before I ended up buying a Mac for editing purposes. I don't really have anything very interesting to say. This was an impromptu visit, and I hadn't done any research. Thanks for watching! Please give the video a like and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
I got a picture of me in 1978. I was 4 years old. I stood in front of the sign with my arms up like what the hell does that say🤣😂🤣pretty cool seeing this video
Head! Huh huh huh! Head!
@Richard Head neither did you
I would love to see that. I bet it's one of the signs in the KCET article? www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/zzyzx-revisiting-doc-springers-boulevard-of-dreams
I too, like many others, have wondered for years what was down this road and how it got it's name. We were always in a hurry to get where we were going or in a hurry to get back home. Thank you for sharing this!
Very welcome! Please subscribe.
Wow. I have driven by that sign, more times than I could count and always wondered what was out there. Thanks for sharing. Great video
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10 years ago, I lived in Tehachapi for almost a year while I was helping build a windfarm. I remember seeing this exit sign many times as I drove around exploring the area. I always wondered about that name. So cool finally understanding the history of that area. Now a have to get back out and see SoCal again. I miss it out there!
Stop lying, 4 hour drive from Tehachapi to this exit
Okay keyboard warrior!!! You talk big for someone who can talk big without having to worry about getting a punch in the mouth!! I come from a generation that doesn't take getting called a liar lightly!!
I drive all over Socal when I lived out there!! So shut your damn mouth dumbass!!!
Take the retard driver with you
Excellent video, drove past that road I don't know how many times during the 33 years I lived in Long Beach California. Probably came within moments of turning off that exit so many times, but there was always something that couldn't wait and I figured I'd get back there. Left California nine years ago, and now my personal mystery has been solved LOL. Thanks for posting this!
I also live in Long Beach. Be glad you left, it's getting much worse.
I'm really digging your choice of music for this video, I had to finish watching it in the other room because my wife was anticipating screaming any minute. lol Thank you for sharing & I will definitely check the place out the next time I'm in the area.
Thank you. Have respect if you go there, the maintained buildings are part of the CSU School system. Also, the road is very long and washboard, so don't take your lowered 350z there. Also, don't go in the middle of summer, or you might not come home. Thanks for watching, please give the video a like and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!~
These 'places that time forgot' are always fascinating. 😃
Last 25 years I have always stopped here and smoked a bowl on way to Vegas. Always
I love it. I’ll have to do that someday!
A long time ago I was told this was the only road in America that was that was spelled with all consonants. (NEVER FACT CHECKED,LOL) That is why I always stop there, as a toast to individuality. Strange I know!! But it is what it is...
When presented with a road named Zzyzx, whilst possessing the requisite paraphernalia and consumables, that seems an entirely reasonable thing to do.
I would like to someday stop in and check out this place.
Wants to go to Vegas with you now..just sayin💨💨💨
Thanks for answering the age old question for many of us who have passed this place on the way to Vegas
Your welcome, glad you enjoyed it. Please give the video a like and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
It was mandatory for my ecology-based Biology class to attend an overnight stay in Zzyxz. I never expected the trip to fulfill my wish to see a wild tarantula.
Better you than me!😲😬
Really
@@Daniel-yd8jg The purpose of the trip was to study desert ecosystems. All my classmates needed to observe the environment in order to answer our worksheet questions.
We did the same when I attended classes at Long Beach City... we stayed a weekend and hiked and enjoyed outdoor classes on nature studies.
I spent a weekend there with my Dessert Ecology class in 1982. Most fun class i’ve ever taken. Thank you Mick Bondello and Hancock College.
We've driven past the sign many times and wondered what the name meant and what was down the road. We never checked, so seeing this video is enlightening. Thanks.
Great video.
I've passed that exit dozens of times but have never gone down it.
Thank you for the revelation.
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When I was 10 in 1965, I met Mr Springer there at Zxyzx Springs. I remember him telling us that when he first arrived there were a few descendants of Beale’s camels still around.
Like General Beal,????
