Salton Sea Road Trip ....

[westair]

My wife and I left Havasu Thursday morning and decided to take a trip through the Salton Sea since we've never seen it and it is the largest lake in Calif. I'm well aware of the problems there but what we saw was beyond words! It is truly a ghost town with some people still living there ..... but
an explorers dream. Buildings just left vacant, some standing and some just collapsed, some burnt down and left. We went anywhere we wanted through the beach areas on just trails and 4 wheel drive in the sand, nobody's around.
The lake is massive and any of the marinas and areas we went it was the same. No clean up and no one has attempted any cleanup of anything, even houses sitting half built. I'll post some pics soon as I can ...... anybody have any stories about this place, I hear it was a popular spot at one time.
Skyskier any old pics??

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

I always wondered about that place. Seems like alot of area left being unused. Must be a reason for that.

 

[RitcheyRch]

Sad isnt it. Thought read they used to do ski racing there.

 

[mike37]

my dad use to ski there before it went bad

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

my dad use to ski there before it went bad

So what's the dealio? Why did it go bad?

Forgive my stupid question, but it is salt water right?

 

[Racey]

I've been there once, rode around the lake on the bikes. In my opinion the place is a total toilet, I couldn't imagine growing up in a town like Calipatria or Brawley, god awful out there.

My dad boat raced with Brummett a few times back in the 60's, he said that it was so salty and dry that the spray from the boats would evaporate and leave you driving through salt dust clouds, you couldn't wipe your goggles cause the salt would scratch the lense, and the boats would be completely focked with corrosion.

 

[RitcheyRch]

Extruded salt through the jet pump.

 

[Luckie Stiff]

In the 50's and into the 60's the Salton Sea was THE place for the Hollywood elite and wannabe elite to vacation, it was a freaking killer resort. Then due to some assclown that allowed water transfers and such (trying to grow crops in the desert) it quickly became extremely salty and stinky, falling out of vogue with the hipsters who hung out there. Water salinity is 50 PPT, and rising.

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

I've been there once, rode around the lake on the bikes. In my opinion the place is a total toilet, I couldn't imagine growing up in a town like Calipatria or Brawley, god awful out there.

My dad boat raced with Brummett a few times back in the 60's, he said that it was so salty and dry that the spray from the boats would evaporate and leave you driving through salt dust clouds, you couldn't wipe your goggles cause the salt would scratch the lense, and the boats would be completely focked with corrosion.

Dizam!!! Be interesting to read into it, as to why it is salt water. Where does it come from? Maybe they can start a desalinization process to make it a recreation facility? :thumbsup

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

In the 50's and into the 60's the Salton Sea was THE place for the Hollywood elite and wannabe elite to vacation, it was a freaking killer resort. Then due to some assclown that allowed water transfers and such (trying to grow crops in the desert) it quickly became extremely salty and stinky, falling out of vogue with the hipsters who hung out there. Water salinity is 50 PPT, and rising.

So how did the transfers develop into the salty formation?

 

[westair]

So what's the dealio? Why did it go bad?

Forgive my stupid question, but it is salt water right?

I know the lake started by accident by a broken canal or something from the Colorado River and left like that for years. The salt was partly picked up from the ground, I don't know much more than that yet. There have been many restoration attempts but never seem to get off the ground. Land is very cheap right now if you a gambling type person

 

[mike37]

So what's the dealio? Why did it go bad?

Forgive my stupid question, but it is salt water right?

do a google on it most things you here are falls lots of history there

you would probably have more problems with the water in havazoo

 

[mike37]

I know the lake started by accident by a broken canal or something from the Colorado River and left like that for years. The salt was partly picked up from the ground, I don't know much more than that yet. There have been many restoration attempts but never seem to get off the ground. Land is very cheap right now if you a gambling type person

the lake was originally part of the natural overflow of the Colorado
but like the Mississippi they stopped that now its cut of

 

[73beast]

So what's the dealio? Why did it go bad?

Forgive my stupid question, but it is salt water right?

Yes, but no natural water flow. Water comes in,evaporates and gets salter. Two rivers flow out of Mexico i believe, the New and The Alamo ,heavily poluted end up empting into the sea. Also a lot of pestisides from surrounding farm lands ended up washing into it,making for a heavily poluted body of water.

