California’s Mojave Desert is an enormous, undulating swath of brown, gray and alkali white; driving through it is such a monochromatic experience that you almost feel like you could go into color withdrawal. That’s why Salvation Mountain, just south of California’s own Dead Sea, the Salton, is such a shock to the system. It’s a man-made mountain covered in 100,000 gallons of technicolor paint, one man’s 25-year project. I was lucky enough to visit with a friend last week, and this is what we discovered.
Driving up, the first thing you notice is that it’s an absolute riot of color. There are no subtle shades here: it’s all primary colors, glowing blue and red and gold in the merciless desert sun. The next thing you notice is that every bit of it is covered with Christian messages: God is Love; Catch the Jesus Fire; even slightly nonsense phrases like Jesus Bible Jesus. Confused or not, the message comes across loud and clear.
Confronted with all these colors and bold messages, we parked and climbed tentatively out of the car, expecting to be accosted at any moment by a crazy man, his brains addled by overexposure to the sun. Not at all: a meek and charming old man named Leonard came toddling up to us in a wide-brimmed hat, smiling and saying he’d love to show us a few things. We agreed, and the tour began.
Leonard Knight came to the desert outside of Niland, California in the mid-80s. “I only meant to stay a week,” he said, “but 25 years later, here I am still.” He was an artist and a craftsman set on doing something big, that would send a simple message: “God is love.” His first project was an enormous balloon covered in God-is-love-style slogans, and while it was impressive, it never got off the ground. But it inspired him to do something a bit more grounded: hand-sculpt a mountain.
There was never a master plan for Salvation Mountain — Leonard just keeps adding onto it as he sees fit. He does most of the work himself — though people come and bring him paint and supplies — mixing adobe out of straw, water and clay, which is abundant nearby. And his enormous structure is more than just a mountain: it’s also a warren of shady grottoes, filled with and made from painted trees, tires, windows and anything else he might find in the desert that could be useful. Bales of hay also seem to be one of Leonard’s main building blocks.
About 10 years ago, Imperial County started threatening Leonard. He built Salvation Mountain on public land and had no legal claim to it, and the county’s worry — officially, at least — was that all that lead paint he had used was seeping into the ground and poisoning the water supply. But after extensive tests, experts concluded that the water supply was fine, and to protect Salvation Mountain from wrecking balls and bulldozers on a more permanent basis, California senator Barbara Boxer had the Mountain declared a national treasure — the only such monument ever to be read into the Congressional Record aside from Mount Rushmore.
Leonard gets thousands of visitors each year, and he tries to give everyone who comes to his mountain a personal tour. He lives on the premises, very simply, in a 1958 Airstream trailer without electricity or running water. This is his front door:
If you’ve ever been to the Watts Towers in South LA, you know how amazing this kind of one-man folk art can be. The problem with the Watts Towers is that you spend all your time there wondering what the man who built it must’ve been like — at Salvation Mountain, equally if not more impressive than the Watts Towers, in my opinion — its creator is there, and he’ll happily give you a tour free of charge. He’ll even try to give you free DVDs and postcards as you leave, and poo-poohs the suggestion that he take any money from you.
If you’re ever in the area, be sure and stop by — Leonard’s 74 years old, and may not be giving tours for much longer. We wondered what would happen to Salvation Mountain after he was gone, but didn’t quite know how to ask him. I hope there’s someone out there who’ll take care of it the way Leonard has.