Like Jerry?
Cool
I think he was pulling your leg a little. That's almost 80 years and hundreds of miles from the last sightings.. If not, he should've taken a picture!
Wow! We used to go out to Apple Valley, to visit friends that moved out there; but my dad wouldn't have let us explore elsewhere, because we had to get back home to tend to our farm.
I used to camp out there with Alan Romspert who contributed greatly to The Herbarium at the CSUF Desert Studies Consortium that is mentioned in the video and one of my mentors from college Dr. Allan Schoenherr....man those were some good days. ‘ROMS’ (as he was known by his friends) unfortunately passed from cancer in 2009.
May we meet again. -JIm
So is it still a research lab?
RIP Alan Romspert.
Very cool! I was stationed at George AFB in Victorville and have passed by this road hundreds of times! Thanks for posting!!!
Your welcome. Thanks for watching. Please like and subscribe for more! (as soon as I have rotator cuff surgery, and my broken arm heals).
So was I, in 1976-77. Worked in the telecommunications center as a Teletype maintenance tech.
I went down that road... found princess Zelda, 2 dragons and liquor store
🦋🌝🌚
Wow I have passed this place so many times wondering where do it goes. Wow thank you for the
upload
Driven on i-15 from san diego to vegas countless times. Always wondered what was at the end of Zzyzx Road. Thank you for posting.
You're very welcome, thanks for watching, please give the video a like and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
Driven past this exit countless times, thanks for the insight.
Tim G. Why were you driving though so frequently? Where were you going or doing?
@@eddyvideostar Running drugs.
I yawn and feel sleepy every time I drive by this road. Like I need a nap or something.
Les Rosin 😁😁
It’s haunted
Les... It sounds like you need just a few more ZZZZZ's :-)
@@BlueGoat682 it's cool you can just add tgem to tge nane! 😂😂😂😂😂😂
U just made me yawn 🥱 lol
Thank you for such an amazing and informative video. I always wondered what was on this road. And now I know. Seems like a nice historical outing.
Your welcome! Here's some more info on the place I think you will enjoy: www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/zzyzx-revisiting-doc-springers-boulevard-of-dreams
I've driven past that exit many times and always wondered what was down there. Thank you so much for your entertaining view of that wonderful old establishment.
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I see Zzyzx all the time going to Vegas..The sign is on the side of the mountain on the Freeway..
It is in the middle of nowhere..
Wow amazing..
Working for Caltrans Maintenance i remove several illegal stickers from that sign.
Thank you! Been going to Las Vegas for nearly 50 years and always wondered what was on this road every time we'd pass it!
I know on your way you stopped at Primm for a little fun on the way.
There is more information about this place, as well as some interesting stories here: www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/zzyzx-revisiting-doc-springers-boulevard-of-dreams
Passed by this road hundreds of times and never new this existed. Thanks for the tour very informative...might have to visit one day.
Hopefully there's a couple of vowels down there somewhere.
Top comment 🥇
Well there is the 'sometimes Y' rule
Ok you get the award 👏🤣😂
@@jamesbckmstro3 Sometimes 'w' too, as in "cwm."
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
My partner and I visited here a few days ago on a small roadtrip out west. They now have most of the campus blocked off with various signs asking people to stay out of the campus. We were allowed to walk around he small pond, but unfortunately didn't want to risk crossing the boundary into the old resort as we saw various vehicles on the lot. Very cools to see what it actually looks like on the inside.
I made this before the band "Stone Sour" sung their popular song "Zzyzx Rd." which attracted a lot of attention to this place, so I'm sure they're just doing what they need to protect the place. At least it's on various videos, which serve a public interest.
Always pass it on the way to Vegas would you recommend I go visit it.
@@SurrealAdventure Just how old is this video? Zzyzx Rd the song came out in 2007, 15 years ago.
@@SurrealAdventure says you made this video in 2017. the stone sour song was made way before that like in 07
@@SurrealAdventure more likely, all these vloggers going up there is what prompted them to block it off.