 

[mike37]

http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/ss101.htm

 

[CampbellCarl]

I ain't that old (53), and remember many water ski trips there in the 60's. Just recall that when you got back in the boat after a ski ride, the salt dried onto your skin and then flaked off when you moved.
CC

 

[Deleted Account]

The corvina fishing is awesome. You can catch Tilapia all day long (Fish Tacos). We stopped fishing a long time ago (with an OB) and now we run down there to Wister a lot and duck hunt, and the Dove are everywhere around 9/1...:thumbsup

 

[TBI]

Check it out on google earth, that place is eerie

 

[Deleted Account]

It smells a bit, too. Watch getting too close to the sea. You can bury in quicksand mud all day long...

 

[westair]

Check it out on google earth, that place is eerie

Yes, it is very bizarre, its like everyone just left and didn't take anything with em, it just sits there, would think the city, state or someone would do
a cleanup just for health reasons if nothing else. Never seen anything like it.

 

[Rvrluvr]

a developer came in a few years ago and tried to make things happen...I drive thru there once a week and have watched the prices of the homes plumet....Last week the price went down 100k....were 179k now 79k...amazing

 

[TBI]

Yes, it is very bizarre, its like everyone just left and didn't take anything with em, it just sits there, would think the city, state or someone would do
a cleanup just for health reasons if nothing else. Never seen anything like it.

Cleaning it up was one of Sonny Bono's pet projects

http://www.cnn.com/EARTH/9801/16/salton.sea/index.html

 

[digger]

This was in todays paper..

http://www.pe.com/localnews/desert/stories/PE_News_Local_S_salton08.4911ce2.html

 

[Phat Matt]

The corvina fishing is awesome. You can catch Tilapia all day long (Fish Tacos). We stopped fishing a long time ago (with an OB) and now we run down there to Wister a lot and duck hunt, and the Dove are everywhere around 9/1...:thumbsup

Back in the day the fishing was second to none. I still have trophies from the corvina derbies they used to have. You could catch tilapia with a bare hook. They also had sargo and croaker. It was a fisherman's paradise. My grandparents still live there. It's too bad they let the sea go and didn't manage it.

Duck, dove and quail hunting are still really good though.

 

[HBCraig]

It is truly sad. We ride there from Ocotillo and you can smell it about a mile away.

 

[OCMerrill]

Every time we drive by I think about buying something there and just waiting for some sort of restoration effort.


Now it appears they want to spend 47 million making Bird ponds.

My parents learned all about boating there in the early 50's. My mom learned how to water-ski there. Back then the salinity was not nearly as bad as now. In fact it's rare to see a boat on it now.

I say spend the money if it's going to fix the lake but for birds...I don't know if I favor that.

 

[Phat Matt]

Every time we drive by I think about buying something there and just waiting for some sort of restoration effort.


Now it appears they want to spend 47 million making Bird ponds.

My parents learned all about boating there in the early 50's. My mom learned how to water-ski there. Back then the salinity was not nearly as bad as now. In fact it's rare to see a boat on it now.

I say spend the money if it's going to fix the lake but for birds...I don't know if I favor that.

It is a critical stop for migratory birds that use the pacific flyway.

 

[Skankersore]

The scariest city in America is Niland, a Salton Sea slum. Google Nilan and "Slab City" for an interesting read.

There have been a few documentaries on the "scrappers" who mostly live in dilapidated trailers, lean-to's and school buses up on blocks. The place is populated with derilicks who live without electricity, gas and water. They "bathe" in the nearby polluted canal and they "shower" in a dug out hole in the ground where a warm spring runs off the grass and into cistern. A special bus had to be used to pick up the Slab City kids because their stench is too horrific. Teachers call CPS daily and finally the State authorized a full time investigator just for those poor kids.

The "Scrappers" illegally enter the government's active bombing range to retrieve the aluminum bomb casings. Each casing brings in $50-$100 at recycling centers. Every year dozens die from bombs that didnt detonate in the field. These slack-jacked circus freaks tie live bombs to the beds of their rusted out Rancheros/El Caminos/Pinto station wagons and haul them back to their shacks and whack sledge hammers at them in an attempt to free the casings. BOOOOM! Another one bites the dust.