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I’m completely taken with these photos, Randy. They’re unbelievable. Both on this and the Salton piece, the colors are just absolutely staggering. Really beautiful work…
posted by Mangesh Hattikudur on 6-22-2009 at 2:26 pm
Amazing. I would love to visit Salvation Mountain and Leonard. Had never heard of this before, not even from friends living in California.
posted by septerr on 6-22-2009 at 3:07 pm
I agree – this is fantastic! Also fantastic: That the ad on the page is for Christian Singles with a picture of the very married Kris Allen.
posted by Diana on 6-22-2009 at 5:13 pm
I agree with Mangesh! The photos are fabulous, what camera are you using? Truly breathtaking images of an extraordinary place.
posted by dangermouse on 6-23-2009 at 1:49 am
A small portion of this amazing site and its creator was featured in the recent movie “Into the Wild” (which I recommend highly though it is rather disturbing). Thank you for a more detailed and broader look at the place.
posted by Jonathan on 6-24-2009 at 8:03 am
I have recently discovered first hand the true beauty of the west with it’s monuments both God and man made. I’m so glad that Barbara Boxer declared THIS particular monunment a national treasure which is has been made by both! While I have not yet been to Salvation Mountain, I will indeed aim to get there someday. I too saw the movie “Into the Wild” which does feature this most colorful praise haven in a couple of scenes. Fantastic!
posted by Nancy on 6-24-2009 at 9:52 am
Call me crazy, but I think God did a better job. The mountain was beautiful without the paint.
posted by Valerie on 6-26-2009 at 3:47 pm
The mountain speaks for itself. As people drive into the desert driveway, their faces already show amazement – even the brutal desert heat could not keep them in their nicely air conditioned environment-vehicles. It didn’t matter where they had known about Salvation Mountain or how long ago. It does not matter whether they have a spiritual or religious bone in them or not. It does not matter if they are able to walk or need canes and wheelchairs. They come from near and far places. They come and leave with enthusiasm. Leonard Knight is a humble man who is so inspired by his Creator God. Leonard is focused and dedicated to the mountain that he would not leave it no longer than it takes to eat his meal, except, maybe, to take an extra minute or two to get a cetain color paint that he was inspired to color with. Not even sleep can take him out physically; he sleeps in his beautifully painted truck-house in the premises. It is simple living to the max. There is no electricity nor water in this desert place, however, there is a man with a heart electrified by his God and within the man a running living water. Visitors come from different parts of the world. Truly, it has become global for sometime now united with smiles on their faces. Many can not stay away and so they come once again and then again and again bringing along others. No one leaves this mountain without smiles on their faces – salvation smiles back at them. Other visitors come bearing a gallon or gallons of paint and donate money to buy paint or paint brushes. Children, who are old enough to walk up the mountain, beg their parents to go up again and again. Parents mostly oblige; perhaps they, too, secretly want too run up also. Bring your cameras and cooler. Load up your cooler with ice/water and allow yourselves be amazed by Salvation Mountain. Meet the man himself, Leonard Knight. He is a man who paints and lives outside the box and so does his Creator God. If he is not there, he will be back soon enough! It is worth the wait.
posted by Arlou on 8-6-2009 at 7:40 pm
My tattoo is carved beneath my eyelids as I go about the day, affecting the world one breath-blue gaze at a time.
posted by anonymous on 8-18-2009 at 5:27 pm
Normally, I would agree with Valerie. Mountains are usually more lovely as Nature intended them to be… without paint and other manmade decorations marring them. But even as an atheist, I can appreciate this amazing creation – and Leonard’s longtime dedication. May Nature bless him!
And the pictures are truly stunning – how fortuitous that the clouds were so dramatic during your visit! I’ve heard of this place before, but I nonetheless appreciate your sharing this adventure with us. Thanks!
posted by Laura Martone on 9-2-2009 at 12:28 am
I had the opportunity to visit Salvation Mountain and meet Leonard last March. He is an amazing man, and he absolutely loves where he is and what he is doing. He told us that love was the most important thing, that it doesn’t have to be complicated. Though the mountain has Bible verses all over it, his main message is just love one another, which is the most important message of all.
posted by Katie on 9-24-2009 at 1:56 pm
I’m with Laura Martone.