They never renamed that road? Even when I was a kid in the ‘70s the ZZYZX road signs always got stolen. California’s Gold! RIP Huell. 💙
I thought I was the only one who watched Huell Housers tv show, LOL.
I loved that episode. I wish he were still around!
I used to watch huell’s California Gold, on channel 22 KCET of Orange County
Good ol huell
love Huell
I’ve seen this road several times on my way to Vegas and always wondered what it lead to. Thanks for showing us.
Your welcome. Please give the video a like, and subscribe!
Every time driving back from Vegas this exit always caught my attention, thanks for exploring
You’re welcome, thanks for enjoying! Please give the video a like and subscribe for more as soon as my broken arm and dislocated shoulder heels…
Wife and I made a baby there,1981. On the way to vegas.
What kind of shape was the place in at that time? I am very curious as to the history
There is more info available here: www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/zzyzx-revisiting-doc-springers-boulevard-of-dreams
Tmi
Gross lmao
I was born in 81....Daddy?....
When I was a kid growing up in an LA suburb in the 1960's, I used to hear Curtis Springer's radio broadcast. He was a radio preacher who filed a mining claim, but instead of mining built Zzyzx Mineral Springs as a health resort. He was always peddling some kind of herbal health concoction that he referred to as "My delicious Manna". He was quite a character and eventually got 60 days in jail for making false medical claims about his products and ultimately was evicted by the Bureau of Land Management because he was selling home sites on land that he didn't own.
I actually have a box of his “antideluvian tea”. I’ve bid on a couple of eBay listings for “Manna” too, but people want a premium for
This stuff. I have a couple of his radio broadcasts that were kept
By one of the sherrifs that removed him.
I watched the special on PBS on California Golden Parks with Huell Howser it gives a complete history of Zzyzx. (Soda Springs)San Bernardino County.
@@dianamaida4172 I saw that too. I loved that guy. I'm so sad he's gone.
@@SurrealAdventure I know I really miss Huell I enjoyed all his shows and all the interesting places that he would go. I learned alot from him about little hole in the wall towns and all the events that they have and just learning about the history. I am a native Californian and I love all the history of the state. Does the University still run the property? Or is it abandoned now?
@@dianamaida4172 It's part of the Cal state system: www.fullerton.edu/dsc/
I was driving to law Vegas up the 15 North last week and saw this road and wondered what it was and told myself I would research it. I forgot and hadn’t looked it up at all and all of a sudden I’m recommended this video. What a trip but I’m glad I was recommended this and watched cause now my curiosity has been filled thank you
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Always wondered about this driving by the exit. Thank you for solving the mystery.
Finally someone else is curious about this road, and how it got it's name, I've been wanting to know about it for years and years and years. It's a shame that they just let it go, I bet it was awesome back in the day. Thank you 👍💯😁
thanks for showing this, when I was a kid we would drive past Zzyzx Road on our way to trips out of town, Saturday morning cartoon taught how to say the name.
I never knew this existed, I just thought Zzyzx Rd was a road to nowhere. Those buildings could be rehabilitated and a resort made there.
I used to always pass the Zzyzx exit as a truck driver leaving Cali entering Nevada and always wondered what was down that exit
Always wondered, never explored. Didn't want to be its next victim?
Something so appealing about an oasis in a vast desert. Very livable. What an awesome place. Thanks so much for this well done video.
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The humans: ha, goats. That's something you dont see everyday.
The Goats: ha, humans. That's something you dont see everyday
Lmaoo
the Goats: they're hiding in that metal box. obviously afraid of us.
LOL
We pulled off and filmed a short scene in the movie “Malevolence” there in 2003 on our way from Vegas to LA. Beautiful desert landscapes, handy to the highway, and remote enough to not get hassled by gawkers.
And no permits!
Very cool! Thank you showing us this hidden gem and it’s unique history.
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Super interesting, I've always wondered what was down that road during road trips. I thought it was some kind of private road, so I never took the exit.
