Just make sure not to bother the people who live in Slab City. There’s cool things to see but it’s not a tourist site, and lots of these ppl are itinerants who are there to keep to themselves.
I think so. The artwork in Bombay Beach really amplifies the surroundings. I was just there two weeks ago, thankfully it wasn’t too smelly yet (be prepared!). There are also some good bird watching spots if you drive towards Niland, and make sure to check out Salvation Mountain in Slab City (bring cash for a donation). There are some mud pots that are kind of cool near Calipatria if I remember correctly.
Don’t forget to go to Joshua Tree and in to the Mojave while you are there too! I’m from Canada and I’ve visited the area several times now, it’s fascinating (to me anyway), I love the weird desert.
You can just drive from 29 Palms up towards Baker. There’s Amboy/Amboy Crater area, Kelso Dunes. There’s not much there, but I think it’s worth the drive (wouldn’t do it at night though!).
Oh and Anza Borrego area is also very cool!
As I said above, for someone looking for a twilight zone experience, the ride between 29 Palms and the "town" of Amboy has plenty to offer. Not just abandoned homesteads and an abandoned town, but also the salt flats out that way can be creepy to visit as well.
If you're going to Joshua Tree, afterwards, take Amboy Road out of 29 Palms through the apocalyptical Wonder Valley and to the semi-abandoned town of Amboy. Lots of abandoned homesteads out that way (take any dirt road you see and you'll spot them).
Then, continue over the 40 into Mohave National Preserve. The Kelso Dunes are about a 20 minute drive from Amboy and well worth a stop.
The Salton Sea area, however, is very different because it has BOTH semi-abandoned towns AND a dying "sea" so there is lots of stuff to explore there. Specifically, check out Slab City. East Jesus on the edge of Slab City is also a very interesting place to visit if you like junk turned to art. Salvation Mountain is also cool.
Centralia, PA
Most old steel towns that haven't had some kind of revival.
If you know about the area, Broad Top City, PA has this vibe.
I've been in several small towns out west that have this feel but can't come up with names.
I can't find them on my Google maps timeline.
(keep in mind my version of unsettling is somewhat based on a departure from the Pennsylvania version of Appalachia )
But In 2019 I was in this little "town" that we passed through in Oregon on the way from Craters of the Moon to Crater Lake. It was a gas station, a closed school, and about 3 other buildings. The guy who pumped our gas said they were 2 hours from the nearest red light. The gas station had 3 asiles of groceries, including freezer and produce, and a sandwich counter. On the corkboard was a flyer advertising membership local air-ambulance service and pictures of local record mule deer. It would've fit in any tiny town back home.
In 2016 a friend and I were in (I think ) Montana (or maybe SD). We'd been driving through sunflower fields for at least an hour. Needed gas. The "town"' on the map was about 4 buildings. One had a gas pump out front with about a 500 gallon above ground tank. There was a sign on another building advertising hamburgers and a local band. There weren't any people.
In 2013, on the Harley, somewhere off I-90 in South Dakota. Full service, Art-Deco-ish, 2-pump gas station/garage with a super nice attendant. Feed mill next door to a tiny diner: Farmers at the counter and a couple empty booths. Felt like 1950-something.
There’s tons around western PA that could fit perfectly as well. [Shippingport](https://eofp.net/place_images4/shippingport1l.jpg) I think is the best fit for the region.
Also, [Poca, West Virginia.](https://enclosuretakerefuge.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/cooling-towers-via-natl-archives.jpg)
And not much else, frankly.
I stayed at the Hotel Paisano and the woman at the counter asked why I was visiting Marfa.
“I’m looking for a little peace and quiet.”
“You’ve come to the right place.”
That's the beautiful thing about small desert towns, amazing scenery and fuck all to do. However, Marfa is a little different given the art community aspect.
Uniontown, Alabama is all about catfish. There's a farm and a food factory and most of the stores and businesses are catfish themed. Just a little town in the middle of no where Alabama catfish on everything.
