Salvation Mountain

Salvation Mountain is a large outdoor folk-art installation on a painted adobe hill near Niland in Imperial County, California. It was created by artist Leonard Knight beginning in the early 1980s and is widely known for its religious message and bright, layered paint surfaces.

The site comprises a multicolored hillside covered in murals, text and sculpted forms, with a chapel-like section and pathways that visitors can walk through. The main painted mound rises to roughly the scale of a small building and is constructed from adobe, straw and thousands of gallons of paint applied directly to the surface.

Work on the installation was carried out almost entirely by Leonard Knight over many years; local volunteers and preservation groups have assisted with repairs and paint application, especially after Knight stopped maintaining it full time. Knight died in 2014 and the site is now managed with volunteer support and informal stewardship.

The installation sits in the Colorado Desert near the Salton Sea, a short drive from the unincorporated community of Niland and adjacent to the area known as Slab City. The location is remote and exposed, so plan visits during cooler months and bring water.

• Access: Located off a small desert road near the informal community known as Slab City, the site is fragile-avoid climbing the outer slopes and follow any posted access guidance.
• Maintenance and conservation: Work began in the early 1980s by a single artist and the installation was hand-painted with large quantities of exterior paint; volunteer groups have helped maintain it since the artist's death in 2014.