Thanks for watching, and good luck with your channel. The whole place is maintained by the CSU Desert Studies Center, so it's a campus of sorts.
As with many motorists I’ve driven by the road but never had a curiosity to follow it. Thanks for the enlightenment maybe the next time I come upon it I’ll go and breathe the air.
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After watching this video and what a nice place to visit and next time I go to Vegas and now I know what's off that exit. Thanks for the video
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A great example of what we leave behind as individuals. Within a 100 years nothing. Cherish relationships with family and friends, they are all we really have that has value. Money, prestige, material things all disappear like smoke blown away by the wind.
Maybe you will leave nothing behind but I will leave a dynasty. I have 5 children, 16 grandchildren, and one great grandchild so far. My genes will go on for quite some time. Maybe until the end of mankind.
The saying is like dust in the wind!
Kansas recorded in 1977
A meditation on mortality and the inevitability of death, the lyrical theme bears a striking resemblance to the well-known biblical passages Genesis 3:19 ("...for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.") and Ecclesiastes 3:20 ("All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.") as well as to the famous opening lines of the Japanese war epic The Tale of the Heike ("...the mighty fall at last, and they are as dust before the wind.") and from a book of Native American poetry, which includes the line "for all we are is dust in the wind."
Smoke is on the water! Deep Purple 1971 a true story about the Montreux Casino in Switzerland burning down the night before they were set to record there!
Found the stoic
Unless your an Egyptian.
40 yrs of seeing that sign. mystery finnally solved. gonna take my kids there if i ever go back to cali.
Oh this is wonderful. I have a million questions in my head. Who came here? Who worked here? Who lived close by? Fascinating. Thank you, and please post more like it.
Here is a playlist of some of the other cool places I've been: th-cam.com/play/PLLHmBXAybZ7OyM36KEtW_AY3JPUQ7sgca.html
Here is a link to a KCET Website that has a lot of great info on the place, as well as old photos: www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/zzyzx-revisiting-doc-springers-boulevard-of-dreams
I was just there over the holiday weekend and it was quite the experience. My kids were scared at first since it's so remote but loved it at the end.
Veronica Almendra glad you enjoyed, it’s quite beautiful!
Thank you so much for the tour....I believe Huell Howser too visited some years back...in your video it is special to actually see people in the picture...'arrested decay'....so much of our California desert in this present status...I think of Salton Sea...that there might eventually bring the place back to past glory....
I've heard that there's been talk about that very thing. But who knows if it would ever come to fruition. We all know that it would take some wealthy developers to get another "vision" to re-build there. And they wouldn't bother to save anything historical. Maybe the Bar. But they are more likely to level it all out, like they do most things. Sorry to sound so cynical, but that seems to be mostly how it is.
.
the salton sea is forever doomed, no chance of bringing the place back to its past glory. the sand from the lake that gets blown into the air is deadly.
Every time I've driven past that sign I wondered what that road leads to. Thanks for showing us!
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There's a California's gold segment on this place, Hewell Howser ! That's AMAZING !!!
Yes, I saw that. I really miss that guy!
Right 💜 He was everyone's friend. Still watch him every night 😄😄
Hewell rocked!!!
Don't forget Louie the Camera man
@@podcastfan2544 Your Right 👍😎😎😎
Trip out! I love exploring old places. It’s so weird to me that there’s all of these massive buildings resorts etc. just abandon in the middle of nowhere. super interesting 🤔
I didn't show too much of it, but the place is still in use by the Desert Studies Center. I showed mostly the abandoned portion.
@@SurrealAdventure i see.. still cool 😎
I enjoy being there via camera!...but I would worry about such things as snakes, tarantulas, etc. I would not even want to walk around such a place, fearing to get bitten by something!
@@curbozerboomer1773 snakes 🐍 and tarantulas are super friendly. You be ok 👌
They had a belief 100 years ago that desert spring areas were good for your health. They are partially right. Thin desert air does help with lung issues.
