Zzyzx, California — Desert springs, history, and the Desert Studies Center

Overview

Zzyzx (pronounced ZYE-ziks) is an unincorporated locality in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. It lies in San Bernardino County and within the boundary of the Mojave National Preserve. The site sits near Soda Dry Lake and is reached by Zzyzx Road from Interstate 15, roughly between the towns of Baker and Ludlow. The place is widely noticed for its unusual name and for the visible remnants of a mid-20th-century spa and settlement.

Historically the area was known as Soda Springs or Camp Soda and provided a natural water source in an otherwise arid landscape. Native peoples and early travelers in the region used springs and seasonal waterholes, and the site later served as a stopping point for ranchers and motorists. In 1944 radio evangelist and self-styled health promoter Curtis Howe Springer established a mineral springs resort here, calling it Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa. He chose the invented name reportedly to be "the last word" in the English language.

Springer occupied federal land for several decades; in 1974 the federal government removed him and his operation, citing unauthorized use. Afterward the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service took responsibility for the area. In 1976 the California State University system established the Desert Studies Center at Zzyzx as a field station and research facility, which continues to support university courses and scientific study of Mojave Desert ecology.