Slab City Skate Park — Attraction in Calipatria

Slab City, California

Only a short 20-mile drive from Bombay Beach, Slab City sits outside Niland in a remote area of California’s Colorado Desert. Once a former US Marine Corps base, the camp was abandoned by the end of WWII, leaving concrete slabs on which they used to experiment behind. Squatters quickly claimed the area as their own and used slabs to build structures to live in. The site has no electricity, running water, or sewers, and there’s no law enforcement or taxation for those who live there. Today, Slab City remains the gathering place of squatters, snowbirds, drifters, and...

Free board, inline, roller skates (when available) if not broken. Volunteers keep pool free of water and debris daily. They also hold movie nights, music venue/jam, VERY POLITE to public, dog friendly, hard drug free, but alcohol friendly. GREAT spot to find out about local events and directions in Slab City.....its literally a childhood dream come true! 40yrs ago my dream, when I grow up, was to live and cook food in e school bus or double decker bus next to a sk8 park..... I'm currently living that...

Definitely not like it had been for the 5 years I've lived here, next to it.

Not, truly, "open" to everyone, as it used to be. People have occupied the park and, have, subsequently, taken control of it.

The park has, always, managed itself, so to speak. In other words maintenance and, upgrades have, always been performed by volunteers and, visitors. The group that occupies the park has done little more than add to the noise levels and, clutter on the slab and, make some visitors...