Stopped in there just because of that sign, just had to see what up😊 great vid. Thanks🌹
Thanks for posting this! All the times I've driven by the exit on I-15, I had no idea any of this was back here, and no idea how bizarre its founder was. (And, I've never found out whether "Zzyzx" is supposed to rhyme with "Isaac's" or with "physics.")
🤗 physics
Thank you!
@@atsf1920 funny, I’d never even thought of Isaac’s… you’re more of a thinker than I 😅
I've heard Curtis Springer (?) on audio pronounce it as rhymes with Isaac's. Everyone in SoCal calls it Ziz-x but they're all wrong
The late Huell Howser's PBS TV series "California's Gold" had a show on Zzyzx resort and Springer. It was pronounced to rhyme with Isaac's by Huell and several docents. Having driven L.A.. to Las Vegas past Zzyzx Road many times I always thought it rhymed with physics myself, but I guess I was wrong.
I’d drive past this every month on my way to China Lake. Never went down it. Now live in Idaho.
My old man was born and raised in Randsburg... just south of China Lake.
Born in Lonepine, CA and raised in Ridgecrest, CA, then moving to southern Utah and becoming a long distance truck driver and going past this sign so many times I couldn't hazard a guess I gotta tell ya, thanks! Now, I know. Looks like a nice little campground in a primitive way. That's how I like it. Have a great day!
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I see that name everytime I go from CALIFORNIA to Nevada
@@fayemarshall2254 was that English?
@@acctadmin4073 Russian
@NiteStorm, there is a Zzyzx road just outside of Las Vegas. It dead ends at the hill and I believe that one may be a native burial ground. Always got creepy feelings just as we passed it.
That was pretty interesting. Now on our yearly drives to Vegas I'll know what we are passing.
Thanks so much for the video. I always asked me what this road sign is all about. I am swiss tourist and a Vegas freak and saw several times this road sign and finally I realized what I missed to visit instead of driving direct to Vegas. Wish to visit next time this place.
Next time your in the area, stop at Baker (the town up the road) and check out the cute restaurants. There is a road there, next to the Mad Greek, that goes north into Death Valley - Death Valley Rd. It's one of the more Beautiful and scenic roads in this area. It will take you through Tecopah Hot Springs, the old town of Amargosa, where there is a beautiful old hotel, miles of desert and playa, then you will come to the northeast end of Death Valley, where you can stop at Furnace Creek, and see the beautiful resort they built, the ghost town of Rhyolite, and the old town of Beatty Nevada is nearby. Thanks for watching, please give the video a like, and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
@@SurrealAdventure thanks, I put that on my schedule too for the next trip. Thanks for the tip.
Zzyyzx Road is one of number of desert roads along I-15 coming in from Vegas or Salt Lake City. There is also a Wells Stoddard road that goes to some place called Bell Mountain and the back to I-15.
Good marble found out by Bell mountain. Rock hound kid here
One of my favorite videos, a beautiful and eerie place with lots of history.
Surreal Adventure I have always been curious about that road. I'm from Las Vegas
Here in southern Utah near St George, there is an area designated as the “ lambing grounds”, as I have explored some of the Jeep trails, I’ve seen sheep on the hillsides. If you drive west through the Gorge early mornings, you sometimes will see sheep on the side of the freeway, making their way to the river. It’s a fun experience to see them!
Those annoying 2 notes you have playing in the background make it hard to watch. Had to turn the sound off
Government shut him down because it was probably healing people and they want you sick so you can rely on big pharmakia
Thanks for this video. I've passed this road tons of times, never knowing it went anywhere. Maybe one day I'll get to drive down it & explore a bit. Just to say I did. I understand classes might be in session, so yes, I'll absolutely be respectful. I love this video! Thanks again! 💞
Glad you enjoyed. Getting to be an old video now, but I’m sure the place hasn’t changed much. Thanks for watching! Please give it a like, and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
I did give it a like & subscribed. Thanks again!
