If you want to see something unique in an area full of unique things ( Salvation Mountain and dead fish on the beach, anyone?), make sure to find your way over to the Salton Sea mud pots. Quick disclaimer, people have said the ground is not very hard in some places, so watch your step or you could fall through. Also, I have no idea if it is public property, but I didn’t see any signs stating otherwise. So here is the info.
Details
- 3-mile drive down a dirt washboard road
- Located in a big field on the corner of Davis Rd and Schrimpf Rd. You can go out those two streets in your GPS
- Note: This post was written in 2014 so some of this information may have changed
I found out about this place from Yelp as I was in the area checking out a lot of Salton Sea attractions and looked up what was around me. An area with boiling mud pots was enough for me to want to stop by and check it out.
I know little to nothing about this area and couldn’t find much about why it is happening online, but there were lots of footprints out in the dirt, so lots of others visit it as well. When you are out there, you will see the mud boiling and popping. I would not touch this water.
We drove a Toyota Matrix down the road, and while it made it, the road was very rough washboard, and I wouldn’t drive that car down it again.
When you get to the intersection, you will notice a massive field on the right with a power plant off in the distance and some mud shaped mountains in the middle of the field. These are the mud pots.
I made my way over to them quickly to make sure that the footing I was stepping on was safe then took a couple of minutes just taking it in. It is bizarre to hear the popping sounds that come from the water as the boiling mud bursts.
Some of the mud pots are boiling really good, while others are only boiling a little bit. The mixture of the water with the unique white cracked ground below is an awesome thing to take photos of though.
All in all, it was not worth the trip on its own, but if you are in the area, it is a unique place to visit that is worst seeing. Check it out after Salvation Mountain and East Jesus. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