I think the guy is nuts for writing all that mess, but he’s still a talented artist. It has beautiful colors and is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
posted by Kels on 9-24-2009 at 2:46 pm
And nice comment Katie. I absolutely believe in love.
posted by Kels on 9-24-2009 at 2:48 pm
What a waste of time. Couldn’t have he done something productive? Like help people who need it?
posted by Amanda on 9-24-2009 at 7:22 pm
Fantastic. He is like the West Coast Howard Finster.
posted by Alice on 9-30-2009 at 10:35 pm
what kind of paint is used? i hope it’s not polluting the environment.
posted by jerry on 10-2-2009 at 12:03 am
Beautiful devotion. THAT, I respect.
On a side note, my reCAPTCHA words below for security are appropriate: “BE Loving”
posted by Bakedpotatoes on 11-24-2009 at 4:08 pm
To Amanda: It seems to me that he is helping people who need it. He’s created a place that inspires love and offers hope. I’m sure there are some that would disagree, but sometimes – I think – that’s the biggest help of all.
posted by kate on 11-24-2009 at 5:22 pm
I’m with Valerie. Sure, the paint is vivid. But to paint all over public lands? How is this not graffiti?
Add to that the church/state conflict, and this seems a bad idea. He may not have polluted the groundwater with lead, but 100,000 gallons of paint aren’t benign.
posted by Bill Siderski on 1-14-2010 at 5:28 pm
Wow, what a phycho. Nice way to ruin a beautiful landscape. This is what people who believe in fairy tales and myths do….they ruin things for the rest of us.
posted by Mike on 2-3-2010 at 3:18 pm
This is absolutely mind blowing. Such an amazing work of folk art shouldn’t be looked at as “psychotic”. Mike who posted on 2-3-2010, you have no appreciation for art if you look at it as “ruining a beautiful landscape”. There’s plenty more landscapes around the Mojave Desert. You seem like a very hateful person or just dislike art to the extent you’ll put down 25 years of hard work by a wonderful man who’s advocating Christianity. You my friend are a major A-Hole!
posted by Ray on 2-16-2010 at 3:36 pm
“About 10 years ago, Imperial County started threatening Leonard. He built Salvation Mountain on public land and had no legal claim to it, and the county’s worry — officially, at least — was that all that lead paint he had used was seeping into the ground and poisoning the water supply. But after extensive tests, experts concluded that the water supply was fine, and to protect Salvation Mountain from wrecking balls and bulldozers on a more permanent basis, California senator Barbara Boxer had the Mountain declared a national treasure” @Bill Siderski. It’s no worse than the cumulative pollution you’ve let off by driving your car every day. SHUT UP!
posted by Ray on 2-16-2010 at 3:41 pm
I am not even Christian and think that’s amazing.
posted by Maritas on 3-2-2010 at 3:37 pm
Some people are never happy. I think it’s great that whomever did this loved god so much that they decided to dedicate something to him. Also, that the dedication wasn’t “I’m going to be an arsehole and make everyone do what I want and use god as an excuse”.
This work is beautiful, what else is someone to use to dedicate to god, but what god gave us? Silly.
posted by Bakedpotatoes on 3-5-2010 at 5:28 pm
I’m an atheist, but I can’t help but admire that kind of faith and dedication.
posted by Louis Wu on 3-7-2010 at 11:55 am
Ray wrote “You seem like a very hateful person or just dislike art to the extent you’ll put down 25 years of hard work by a wonderful man who’s advocating Christianity. You my friend are a major A-Hole!”
I am very hateful towards religion because of what it stands for…ignorance. I think art is great, but this is not art. Its the psychotic ranting and ravings of a lunatic who believes that some magical man in the sky approves of what he is doing. If I went out and ruined a beautiful landscape by painting it all sorts of ridiculous colors and it didn’t have anything to do with Jesus or religion, then I’d be thought of as crazy….so explain to me why he shouldn’t be.
