ROAD TRIP LOS ANGELES - LAS VEGAS

- 13 stops to make along the way -

It’s road trip time. We’ll be driving through the Mojave Desert from LA to Las Vegas and I’ll show you some stops you can make along the way.

The drive is about 270 miles and without any major traffic delays takes roughly 4 hours. That being said, oftentimes you will hit traffic especially starting your drive in LA on a Friday and heading back from Las Vegas on a Sunday. The drive can be much longer on those days. The majority of the drive you’ll be on Interstate 15 going through the Mojave Desert which includes parts of the iconic Route 66.

The 1st stop on our road trip is Victorville where we visit the California Route 66 Museum. The building houses a gift shop and three display rooms showcasing Route 66 memorabilia. 

There are several photo opportunities such as a 50s diner setting as well as the VW Love Bus. Or you can also hop on a 1917 Ford Model T.

As you might know, Route 66 runs from Chicago to Santa Monica and this is the original first booth that was located at the end of the trail in Santa Monica.

Admission to the museum is free with donations gratefully accepted. The staff there is super friendly and knowledgeable about the Mother Road. Make sure to strike up a conversation with them and they can also give you tips on other roadside attractions.

The museum is open Friday and Saturday from 10am-4pm and Sunday 11am-3pm.

Our 2nd stop is about a 15 minute drive from the museum and its quite the unique spot.

This is Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch. Elmer, who unfortunately passed away in June 2019, created this place with trees made out of bottles. His father and him started collecting bottles when Elmer was a kid. His dad’s collection became quite large and when he wanted to give it away, Elmer took the bottles and eventually created this forest of bottle trees in the middle of the desert. 

When I visited, it was closed and I’m not sure if they will ever open up again since Elmer’s passing, but you can certainly see a lot of the trees from the road. 

Onto the next destination on our road trip - Barstow, which is about a 30 minute drive from Victorville. There are several things you can do.

Our 3rd stop is the Route 66 - Mother Road Museum. I personally liked the one in Victorville better, but they certainly had some cool items such as this old Ford Mustang. Admission to this museum is free and they appreciate donations and purchases in the gift shop.

Open Fri-Sun 10am-3pm

Next door you’ll find the Western America Railroad Museum which showcases the history of railroading in the Pacific Southwest. Not something I would recommend visiting unless you are really into trains. The coolest part were these old trains located at the parking lot.

Open Fri 11am-3pm and Sat/Sun 11am-4pm

For those of you that like roadside attractions, make sure to go to our 4th stop of this road trip - the Big Fire Helmet at the Fire Department in Barstow. It’s a tribute to the firefighters who died on 9/11. The helmet is a FDNY replica and bears the number “343” on the shield. Which is the number of members of the NYC Fire Department that died in the collapsing of the twin towers.

Park at the Desert Discovery Center next door as the driveway at the helmet is for emergency vehicles only.

Our last stop in Barstow and 5th stop on our road trip is another roadside attraction - the so-called Barstow Station, where you’ll find probably one of the most unique McDonald’s where you can eat inside these train cars.

Heading further along Interstate 15, our 6th stop is Peggy Sue’s Diner in Yermo, CA. This original roadside diner was built in 1954 with 9 counter stools and 3 booths.

The folks that own the diner now, restored and reopened it in 1987. As you walk through the diner you’ll see lots of movie memorabilia and the diner has become much more than just a place to grab food.

It’s more of an old fashioned tourist stop with a 50s style store, an ice cream parlor and pizza parlor.

There is even a “Diner-saur” park where you can stroll through during your visit.

I really liked this stop and you really feel like you are taken back to the 50s.

From Peggy Sue’s Diner, a short 10 minute drive takes us to the 7th stop - Calico Ghost Town, which used to be a silver mining town founded in 1881. It was abandoned in the mid-1890s after silver lost its value and ultimately became a ghost town. 

Walter Knott, who created the Knott’s Berry Farm Amusement Park in Southern California, purchased Calico in the 1950’s restoring many of the buildings.

Today, Calico is part of the San Bernardino County Regional Parks System and visited by travelers from all over the world.

As you walk through the town and buildings, you learn about the history of this mining town.

There are several different buildings showcasing how life was back in the day.

 There are also some shops and restaurants as well as attractions such as walking through the Maggie Mine, which today is the only mine that is safe for guests to walk through or you can take an 8 minute train ride on the Calico Odessa Railroad. 

There really is a lot to see and do here and you could easily spend half a day here, but you can also choose to make this an hour long stop just walking the grounds on your way between LA and Las Vegas.