It was truly one of the most frightening places I've ever seen in my life. I had to be escorted by the Fire Chief of Nilan because the scrappers are territorial and violent. It's like a fucking Twilight Zone episode. Stephen King needs to tour the place and come up with a master piece.

 

[RitcheyRch]

I remember seeing an episode of cops or some show like that where they went to Niland (Slab City). Definitely wasnt a pretty sight from what I remember of the show.

 

[OCMerrill]

It is a critical stop for migratory birds that use the pacific flyway.

I'm a non eco friendly jeep owning cheap one sided bastard. If I can recreate on it then I say spend money. Birds can still go (no charge). The problem with this one sided eco position is the failure to publicly state that they migrated before the lake was created and are using it in its current cesspool condition... but I'm an ass like that.



What a Joke Diamond Valley lake turned into. Send the birds there.

 

[westair]

I remember seeing an episode of cops or some show like that where they went to Niland (Slab City). Definitely wasnt a pretty sight from what I remember of the show.

It was also shown in the movie "Into The Wild" ..... looked like a final resting place for old hippies. Good movie, true story:thumbsup

 

[Mblaster]

The scariest city in America is Niland, a Salton Sea slum. Google Nilan and "Slab City" for an interesting read.

There have been a few documentaries on the "scrappers" who mostly live in dilapidated trailers, lean-to's and school buses up on blocks. The place is populated with derilicks who live without electricity, gas and water. They "bathe" in the nearby polluted canal and they "shower" in a dug out hole in the ground where a warm spring runs off the grass and into cistern. A special bus had to be used to pick up the Slab City kids because their stench is too horrific. Teachers call CPS daily and finally the State authorized a full time investigator just for those poor kids.

The "Scrappers" illegally enter the government's active bombing range to retrieve the aluminum bomb casings. Each casing brings in $50-$100 at recycling centers. Every year dozens die from bombs that didnt detonate in the field. These slack-jacked circus freaks tie live bombs to the beds of their rusted out Rancheros/El Caminos/Pinto station wagons and haul them back to their shacks and whack sledge hammers at them in an attempt to free the casings. BOOOOM! Another one bites the dust.

It was truly one of the most frightening places I've ever seen in my life. I had to be escorted by the Fire Chief of Nilan because the scrappers are territorial and violent. It's like a fucking Twilight Zone episode. Stephen King needs to tour the place and come up with a master piece.

OMG WTF BBQ

 

[Phat Matt]

I'm a non eco friendly jeep owning cheap one sided bastard. If I can recreate on it then I say spend money. Birds can still go (no charge). The problem with this one sided eco position is the failure to publicly state that they migrated before the lake was created and are using it in its current cesspool condition... but I'm an ass like that.



What a Joke Diamond Valley lake turned into. Send the birds there.

You can make it nice for the birds, fish and ourselves all at the same time. Maybe we take one day off from the war and use that money to fix the sea.

 

[Abc123]

My wife and I left Havasu Thursday morning and decided to take a trip through the Salton Sea since we've never seen it and it is the largest lake in Calif. I'm well aware of the problems there but what we saw was beyond words! It is truly a ghost town with some people still living there ..... but
an explorers dream. Buildings just left vacant, some standing and some just collapsed, some burnt down and left. We went anywhere we wanted through the beach areas on just trails and 4 wheel drive in the sand, nobody's around.
The lake is massive and any of the marinas and areas we went it was the same. No clean up and no one has attempted any cleanup of anything, even houses sitting half built. I'll post some pics soon as I can ...... anybody have any stories about this place, I hear it was a popular spot at one time.
Skyskier any old pics??

That place sure is freaky. And the people there are kinda strange. I've rode there from Ocotillo Wells a few times and it creeps me out everytime. I do wonder if they will ever clean up the remains from the burnt down hotel.

It really seems like that could have been a cool place to vacation since you can have a house on a huge lake and riding at Ocotillo just a few minutes away. The water there has gotten worse over the years I've heard. My grandpa told me that he used to waterski there in the 60s.