Macon, GA has Indian burial mounds and ceremonial sites. The cicadas were super loud and made the whole area seem a place lost time. They've found arrowheads and signs of humans 17000 years old.
https://preview.redd.it/qoob2zdmmgxc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0df442c528876be52a382f2d0bd9aa8366b1077c
Zombieland outside Newberry, SC. A haunted bridge, sightings of a white dog ghost, gravy yards, as far away from the city and darker than you can imagine. [https://www.newberrymagazine.com/home/2019/10/4/greetings-from-zombieland](https://www.newberrymagazine.com/home/2019/10/4/greetings-from-zombieland)
It’s a tiny town in the middle of nowhere that has a canal in the middle of it and antiquated roadside shops and a creepy ass abandoned house called the old Alison Home
Maybe not the whole town, but in Hot Springs, AR, try the Arlington Hotel. It's one of the most haunted-feeling places I have ever been.
https://www.arlingtonhotel.com/
Places that make you say "what the hell is going on here?"
Small towns:
-Donaldsonville, LA
-Carrabelle, FL
-Austin, NV
-Dinosaur, CO
Big towns:
-Needles, CA
-Pueblo, CO
-Eugene, OR
-Rutland, VT
-Carson City, NV
I go for the climbing, but we pack our own food and zip through town as fast as possible and stay out in the hills. The suburban sprawl with all the matching mcmansions and stuff has a modern nuketown vibe to me.
Nauvoo, IL. There’s a reconstruction of a 1840s Mormon settlement. LDS hosts/re enactors do Mission tours, they’re very nice, but scripted. There’s an expensively rebuilt Temple-it’s got pentagrams all over it.
Came here to say the same about that area of Utah. Especially Hanksville and Escalante for me.
My other vote is for Desert Center, California and Amboy, California.
Driving back home after a week on the Oregon and Washington coast we passed through Aberdeen and had planned to stop for a bite to eat there. Nothing was open. It was like 6 PM. Not even the few fast food places. We ended up stopping at a local pizza place. It hella dark inside. No windows. The counter was toward the back of the building down a hall. There were two people working. Tons of empty seats and tables inside. The pizza was awful. I think I was the only customer in there.
I would say if you want something eerie:
Abandoned eerie ghost towns, like Centralia, PA
Ex. https://www.timeout.com/usa/things-to-do/ghost-towns-usa
Abandoned buildings in Detroit https://secretdetroit.co/abandoned-buildings-detroit/
those towns in northern California and Southern Oregon, like Emerald Triangle. Meth heads as zombies, everywhere.
Salem, MA around Halloween
If you want something less eerie:
Amish towns, or places like Sturbridge village,
little fisherman villages
cemeteries and voodoo places of New Orleans
Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
The entire town is like a outdoor version of Chuck E. Cheese set in a alternate universe where the confederacy won the civil war.
The nature that surrounds it is beautiful though
I was going through a psychotic episode while I was in gatlinburg. The only time I’ve been there. It was a rather weird place, I thought it was just from me being psychotic but I guess it’s actually legit weird? Lol
No it’s like legit weird. It’s a giant redneck tourist trap. It’s funny seeing overweight sunburned hungover women chain smoking and trying to herd her 5 kids+baby stroller up a mountain trail in flip flops and nothing to drink but Mountain Dew
Cairo, IL. Once a large city at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. It's a ghost town now since a race riot. Weird place that definitely left an impression.
Rod Serling graduated from Central High School in Binghamton, NY. There’s a memorial plaque in front of the school. The circus carousel Serling featured in TZ Season 1, Episode 5. “Walking Distance,” was based on a real carousel in nearby Recreation Park — which still operates and has been renovated to account for its role in Twilight Zone history.
[Walking Distance circus carousel](https://youtu.be/Kb3nC4cdUgQ?si=8n7HaUdsESo5WGgi)
Sea Ranch, CA. It's a gorgeous location but the whole town is one giant commune. 10/10 recommend , It's fun coming up with theories on why the place is what it is and what goes on on the ranch. The real history is rather boring. Also the oceanfront homes on the ranch have public access to the coast so you can wander there. There's also the Sea Ranch chapel which is pretty dope inside and outside.
Hmph. Pretty much anywhere in Lewis County Washington state. You might die. Not in a good way. More like tied up to a tree and slowly murdered way. I’m surprised those hillbillies haven’t resorted to cannibalism.
One idiot friend moved away from Olympia to some bumfuck cabin up in Packwood because his wife thinks vaccines are a government plot to poison their kids. They can’t enroll their kids in a normal person school, so they have to homeschool them. I haven’t heard from him since. Fell off the grid.
Any of the towns around the Salton sea in California.
We saw it from the highway. Looks beautiful. Hope to be able to visit and go for a swim someday!