There is an $8 admission fee to enter the ghost town and it’s open daily from 9am-5pm. Side note: If you are traveling in an RV, note that they have an RV campground onsite.

As we drive back towards Interstate 15, you can see this giant ice cream sundae. 

This is our 8th stop - Eddie World, California’s largest gas station including Tesla super charging stations. 

It’s really just a pit stop where you can fuel up your car and grab some food or snacks for the drive.

In close proximity you’ll also find the Liberty Sculpture Park, which was created by a Chinese born dissident and sculptor with the purpose of championing the human desire for freedom and condemning the oppression of Chinese communism. 

You don’t necessarily have to drive to the park and can just look at it from the road. If you do decide to drive there, note that a dirt road leads to the park, not a paved street.

Alright, moving on from Yermo, our drive continues along Interstate 15 to Baker, the Gateway to Death Valley, our 9th stop. This town is mostly known for having the World’s Tallest Thermometer, standing at 134 feet (41 m) tall and capable of displaying temperatures up to 134 F (56 C), which was the highest recorded temperature in nearby Death Valley back in 1913.

A man named Willis Herron had it built in the early 90’s to attract people to his restaurant, Bun Boy.

Today, instead of a restaurant, there is a gift shop located at the thermometer along with a little picnic area.

Our 10th stop is a very unique roadside attraction in Nipton, CA and sorry ladies, this one is only visible to the gentlemen because it’s a waterfall urinal located in the men’s restroom of a lonely Shell gas station in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

We are now approaching the California-Nevada Stateline. The town of Primm, our 11th stop, is located right at the border.

You’ll see Buffalo Bills with the Roller coaster, which is not open at this time. You’ll also find the Primm Valley Resort & Casino here. If you want to get some gambling in before reaching Las Vegas, this is the place to do it. 

There is also a mall attached to the resort. It really seemed more like another ghost town while I was there.

Lastly, you also find a lotto store here, which is still on the California side rather than the Nevada side. You wonder, why is this so special - well, it’s actually the closest place to get lotto tickets if you live in Vegas. While Nevada is famous for gambling, the state does not run a lottery. That’s why many Southern Nevada residents go to Primm to purchase lottery tickets and I’ve heard the lines can get quite long.

There was a 4.7 million winning ticket sold here in 2020. So grab that lottery ticket on your way to Vegas.

As we get closer and closer to Vegas, our 12th stop is the small town of Goodsprings, NV where we’ll be visiting one of my favorite places on the road trip, the Pioneer Saloon.

Settlement in the area started in the late 1800’s in hopes of benefiting from the mining. 

The Pioneer saloon opened in 1913, which is now the oldest continually operating bar in all of Southern Nevada.

The mahogany bar in the main saloon was built in the late 1800s and has been at the saloon since its opening in 1913.

A man named Paul Coski was fatally shot inside the saloon back in 1915 as he was caught cheating in a poker game. 

That man is thought to be one of several ghosts that haunt the saloon. Many patrons and employees have experienced ghostly encounters and they are even serving a ghost burger, which I highly recommend getting. One of the best burgers I’ve ever had and it has even been featured on the Food Network.

The interior and exterior walls are stamped tin and thought to be one of the last, if not the very last, of its kind in the US. 

Even the stove that heats the building today and the dining tables have been around since its opening day making this a truly authentic Wild West saloon experience.

In the back of the saloon you’ll find a separate room named the Clark Gable Memorial room. 

Actress and wife of Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, was on a plane that crashed just outside of Goodsprings back in 1942. 

Clark Gable immediately flew to the area and visited the Pioneer Saloon, where the search party was headquartered. Gable spent three days at the Saloon waiting to hear if there were any survivors. Tragically all 22 passengers aboard the flight perished.

Countless television shows and movies, such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Miss Congeniality 2 and Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures,  have used the Pioneer Saloon as a backdrop. 

Kitchen open daily from 11am-8pm.

On to our last and 13th stop before reaching Las Vegas - the Seven Magic Mountains. This large scale art installation was created by Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone approx 10 miles south of Las Vegas. 

Comprised of seven towers of colorful, stacked boulders standing more than thirty feet high, Seven Magic Mountains has become quite the popular attraction especially for those instagram worthy photos. 

The exhibition opened in May 2016 and was scheduled to be on view for two years. Due to its success, it has been extended and can still be visited today.

This wraps up our road trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Hope you enjoyed it.

For more impressions, check out the video below…