After driving most of the day through the Mojave National Preserve, we finally reached Interstate 15 after sunset at Baker, CA. From there, we drove west to Barstow, CA, to find a hotel for the night. The morning after we drove back to Baker to take Death Valley Road north all the way to the entrance of the National Park. There are two reasons why we ended up visiting this fantastic place, which was not in our plans. First, the name of the exit on the highway: “Zzyzx”. I had never heard of such an original name and I simply had to take a quick detour! Secondly, the previous day we had noticed, right before sunset, while driving in the desert in that direction, what seemed to be, with the reflection of the sunset, a big lake in the distance and I wanted to go take a look.

Zzyzx Road is a 5-mile long, part paved and part dirt, road in the Mojave Desert. It runs from Interstate 15 south to the Zzyzx settlement, formerly Camp Soda and Soda Springs. Soda Springs, a natural spring, has long seen human activity. The area was a prehistoric quarry site, and projectile points and rock art can be found in the area. The Mojave Road ran past the spring, as did the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. Remnants of a wagon road stop and railroad artifacts are readily seen. Evaporative salt mining and mill sites can be found here as well.

The name Zzyzx was given to the area in 1944 by Curtis Howe Springer, claiming it to be the last word in the English language. Springer made up the word’s pronunciation “zy-zicks”. He established the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa in 1944 at the spot, which was federal land, after filing mining claims for 12,000 acres surrounding the springs. He used the springs to bottle his water and provide drinks for travelers through the hot desert. Springer also imported animals from around the country to attract more families to visit his ranch. He used Zzyzx until 1974, when he was arrested by the United States Marshals for misuse of the land as well as alleged violations of food and drug laws and the land was reclaimed by the government. Since 1976, the Bureau of Land Management has allowed California State University to manage the land in and around Zzyzx. A consortium of CSU campuses use it as their Desert Studies Center.