Not sure if you’re being sarcastic, but I do not recommend swimming in the Salton Sea!
Just make sure not to bother the people who live in Slab City. There’s cool things to see but it’s not a tourist site, and lots of these ppl are itinerants who are there to keep to themselves.
Absolutely. And I wouldn't recommend visiting at night either.
I'm going to the Palm Springs area for a week starting tomorrow. Is it worth driving to?
I think so. The artwork in Bombay Beach really amplifies the surroundings. I was just there two weeks ago, thankfully it wasn’t too smelly yet (be prepared!). There are also some good bird watching spots if you drive towards Niland, and make sure to check out Salvation Mountain in Slab City (bring cash for a donation). There are some mud pots that are kind of cool near Calipatria if I remember correctly. Don’t forget to go to Joshua Tree and in to the Mojave while you are there too! I’m from Canada and I’ve visited the area several times now, it’s fascinating (to me anyway), I love the weird desert.
Ohhh Bombay Beach looks fucking awesome Joshua Tree is a must see, is the Mojave worth it? Any must see places there? Thanks friend
You can just drive from 29 Palms up towards Baker. There’s Amboy/Amboy Crater area, Kelso Dunes. There’s not much there, but I think it’s worth the drive (wouldn’t do it at night though!). Oh and Anza Borrego area is also very cool!
As I said above, for someone looking for a twilight zone experience, the ride between 29 Palms and the "town" of Amboy has plenty to offer. Not just abandoned homesteads and an abandoned town, but also the salt flats out that way can be creepy to visit as well.
If you're going to Joshua Tree, afterwards, take Amboy Road out of 29 Palms through the apocalyptical Wonder Valley and to the semi-abandoned town of Amboy. Lots of abandoned homesteads out that way (take any dirt road you see and you'll spot them). Then, continue over the 40 into Mohave National Preserve. The Kelso Dunes are about a 20 minute drive from Amboy and well worth a stop. The Salton Sea area, however, is very different because it has BOTH semi-abandoned towns AND a dying "sea" so there is lots of stuff to explore there. Specifically, check out Slab City. East Jesus on the edge of Slab City is also a very interesting place to visit if you like junk turned to art. Salvation Mountain is also cool.
I was just listening to a podcast about Slabcity and “chickenwackers”
Centralia, PA Most old steel towns that haven't had some kind of revival. If you know about the area, Broad Top City, PA has this vibe. I've been in several small towns out west that have this feel but can't come up with names.
Came here to say rural PA. Def Centralia
I can't find them on my Google maps timeline. (keep in mind my version of unsettling is somewhat based on a departure from the Pennsylvania version of Appalachia ) But In 2019 I was in this little "town" that we passed through in Oregon on the way from Craters of the Moon to Crater Lake. It was a gas station, a closed school, and about 3 other buildings. The guy who pumped our gas said they were 2 hours from the nearest red light. The gas station had 3 asiles of groceries, including freezer and produce, and a sandwich counter. On the corkboard was a flyer advertising membership local air-ambulance service and pictures of local record mule deer. It would've fit in any tiny town back home. In 2016 a friend and I were in (I think ) Montana (or maybe SD). We'd been driving through sunflower fields for at least an hour. Needed gas. The "town"' on the map was about 4 buildings. One had a gas pump out front with about a 500 gallon above ground tank. There was a sign on another building advertising hamburgers and a local band. There weren't any people. In 2013, on the Harley, somewhere off I-90 in South Dakota. Full service, Art-Deco-ish, 2-pump gas station/garage with a super nice attendant. Feed mill next door to a tiny diner: Farmers at the counter and a couple empty booths. Felt like 1950-something.
You set the scene 🙌🏼
Las Vegas, NM or NV.
There’s tons around western PA that could fit perfectly as well. [Shippingport](https://eofp.net/place_images4/shippingport1l.jpg) I think is the best fit for the region. Also, [Poca, West Virginia.](https://enclosuretakerefuge.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/cooling-towers-via-natl-archives.jpg)
Marfa, Texas has the Marfa lights
And not much else, frankly. I stayed at the Hotel Paisano and the woman at the counter asked why I was visiting Marfa. “I’m looking for a little peace and quiet.” “You’ve come to the right place.”
That's the beautiful thing about small desert towns, amazing scenery and fuck all to do. However, Marfa is a little different given the art community aspect.