Very cool. I've stared at that off-ramp countless times (making the annual drive to Vegas for NFL opening weekend), but I've never ventured off. Figured there was something to see but I should've known better. I absolutely love the Mojave Desert for it's ghost towns and "old west" relics.
Excellent. Perhaps you would enjoy this video I did on Ballarat Ghost Town: th-cam.com/video/eFODBXJu3Us/w-d-xo.html
never looked but i saw that road many times over the years heading to vegas. vegas awaited so i never looked!
Saw it The one time I had to pick up in California. Didn't even know how to say it still don't. Said I'd find out one day when Cali got away from communistic tyranny. Guess before then.
But yet, you still saw it😆
While it was an interesting video, I have one question: How do you pronounce ZZ
@@dontneedtoknow5836 haha.. seriously though, if you think CA is a communist dictatorship, you need help that even the good Dr. Springer couldn't have provided. The desert does strange things to some people ;)
Like so many who commented on here, I drove past many times on the road to Vegas. I’m glad to have my curiosity sated. It looked beautiful in the first pictures. It would be nice for someone to restore it to be used as a refreshment stop or an overnight inn. I don’t know how far down the road you’d have to drive. Probably too far for it to be feasible and those going to Vegas were probably as anxious to get there as we were.
I had been driving that route in the 70’s and I’m happy to see what was out there. Thank you for showing us all. There’s a lot of interested people.
If you watch the whole video, the Desert Studies Center, part of CSULB occupies the maintained portion of the property, which is over 90% of it. Thanks for watching, please give the video a like and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
I live in North Carolina, but here this was in my recommended. I’ve been by this sign once in my life.
In my day it was underground raves that were on zzyzx. Getting a flyer for one at school was like getting the golden ticket
No way? Is this real
@@brittanybriana6202 yes tons of parties in the desert
Wow this place looks interesting. One day i might want to explore it too but with my family or friends I enjoyed this video. like always Safety always is first. I look foard for more Desert videos.😉
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I was here about 5 years ago. At that time, I was driving a taxi and I transported a passenger from Riverside, CA to his workstation at the end of this road. He explained that he was a Biologist and that he took temperature and climate readings from his post there! I recall bighorn sheep that lived here, and one that I nearly ran into on the way out! I got some really good photos of this place on my Canon.
Thanks for sharing, David. That is a very long Taxi trip! Please give the video a like and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!
I lived in those dorms at 4:00 back in 2001 while researching the desert tortoise, and the pool is life saving but definitely not a hot spring. Thanks for the update!
Cool, and thanks for sharing that! I'm pretty sure Curtis Springer, back in the day, was promoting it as a "Hot Spring" even though he had hot water heaters out behind that spa building heating the water.
How would you heat the water in a place FAR FROM AN ELECTRIC COMPANY !!? I DOUBT HE HAD THERMAL/SOLAR HEATING
@@unclejack41 people have taken hot baths since way before electricity.
@@unclejack41 Springer had big diesel generators for electric power.... Nowadays, DSC has a huge 50 KW solar electric station on site. So everything is still "off-grid".
This was a very nice vid. I think Huell Howser had an episode on this, as well. Anyway, cheers I might stop by there thanks to your reminder of how interesting things are when you look closer.
I remember the Huell Howser episode, used to love his show. Sad that he's gone :(
Ive been by there a few times!Love the name always catches my attention.
Awesome.....thank you!!!
I have driven past this sign at least 10 times over the years and never turned off there. Once I finish my van build, I'm so going out there. Thanks for the video.
After you check this place out, I recommend going a bit further east on the 15, and exit into Baker, then after you explore kitschy Baker, go north on Death Valley Road. There is a lot more to explore down this road. Stop in Tecopah, a hot springs with R.V. camping, stop at the Amargosa hotel, and explore the remains of the small town there. From there, you can continue north to Beatty/Death Valley/Furnace creek/Ghost town of Rhyolite. Thanks for watching, please give the video a like, and subscribe for more offbeat stuff!