Not to mention he is breaking his own commandments : “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” He probably worked on this on a Sunday as well…hypocrite.
posted by Mike on 3-13-2010 at 2:55 pm
The first thing I thought of when I saw the photos was hippie love bus. the theme is love so i guess somehow it fits. I try very hard not to judge folks, and in his way this man is an artist regardless of how some folks may think this is not art. I will never understand why anyone would down another persons passion, when it doesn’t harm them.
posted by Susan on 3-27-2010 at 10:19 am
Really good article. I was afraid to read it at first because lots of websites take a very hostile attitude to anyone religious or different and thought this would be the same old crap. I am glad you focused on the artwork and the man and looked at it objectively rather than painting the man as a religious nut and trying to tear down Christianity like some website might do.
posted by Kolby on 4-7-2010 at 12:42 pm
@Mike; you obviously have never been to Salvation Mountain or met Leonard Knight, the man behind the mountain. Until you have, keep your comments benign. I live in and love that desert area and trust me, there was no “beautiful landscape” (as you say) before Salvation Mountain was so beautifully created by Leonard. Also, Leonard is a most humble person–he DOES NOT think of himself as an idol as you suggest. Quite the contrary…it is all about the message and the mountain. He is a happy man committed to his work. He does not complain or ask for anything for himself…even though he lives without daily comforts we all take for granted and in a harsh environment that few of us, including you, my friend, could not endure.
posted by Laurie on 4-23-2010 at 8:18 am
I think Leonard’s example could teach the rest of us a lot. It is a strange irony how those who have no passion and worship nothing other than human intelligence are the ones who are so quick to verbally tear down other people. Mike, because you don’t believe what this man believes you call it ignorance and insanity. Well, all I can say is that a world of pure rational thought and no ‘insanity’ would be a boring world and would have nothing left worth perserving. When our world or society is remade in the image that you desire, I certainly hope I am not here anymore.
posted by VScott on 5-23-2010 at 11:25 am
This is such a joyous place to visit and Leonard is a wonderful man to meet. I’m not sure there is a place I’ve ever visited that has affected me more. And I’m not religious in the least. It’s about art and passion and color and love. Call it a love of god or love of art. Who cares. It’s inspiring and beautiful.
And bitter bitter Mike: Trust me, he didn’t ruin anything out there. Salton Sea, for all its fascinating history and archeological interest, is a giant armpit to look at. Leonard claimed one tiny bit of the desert, on a decommissioned military base no less, for himself. If anything, the military had already ruined it, if changing the landscape in any way is what you define as “ruin.”
posted by Laura T. on 6-29-2010 at 2:03 pm
@Ray-
How hypocritical that you accuse other people of being hateful, then sign off by calling them an a-hole, and telling them to shut up. When you start making grand statement about what kind of car I personally drive (How do you know I even have a car?) you have slipped the tracks of rational thought and discussion, and have landed squarely on the side of vitriol and abuse.
posted by Bill Siderski on 7-10-2010 at 4:04 pm
These pictures are stunning! This definitely seems worthy of a roadtrip. To those of you who say this is not art: then how do you define it? For the sake or curiosity, I went to dictionary.com (the most convenient source), and their definition is
“the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.”
To this man, God is all of these things, and this is how he is expressing it. A burst of color in a brown, brown desert. It is symbolic and beautiful. Just because you do not agree does not mean it is not “art.” I do not agree with the life Hemingway chose to live, but I know he was a great author.
This article was seriously great. I just wish there weren’t so many close-minded people bashing it because of their own personal preference.
posted by Lindsay on 8-5-2010 at 3:00 pm
Mike-relax. Life is too short to get all worked up. Really.
I think it is beautiful. Sure, you can choose to look at the negative-what this man may be, what he may or may not have done to our environment, what negative message he would be sending? I just look and stay amazed by beauty. Sure, it was beautiful before, but it is still beautiful. It obviously has meaning-purpose to last all these years. The man is 74..this is part of who he is. He has the same darn right as any of us, just like Mike-to live his life any damn way he pleases.
