Growing up, everyone on a car trip waited patiently for this road sign to appear to become the victor of "The Alphabet Game".

We learned recently that this is more than just a road with an uncertain pronunciation. We found that those who take the Zzyzx off-ramp and drive the four and a half miles to the end of the dirt road are treated to an unexpected oasis with perhaps an even more surprising history.

Lush palms, pools, and several concrete structures comprise the sprawling Zzyzx compound, also known as Soda Springs, at the western edge of Soda Dry Lake. This desert retreat was the vision of Curtis Howe Springer, who operated Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Resort for 30 years, from 1944 to 1974. Who knew?

Springer, a radio evangelist and proponent of homeopathic health aides, emphasized the importance of following the Christian doctrine to become physically fit, mentally alert, and spiritually sound. Very long story short, he decided to seek out a California retreat center dedicated to healthy living. A guidebook he read mentioned Fort Soda Springs, a remote site composed of a long-abandoned railroad station and Army post.
It proved the perfect location for his Boulevard of Dreams.
Once he visited the site, he found that its remote location, access to water, and plentiful sunshine made it an ideal site for a retreat center. In 1944, Springer filed for mining claims on 12,800 acres of land for what was to be Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Resort -- named Zzyzx (pronounced "zi-zex") to be "the last word" in medicine -- with the understanding that after five years of mining activity he would have the option to purchase the land.




Once completed, Zzyzx offered visitors a healthy environment. There, folks had a chance to detox and abstain from alcohol, smoking and combative quarreling, and instead bask in sermons and sunshine, and restore with a special diet (largely of foods grown and raised on the property, such as rabbit's meat, goat's milk, and fresh fruits and vegetables), and soak in warm pools of "healing" mineral-rich water (that in actuality was heated water from the Mojave River whose terminus is Soda Lake). There might have been some quackery going on.

The resort was a hit until it wasn't. The compound could accommodate over 100 overnight guests at a time, and continued to busily welcome visitors until its closure on April 11, 1974, when Springer was forcibly removed from the site by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for unauthorized use of federal land. The court  found that the mining claims Springer had filed did not authorize occupation or development of the land beyond mining activities. There were more reasons than just the mining (false claims, untested treatments, etc) and possibly other motives, too.
Today, we could see the magic which made this place so special.
The locals supported Doc. He built roads, provided jobs and improved the environment but it wasn't enough and Zzyzx Mineral Springs was no more.


Zzyzx fell into disrepair and lay dormant for a period of time, while the BLM sorted out various ideas of what to do with the site, including the possibility of demolishing Springer's architectural contributions in order to return Soda Springs to its previous state. The BLM eventually worked out a deal with the California State University system to use the former resort as a desert studies center, and they reopened the road.
And that is how we were able to be here today. It is a CSU campus which is open during daylight hours to explore. A place that intrigues and confuses one's senses. To wander here is as if time stood still. As if one could hear the children in the pool and sense the hopefulness of those who came here to heal, who believed.
We both agreed that this detour, late in coming, was so worth the wait. If you can't get to exit 239 on I-15, we recommend you travel with Huell Howser as he shares this unique stop on this KCET video. Wow.