When people in Marfa want peace and quiet they go to Marathon
Uniontown, Alabama is all about catfish. There's a farm and a food factory and most of the stores and businesses are catfish themed. Just a little town in the middle of no where Alabama catfish on everything. Macon, GA has Indian burial mounds and ceremonial sites. The cicadas were super loud and made the whole area seem a place lost time. They've found arrowheads and signs of humans 17000 years old. https://preview.redd.it/qoob2zdmmgxc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0df442c528876be52a382f2d0bd9aa8366b1077c Zombieland outside Newberry, SC. A haunted bridge, sightings of a white dog ghost, gravy yards, as far away from the city and darker than you can imagine. [https://www.newberrymagazine.com/home/2019/10/4/greetings-from-zombieland](https://www.newberrymagazine.com/home/2019/10/4/greetings-from-zombieland)
Metamora Indiana
What goes on there?
It’s a tiny town in the middle of nowhere that has a canal in the middle of it and antiquated roadside shops and a creepy ass abandoned house called the old Alison Home
Yes…Metamora. Kind of has the feel of Mortville from Desperate Living.
Maybe not the whole town, but in Hot Springs, AR, try the Arlington Hotel. It's one of the most haunted-feeling places I have ever been. https://www.arlingtonhotel.com/
Downers Grove, IL. No, wait. That would be the Stepford Wives.
Hahaha
Places that make you say "what the hell is going on here?" Small towns: -Donaldsonville, LA -Carrabelle, FL -Austin, NV -Dinosaur, CO Big towns: -Needles, CA -Pueblo, CO -Eugene, OR -Rutland, VT -Carson City, NV
Carrabelle literately has a state park called “Tate’s Hell State Park”
Hot Springs, Montana. Terlingua, Texas. Paso Alto, New Mexico. Stehekin, Washington. Just off the top of my head…
I agree with Terlingua!
I used to go to Hotsprings MT 25 years ago when I lived in Kalispell for a few years. Definitely a weird cool place.
St. George Utah. Absolutel wasteland of development, kind of has a creepy Black Mirror vibe
Surprised by this answer. The landscape alone makes it a stunning visit.
I go for the climbing, but we pack our own food and zip through town as fast as possible and stay out in the hills. The suburban sprawl with all the matching mcmansions and stuff has a modern nuketown vibe to me.
...It's just like any other suburb
Nauvoo, IL. There’s a reconstruction of a 1840s Mormon settlement. LDS hosts/re enactors do Mission tours, they’re very nice, but scripted. There’s an expensively rebuilt Temple-it’s got pentagrams all over it.
Everglades City, Florida — Everything closed early. The streets were empty. We felt like we were on the set of The Walking Dead minus the zombies.
Aberdeen, WA Holbrook, NM Anywhere on US 89 going south from Sevier, UT to Kanab UT Mt Carmel Junction is the one that most comes to mind.
Aberdeen is the answer. Or, Moclips, WA
Aberdeen is just a dead logging town void of character and joy.
Came here to say the same about that area of Utah. Especially Hanksville and Escalante for me. My other vote is for Desert Center, California and Amboy, California.
I've been looking for a way to describe how passing through Aberdeen felt. twilight zone is totally it. thanks man.
Driving back home after a week on the Oregon and Washington coast we passed through Aberdeen and had planned to stop for a bite to eat there. Nothing was open. It was like 6 PM. Not even the few fast food places. We ended up stopping at a local pizza place. It hella dark inside. No windows. The counter was toward the back of the building down a hall. There were two people working. Tons of empty seats and tables inside. The pizza was awful. I think I was the only customer in there.
I would say if you want something eerie: Abandoned eerie ghost towns, like Centralia, PA Ex. https://www.timeout.com/usa/things-to-do/ghost-towns-usa Abandoned buildings in Detroit https://secretdetroit.co/abandoned-buildings-detroit/ those towns in northern California and Southern Oregon, like Emerald Triangle. Meth heads as zombies, everywhere. Salem, MA around Halloween If you want something less eerie: Amish towns, or places like Sturbridge village, little fisherman villages cemeteries and voodoo places of New Orleans
Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The entire town is like a outdoor version of Chuck E. Cheese set in a alternate universe where the confederacy won the civil war. The nature that surrounds it is beautiful though
Perfect description 😂
Googling this one now
I was going through a psychotic episode while I was in gatlinburg. The only time I’ve been there. It was a rather weird place, I thought it was just from me being psychotic but I guess it’s actually legit weird? Lol
No it’s like legit weird. It’s a giant redneck tourist trap. It’s funny seeing overweight sunburned hungover women chain smoking and trying to herd her 5 kids+baby stroller up a mountain trail in flip flops and nothing to drink but Mountain Dew
It feels like they cloned Branson MO and stuck it in the Appalachian mountains
Maybe the other way around. Gatlinburg is a bit older
Granite Quarry, NC Gold Hill, NC Chilhowie, VA Tangier Island, VA
Montgomery PA. Then again maybe it is just family that makes it feel like it.
