Salvation Mountain

A three-story hill of adobe and half a million gallons of paint, blazing with flowers, Bible verses, and the words God Is Love. Leonard Knight spent nearly three decades hand-building this folk-art monument at the gateway to Slab City, and it remains one of California's most photographed outsider artworks. A short painted path lets you climb partway up, though some inner passages have collapsed with age, so tread carefully. There's no shade and no services nearby — bring water.