I believe that this is a must-stop. Once this was a thriving destination, it was largely abandoned and polluted. However, you can see the remnants of what was once a shore community and is now a run-down graffiti-filled mess. I spent some time there gathering a photographic glimpse of the words on the wall. The graffiti was a jumble of people tagging the walls. Here is a sample:They call me Guero loko and I’m tatted like a cholo fuckAround with me and my dogs will go loko
I thought it would be more inhabited, the 2020 census population was 5,611. However, I am not sure how that was derived. Maybe there are other areas around the central development to account for the population. The entire time I saw maybe five people, including the two I saw in the place where I bought gas.
There was a boat dock behind some of the houses, which were mostly abandoned. The water surrounding the boat docks had an oil slick on it as it hugged the shore. It was nasty.
I saw a documentary on how the Salton Sea met its demise, and I also saw the Val Kilmer movie of the same name. These two factors weighed heavily into my decision to visit there.
I was able to get gas there, and it was my introduction to California gas prices which were over 4 dollars a gallon in May of 2021. However, I also did buy an expensive bottle of water there.