Slab City, California
You probably know of this small town if you’ve ever seen “Into The Wild” with Emile Hirsch. It’s known as “The Last Free City In America,” but to be honest, this was one of our more disappointing stops.
Slab city, also known as The Slabs, is supposed to be a sort of peaceful location full of hippies and artists where you can go and get inspired. And for all I know, it probably was at some point. The Salvation Mountain is as it looks on TV.
And there was a guy hanging around there painting and talking to people, but the actual “town” is not how it is depicted. There were many gaps between people’s living areas, lots of rubbish, and some burnt-out units, and there was nothing “welcoming” about it.
I’m not saying people were unfriendly, but I had read about there being a lot of little shops and industry from the locals to bring money into the community, and this wasn’t what I found.
If I’m in the area again in the future, I may pop in to see if anything’s changed, but I wouldn’t plan a trip around it.
