📍California’s Forgotten Salton Sea

On the way to Salvation Mountain (near Palm Springs), we came across a vast lake—looked it up and found it’s called Salton Sea, once California’s largest inland lake 🗺️💧. Although located in the desert with extremely low rainfall and scorching temperatures ☀️🏜️, it surprisingly became a biodiversity reserve 🌿🐦. In the 1950s and 60s, real estate developers hailed Salton Sea as a "miracle in the desert," comparing it to the French Riviera 🏖️✨. Multi-million-dollar yacht clubs, summer homes, hotels, and restaurants sprang up along its shores, turning it into a thriving waterfront destination that attracted up to 1.5 million visitors each year 🚤🏨. Vacationers—including the Beach Boys—drove all the way from Los Angeles, 150 miles away, just to sunbathe by the water 🎶🧴. But due to overdevelopment, the ecological balance of Salton Sea was completely disrupted 🚫🐟. Many aquatic species could no longer survive, and agricultural runoff containing pesticides and fertilizers further poisoned the lake 🌾☠️. Today, the lake’s salinity is 25% higher than the Pacific Ocean, leading to the extinction of fish within it 🧂💀. You can clearly feel that the ecosystem here is no longer suitable for living. The moment we stepped out of the car near the shore, a strong foul odor hit us 🤢💨. The air was thick with a mix of chemical elements… my chronic sinusitis and sore throat flared up instantly 🤧⚠️. The only thing worth seeing now is the installation art scattered along the beach—it gives off a strangely peaceful, apocalyptic vibe… 🎨☠️📸 #SaltonSea #CaliforniaTravel #HddenGemsInCA #CaliforniaTourism #OffTheBeatenPathCA #DesertMysteries #AbandonedPlaces #EcoHistory #ArtInNature