 

[Ziggy]

The scariest city in America is Niland, a Salton Sea slum. Google Nilan and "Slab City" for an interesting read.

There have been a few documentaries on the "scrappers" who mostly live in dilapidated trailers, lean-to's and school buses up on blocks. The place is populated with derilicks who live without electricity, gas and water. They "bathe" in the nearby polluted canal and they "shower" in a dug out hole in the ground where a warm spring runs off the grass and into cistern. A special bus had to be used to pick up the Slab City kids because their stench is too horrific. Teachers call CPS daily and finally the State authorized a full time investigator just for those poor kids.

The "Scrappers" illegally enter the government's active bombing range to retrieve the aluminum bomb casings. Each casing brings in $50-$100 at recycling centers. Every year dozens die from bombs that didnt detonate in the field. These slack-jacked circus freaks tie live bombs to the beds of their rusted out Rancheros/El Caminos/Pinto station wagons and haul them back to their shacks and whack sledge hammers at them in an attempt to free the casings. BOOOOM! Another one bites the dust.

It was truly one of the most frightening places I've ever seen in my life. I had to be escorted by the Fire Chief of Nilan because the scrappers are territorial and violent. It's like a fucking Twilight Zone episode. Stephen King needs to tour the place and come up with a master piece.

A detective series of books written by Sue Grafton had one book where the detective woman had to go into Slab City which ended up causing her big trouble....fictional series but she writes about real places.

 

[HBCraig]

It was truly one of the most frightening places I've ever seen in my life. I had to be escorted by the Fire Chief of Nilan because the scrappers are territorial and violent. It's like a fucking Twilight Zone episode. Stephen King needs to tour the place and come up with a master piece.

What runs through my mind when you write this is the "night" people in the movie "I am Legend". Those people were awesome.

 

[was thatguy]

What runs through my mind when you write this is the "night" people in the movie "I am Legend". Those people were awesome.

What goes through my mind is wondering how many underground meth labs are running there. :hmm

 

[Guest]

We need someone to get some RD SUX stickers in there...:thumbsup

 

[westair]

That place sure is freaky. And the people there are kinda strange. I've rode there from Ocotillo Wells a few times and it creeps me out everytime. I do wonder if they will ever clean up the remains from the burnt down hotel.

It really seems like that could have been a cool place to vacation since you can have a house on a huge lake and riding at Ocotillo just a few minutes away. The water there has gotten worse over the years I've heard. My grandpa told me that he used to waterski there in the 60s.

It does seem like it was a cool place, thats what makes this whole thing so interesting, it had everything going for it .... boating, skiing, races, great fishing, restaurants on the water, marinas, offroading. The place is huge.
Probably make the ride from Ocotillo this season, haven't done it, looks like a fun ride.

 

[Ziggy]

Couple years back we drove down to one of the beaches on the west side...from a distance it looked beautiful and white. Once we walked down in our flops we were in pain, the beach was nothing but zillions and millions of fishbones, sharp as hell.

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

The Hills Have Eyes.

 

[Skyskier]

The lake is massive and any of the marinas and areas we went it was the same. No clean up and no one has attempted any cleanup of anything, even houses sitting half built. I'll post some pics soon as I can ...... anybody have any stories about this place, I hear it was a popular spot at one time.
Skyskier any old pics??[/QUOTE]

