ZZYZX ROAD // JANUARY 2022

Death Valley National Park has been high on my travel list for so many years. Each time that I planned to go, something prevented it from happening. But finally, I got there! This post isn't about Death Vally though, that'll be posted in a couple of weeks. This post is about an interesting stop on the way from Las Vegas to Palm Springs (and then on to Death Valley).

While researching the route for this trip I somehow found an exit off of California Interstate 15 – exit 239 to be exact – called ZZyzx Road. With a name like that, there was no way I wasn’t taking that exit. The remains of an abandoned health spa at the end of the road made it even more intriguing.

SODA LAKE DRY BED

Soon after exiting on ZZyzx Road, you’re driving right along the dried up bed of Soda Lake. There is quite a bit of history here, going back to a time when Native Americans would use this as a stopping point on their route to the San Bernardino Mountains. From there, the area was explored, settled and turned into a rail corridor – the history is interesting and you can read more about it here.

A dry lake bed expands to the horizon. At the horizon are mountains. The lake bed is covered in white dust. The sky is blue and cloudless.
Close up of small bunches of dried grass poking up from a dusty, dry lake bed.
An old, faded metal post sits at an angle in the dry lake bed. There are stands of tall brown grass. The lake bed is covered in white dust.
A dead tree, devoid of leaves is in the foreground. The dry lake bed and mountains sit in the background.
An expanse of dry lake bed can be seen to the horizon. There are several tire tracks in the foreground.
Several clumps of dried grass and a small tree grow on the edge of the dry lake bed.
Leafless branches of a tree are in the foreground with the dry lakebed and mountains in the background.

LAKE TUENDAE

At the end of ZZyzx Road is an artificial pond called Lake Tuendae – all that’s left of the old health spa. Now, the buildings around the pond are used by the University of California. There’s a small loop trail around the pond which is worth a half hour of your time. There are information boards that explain the history of the area and the wildlife that call the pond home.

Tall palm trees grow to the left of a small artificial pond. The dry lakebed and mountains can be seen in the background.
A small, disused fountain can be seen in the middle of the pond. Several palm trees surround the water.
Five tall palm trees majestically line the edge of the pond. The old concrete fountain head is prominent in the foreground.

After spending several hours here, I realized that it was time to get on the road. Sun was setting and I still had a long drive to Palm Springs.

There’s something so captivating about the desert. It was difficult to leave, even though there would be much more desert exploration ahead of me.

Zzzyzx Road at golden hour. The paved road is lined with desert scrub brush. Elongated shadows splash across the road and mountains are visible in the distance.