Best wishes to Mike and I hope anyone who goes to visit, to enjoy it. I would like to visit there one day…who knows?
What ever happened to the saying..if you don’t have something nice to say…why say anything at all?
Thank you mental floss for sharing pics and the story :)
posted by sammy on 9-10-2010 at 11:23 pm
A lot of beautiful works of art have been made in the name of various religions through the ages; and I feel that perhaps some people commenting here are, underneath it all, mainly bothered that it is a religious display. But remove all the world’s religions from works of art . . . and the world would have much less art.
I don’t care for folk art, but I do greatly appreciate how dedicated this man has been, how hard he has worked, and that his message is mainly about love. Instead of lambasting him for being a man of faith, people should be glad that for once, someone who is talking about love being central to his beliefs is getting some attention and making his mark on the world.
posted by Denise on 10-7-2010 at 2:11 pm
art is art. This man has dedicated over 25 years to his vision. He says he only intended to stay a week. I plan on taking my daughter to see salvation mountain. I am glad his week turned into a mountain of inspiration even for those who are not christian or of any faith.
posted by tina on 10-22-2010 at 4:04 am
I want to go……….
posted by Candra on 11-14-2010 at 7:04 am
Watch “INTO THE WILD”: great movie and has this in it which i have just realized also includes the old man who owns it as the character in the movie. He plays as himself in the movie with Kristen Stewart as well
posted by sean on 12-21-2010 at 8:46 pm
This is gorgeous! Definitely a national treasure. Next time I’m in California, I hope Leonard is there to give me a tour. :)
posted by Sarah P. on 1-24-2011 at 12:51 pm
I wonder what people would think of Salvation Mountain if Leonard were a Muslim, and painted slogans extolling the virtues of Islam and the Koran?
posted by Brian on 4-4-2011 at 1:06 pm
[...] now lost Salton City curiously lives right next to the roadside attraction ‘Salvation Mountain‘ and in a way it ignites this mysticism feel that lives in the heart of this country, like in [...]
posted by The Lost City | Bravdesign on 5-18-2011 at 6:01 pm
@Mike: I am sure I could go on and on (you certainly do), but suffice it to say, I feel sorry for you.
posted by Brad Greenwood on 6-23-2011 at 8:28 pm
If you’ve ever visited Salvation Mountain and talked with Mr. Knight you’ll quickly be able to identify the posters in this string that are lost-people without hearts-people that are probably too young to appreciate this style of art. If you can visit Salvation Mountain and only see…paint…then there’s not much I or anyone else can say to you. The idea, the spirit of the place is lost on you-and that’s too bad.
Next time you’re out there go just a bit further along the road and you’ll come to a place known as Slabs. Again, it’s an an eclectic art style, a form of personal expression that’s not for everyone-but it’s made all that much better for being out in the grandeur of the open country. And, you had to travel to get to it-that’s the cool part.
posted by Stephen on 7-13-2011 at 1:20 am
How can a message of loving others, all of them, no matter what, be bad? We are all a family, and whether we want to or not, we will destroy each other if we are blind to absolute love- to nature, our god, or our brothers and sisters on earth. Love is the only thing everyone has to offer the world.
posted by Ryan on 9-8-2011 at 8:23 pm
I find this somewhat tacky, but I’m utterly floored by this man’s dedication and his faith. I do hope there’s someone to carry this on. Bless you Leonard.
You guys were lucky to have interacted with him. Cheers!
posted by Luna on 9-9-2011 at 5:16 am
Hey folks, Leonard is currently not feeling too well and has been hospitalized. Also, Kevin Eubank, a friend who was caring for Leonard passed away a few days ago. Please keep Salvation Mountain, Leonard, & Kevin in your thoughts.
posted by Jeff on 12-27-2011 at 12:23 pm