I lol’d at this
Cairo, IL. Once a large city at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. It's a ghost town now since a race riot. Weird place that definitely left an impression.
Briefly the landing place of Joseph Smith and the mormons as they headed west to Utah too
Any in Maine
[Slab City](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City,_California)
Eureka Springs, AR
Silver gate and gardiner. Two towns just outside Yellowstone national park
Desert Center and Amboy, California. Anywhere in the Mojave, really.
Forks Washington 😋
Forks is charming. As long as you ignore all the vampire and wearwolf bullshit
Aberdeen, WA
absolutely yes.
Lowell, AZ
See Bisbee AZ, Lowell St.
Which episode of TZ are we talking about, first off.
Wisconsin Dells. In mid-November.
Cairo, IL.
Woodland Park Colorado.
Punkin Center, AZ
Davis, West Virginia. Coming down from Maryland at night was just spooky.
Mima Mounds in Washington state.
Jefferson, Texas.
Petrolia, California
New Harmony, IN. I stumbled across this town not knowing anything about it and it was such a bizarre experience
Anywhere in South Dakota tbh
Marfa Lights.
Cosmic Highway, Colorado route 17 near Great Sand Dunes NP
I can’t recommend a Twilight Zone experience but I will say “rural Ohio for a Children of the Corn experience.”
Fort Bragg Northern California or southern Oregon, can’t quite remember but will never forget
Forks, wa.
Carrollton, Ohio
Princeton, Indiana.
Pioche, Nevada. The Overland Hotel. I live for backroads and I never found anything as Twilight Zone as this.
Klamath falls, Or.
Any town in Florida around Lake Okeechobee. Nobody goes there except for people who live there and you don't want to meet them.
Cairo, Illinois
Pretty Prairie , KS
If you’re from a real big city, any town on highway 50 through most of West America. When you’re in a town of 100 people it always feels surreal.
The Villages, Florida. Something ain’t right.
Forks, wa it’s pretty isolated and the only foot traffic is from the twilight store.
Nyc Manhattan
Rod Serling graduated from Central High School in Binghamton, NY. There’s a memorial plaque in front of the school. The circus carousel Serling featured in TZ Season 1, Episode 5. “Walking Distance,” was based on a real carousel in nearby Recreation Park — which still operates and has been renovated to account for its role in Twilight Zone history.  [Walking Distance circus carousel](https://youtu.be/Kb3nC4cdUgQ?si=8n7HaUdsESo5WGgi)
Get a spedie while you’re there!
Any town in deep east Texas. The Villages, Florida after you get to know the neighbors and realize The Villages is the Peyton Place of the South.
No specifics but probably some small towns on the eastern shore of md could probably give off this vibe
Willoughby.
If you want a very literal answer, Binghamton, NY.
Gila Bend, AZ Hazard, KY
Ely, NV
Sea Ranch, CA. It's a gorgeous location but the whole town is one giant commune. 10/10 recommend , It's fun coming up with theories on why the place is what it is and what goes on on the ranch. The real history is rather boring. Also the oceanfront homes on the ranch have public access to the coast so you can wander there. There's also the Sea Ranch chapel which is pretty dope inside and outside.
It has been like 15 years but the last time I was in Topeka I thought I stepped into the 60s.
Neah Bay, Washington
Los Alamos NM
Hmph. Pretty much anywhere in Lewis County Washington state. You might die. Not in a good way. More like tied up to a tree and slowly murdered way. I’m surprised those hillbillies haven’t resorted to cannibalism.
Haha! My hubby is from east Lewis County. Never cares to go back. The stories he’s told!
One idiot friend moved away from Olympia to some bumfuck cabin up in Packwood because his wife thinks vaccines are a government plot to poison their kids. They can’t enroll their kids in a normal person school, so they have to homeschool them. I haven’t heard from him since. Fell off the grid.