The Salton Sea was formed when a canal breached somewhere near Yuma in about 1905. It continued to fill for over a year before they made a rock dam to close up the inflow. It was designated a state recreation area in the mid 50's. My Pop was just getting into boating, so we HAD to go check it out. I was about 10 years old the 1st time we went. A grand place it was, to a 10 year old anyways I remember people & boats EVERYWHERE , Lots & lots of boats. There was a HUGE fancy hotel right in the middle of town, restaurants galore, bait,tackle & boat shops too. The Salton Sea was a hotbed of racing action in the 30's & 40's, mostly or all small hydroplanes. The Salton Sea was known as "the fastest" boat race course in the world due to the salinity of the water, the speeds were always a little faster. In 1960 & 61 marathon boat racing was just begining to boom, you had the Parker 9 hour enduro, the Lake Elsinore 500 miler, the Berryesa 500, the Miami orangebowl enduro, and I think I remember one that ran from Seattle to Ketchikan Alaska. The 1st Salton City 500 miler was in 1961. My Pop's and a couple of his pals built a boat and ran that year. ALL the boat builders of the day were running there, Rudy Ramos ( Raysoncraft boats) Bob Patterson, Howard Brown (Howard Boats ) Skip Volk ( Aqua Craft ) The Biesmeyer Bros, Lou Brummett ( Mandella ) anybody that was breaking into the boat biz ran these races. Most of the boats in the early days of the marathons were 16 & 18 footers Rudy showed up one year in a BIG 21 footer running an Allison airplane engine, and the follwing year Bob Patterson showed up with "Super Cinders". The astronaut, Gordon Cooper drove one year and Elvis Presley drove Lou Brummets "Rawhide" in Miami, I think it was just for a part in a movie, not the actual race. You could be walking the beach and run into the likes of Kieth Black ( chrysler hemi guru/builder ), Louie Unser, James Garner, Tommy Ivo, Don Prudhome, lots of celebs. Chuck Stearns had a ski school out there in the late 60's & early 70's, had people from ALL over the world coming to learn from the master himself. His 'ol man ran the school like a bootcamp roadwork at 5:00 am, "a little maint. work around the place BEFORE we'd hit the water and MORE roadwork :swear, fun times for sure :thumbsup Thinking back on it today I think what impressed me most was that "big fancy hotel" , at 10 yrs. old I KNEW you'd have to "RICH" to stay in a place like that my 'ol man had graduated from the "plywood" camper shell to one of those big overhead campers with ,of ALL things in it,...A stove & a oven

 

[Brad @ SCJB]

Rumor has it they are bringing back the Kilo's there this december. some big heavy hitters coming out of the woodwork to run it.

 

[EarpRider]

The Old Timers that live there are actually a really cool bunch of folks, they put on two off road events every year.

They have 1 event called "Treasure Trails" in February and they hide over 500 little treasure boxes in the trails and washes around the area. They write out cules on where to look for the treasures, it is really a good time.

Then in October they do a poker run during the day and a haunted house type off road ride at night, it's called "Spook Run." We've been to the Treasure Trails event every year for over 20 years. Once you get used to the dead fish smell it's a great place to ride.

 

[Skankersore]

... a poker run during the day and a haunted house type off road ride at night, it's called "Spook Run."

Racist.

 

[Phat Matt]

The Old Timers that live there are actually a really cool bunch of folks, they put on two off road events every year.

They have 1 event called "Treasure Trails" in February and they hide over 500 little treasure boxes in the trails and washes around the area. They write out cules on where to look for the treasures, it is really a good time.

Then in October they do a poker run during the day and a haunted house type off road ride at night, it's called "Spook Run." We've been to the Treasure Trails event every year for over 20 years. Once you get used to the dead fish smell it's a great place to ride.

My grandparents were involved with those. We use to do the Easter sand drags in the wash at Salton Sea Beach also.

 

[HBCraig]

The Old Timers that live there are actually a really cool bunch of folks, they put on two off road events every year.

They have 1 event called "Treasure Trails" in February and they hide over 500 little treasure boxes in the trails and washes around the area. They write out cules on where to look for the treasures, it is really a good time.

Then in October they do a poker run during the day and a haunted house type off road ride at night, it's called "Spook Run." We've been to the Treasure Trails event every year for over 20 years. Once you get used to the dead fish smell it's a great place to ride.

The spook run is awesome.

 

[lebel409]

My dad ran a marathon boat (ob) in the early 60's and I'm sure he raced there. I remember camping there...pretty foreign. My grandpa loved fishing, but he said Salton Sea was TOO easy, no fun.

Dad a '59 Ranchero...no air cleaner...ran it home from Salton Sea through a dust storm. Used a little oil after that...:swear.

At one point I thought there was a plan to divide the lake, 1 half desalinated, the other runoff and sent south.

Hell, cut a channel from the ocean and fill it with real saltwater...nice and deep.

 

[stokerwhore]

resurected! I like this ol' thread

 

[HBCraig]

I think this year was the last year of "Treasure Trails". Bummer