Slab City

Has anyone been to Slab City. I'm asking for do's and don'ts, general advise about going there. I heard there's a lot of drug crime (to be expected). Can I go there (are they welcoming to outsiders?) I know nothing about the place, and figured first hand experience was better than Googling.

There are dozens of threads on this forum related to Slab CIty. See the "magnifying glass" search box if the linked search doesn't work.

Bob has also done videos on the topic, including one last month.

Rabbit1980 said:

figured first hand experience was better than Googling.

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Google results also include first-hand experiences; here are a couple of mine.

I've been twice but the last time was in 2008 so it may be different in some ways. Most of the people there will be 'outsiders' as very few people live there year-round.

You have to be careful of leaving stuff behind if you go into town. Things will disappear. Buddy system is best. Be wary of panhandlers, offers of help or deals that sound like scams.

Some dogs roamed free when I was there. If you have pets you'd need to be vigilant.

Do you have any respiratory diseases? Dust is frequent as vehicles tool around the gravel roads. That whole area has some pretty dirty air and it's made worse by some of the campers who burn all kinds of stuff.

Also, over the years much sewage has been dumped down 'ratholes' located who knows where. If it rains, you may discover you are camped near one.

You hear about it being 'lawless' which really isn't the case. LOL....there's one online article I read that had 'lawless' in it about 15 times. But you do have to be cautious. It's advisable to have some kind of defensive weapon in your rig but Cali has some strict gun laws if you want to go that way.

Sometimes there are disputes about where you can park. Repeat visitors will claim you are on 'their' spot and insist that you move.

The little grocery store in Niland wasn't too bad with selection but high prices for sure. There is a little better store at Calipatria (13 miles). At least now there is a Walmart in Brawley now (25 miles). Before you had to go to El Centro.

If you have to renew meds, you will need to see a CA doctor. It used to be that way anyway.

IMHO there are a lot of really cool people there, it is an interesting and often fun place. It also has a lot of really bad people there that are bad news strung out on heroin and meth. You piss off the wrong person there and they will burn your rig to the ground, or worse.
If you really want to see the place go with a good size group of friends who can camp together and watch out for other people's stuff. There are often groups from Quartzsite that travel together down there. DO NOT CAMP THERE ALONE IF YOU ARE FEMALE.

Sounds like a great place Tripper!

Maybe nice for a short visit, but in many ways the exact opposite of what I like about camping in the boonies. Peace, quiet, no worries...

From years of watching YouTube vids there are good folks, and unfortunately a bounty of losers there that you need to avoid at all cost.

Another unappealing thing is all of the trash scattered throughout the entire area.
Too bad the town of Niland doesn't provide trash pickup but since nobody pays taxes there, there is little municipal interest in the place. Although fire and law does frequent the area on occasion.

IMO: "It's a nice place to visit, (maybe?), but not a nice place to live"

While you likely wouldn't be able to "homestead" there the nearby Salton Sea area might be safer and less littered up alternative, if you can stand the odor there...

I have thought about visiting the site, but not really staying the night. I would likely look at things and then go find a safer place to camp.

I have enough problems without going somewhere looking for more.

On youtube go to Carolyn's RV Life and search her channel for Slab City. She has three videos about her stay there. At the end of the first video she explains that she sees nothing to make her fearful. That is what most youtubers whom I follow say about it.

Four years ago when I first heard of Slab City I found many click bait type videos about the horrors of Slab City. So, consider the source. Carolyn alludes to those fear inducing click bait type vids.

I have more examples of youtubers who visited Slab City and found it pleasant/safe, but my granddaughter messed up my keyboard, pc, or mouse yesterday. Not sure how to fix it.

Unfortunately, one cannot place a lot of credence on what is seen by a casual or short-term visitor who is not truly imbedded with the population of SC year-round.

Once you look at those vids and the feelings that come from the long-term residents, you get a better picture on how life really is.

An instance that is common is if you leave the spot you occupy for any length of time, the property you leave becomes "community" property or worst-case scenario you come back to find your vehicle, camper, built structure, is now an ash pile on the shifting sands.
It's not all roses and unicorns, by any means!
"Let the buyer beware"...

I went and found the place to be a huge, giant dump. Once was more than enough.

^^Yep. It's free to stay there but you get what you pay for.

Immediately remove it from your bucket list, it's a trash pit, yes, there are some good people there, some! Your asking for trouble, make your visit via You Tubers.

AtlantaGuy said:

I went and found the place to be a huge, giant dump. Once was more than enough.

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That is kinda the point. Have you read why it was created? The art installations made from trash?

^Salvation Mountain and the other art installations are OK to view but they can be seen in one day. I took the OP's question to mean what was it like to stay there for several months over the winter. The little town has limited services so you have to drive quite a ways to shop,etc.

If you want to stay that long, it's just not such a great place. There is a lot of plain old trash there that people dump.

Oh,yeah. There's a canal nearby so there are mosquitoes.

tripper said:

IMHO there are a lot of really cool people there, it is an interesting and often fun place. It also has a lot of really bad people there that are bad news strung out on heroin and meth. You piss off the wrong person there and they will burn your rig to the ground, or worse.
If you really want to see the place go with a good size group of friends who can camp together and watch out for other people's stuff. There are often groups from Quartzsite that travel together down there. DO NOT CAMP THERE ALONE IF YOU ARE FEMALE.

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Heroin, meth, thieves, arsonists and possible rapists?! WTF, man? Geez, everything you said (in red above) makes that place sound like hell. Why go there when there are so many beautiful quiet and safe places to hang out in the US?

tripper said:

IMHO there are a lot of really cool people there, it is an interesting and often fun place. It also has a lot of really bad people there that are bad news strung out on heroin and meth. You piss off the wrong person there and they will burn your rig to the ground, or worse.
If you really want to see the place go with a good size group of friends who can camp together and watch out for other people's stuff. There are often groups from Quartzsite that travel together down there. DO NOT CAMP THERE ALONE IF YOU ARE FEMALE.

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What it sounds like to me is it's like going to Chicago, only I don't have spend as much money, yet still lose it if I'm not careful (again, just like Chicago).

peteg59 said:

Unfortunately, one cannot place a lot of credence on what is seen by a casual or short-term visitor who is not truly imbedded with the population of SC year-round.

Once you look at those vids and the feelings that come from the long-term residents, you get a better picture on how life really is.

An instance that is common is if you leave the spot you occupy for any length of time, the property you leave becomes "community" property or worst-case scenario you come back to find your vehicle, camper, built structure, is now an ash pile on the shifting sands.
It's not all roses and unicorns, by any means!
"Let the buyer beware"...

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I'm not looking for "long term" opinions. I don't want to live there. Just want to see the place. The short term opinions are enough for me to for my consensus. Thank you.

After everyone's input: HARD PASS. I don't think it embodies the van life experience. Sounds like a lot a risk. And on the cynical side, I can just stay here, go to the dump and buy a meth head coffee afterward.

Rabbit1980 said:

I'm not looking for "long term" opinions. I don't want to live there. Just want to see the place. The short term opinions are enough for me to for my consensus. Thank you.

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Visiting in broad daylight for a day wouldn't exactly be a high risk adventure.

Big difference between the Slabs and Chicago is that you wouldn't be freezing your ass off in Dec-Jan-Feb.

Other than being free, that's the main reason people come from as far away as Alaska and Quebec.