Exploring Abandoned Desert Center, California

I was there and photographed in March of 2018. Everything was still intact, none of the windows were broken, and the cafe looked like someone had left for the night and just never gone back. The tables were set, and the phone booths were there across the back. The locomotives were still in the garage, and the caboose was there just to the east of the Cafe. The school was also intact and snugly secure behind a locked up chain link fence. I’m so sorry to see what has happened to all of it in just the last 5 years. It’s truly tragic.

Great video Steve. I had many cups of coffee in the cafe between 1973 and 1978 when I was a Phoenix based truck driver. The Desert Center Cafe was a good place to meet for drivers working for trucking companies with operations in Phoenix and Los Angeles. Drivers for various companies would switch off loaded units from El Segundo of other L A terminals for empty trailers from Phoenix. Desert Center was a natural halfway spot used 24 hours a day 7 days a week for this type of exchange operation. It is sad to see the condition of this spot today.

One time in the 60's when I was 18 or so, I got stranded in Chiraco Summit, just 19 miles west of Desert Center, on a Saturday night on my way to back college in L.A. It was the middle of the night and my battery was not charging. I stopped at the garage and in the morning a guy tried to fix it - no luck. I needed a new generator for my '53 Chevy and they did not have one. In the morning I limped to a garage/gas station in Indio. I had no money. The gas station owner not only fixed my car on a Sunday, he LOANED ME HIS CREDIT CARD in case I had further trouble on my way to L.A. I have never forgotten that kindness and I am sorry that I never really got to thank him properly. I try to pay it forward whenever I can.

Our family stopped here on our way to Massachusetts in the summer of '65. Ate lunch at the cafe. Us kids were just thankful for any sign of civilization!

It’s so sad to think Desert Steve built a town from nothing putting his life and soul into it. Hoping to leave a legacy for it to become ruins. Thanks for the tour and the history lesson. Really enjoyed it.

Wonderful episode. For some reason it plucked my heart-strings, thinking about how one person impacted hundreds of lives, and within a century, what was one a vibrant business town was turned mostly to dust.

Can you imagine the lasting satisfaction of those who go to bed every night remembering how fulfilling it was to tag and vandalize Desert Center? Yeah, me neither. I will never understand how people get such a thrill out of destroying things.

My family had a place on the Colorado River when I was a teen in the 70's. I drove through this town at least 50 times! This video is a reminder of great times in my life and the stark fact that you can't go back...

Another great trail guide video. I never have understood the need by some people to destroy something just for the sake of destruction. It's unfathomable to me that people feel a need to leave their mark on the world by trashing everything they can along the way. Not much of a legacy in my view. Great work again, Steve. The spirit of America and those that endured all kinds of hardships to build it is always intriguing to me. You do a marvelous job of showing the human side of this corner of history.

I have stopped for a bush bathroom break by what I called "those abandoned buildings from I-10" on some of my Arizona camping trips. Thank you for explaining the history of Steve and his town. I may have never known otherwise and next time I stop there, I may take a longer look around. I definitely will appreciate it more. I am grateful for your videos and adding Sidetrack Adventures to the list of things to be thankful for at Thanksgiving this year. Thank you!

I’ve been passing it since I was 16. It was a happy place because seeing it meant you were almost to the river in Parker.

If you went to Parker or Havasu to vacation on the Colorado River we all stopped at Desert Center before taking a left to Rice Road. My Parents would caravan pulling a Boat behind the Station Wagon at 3am to beat the heat. I remember stopping at Desert Center asking if we were there yet. It was always lots of activity at that time of the morning of Semi Trucks everywhere, the Diner, Gas station was a must regardless. Rice road seemed was 1000 miles long. I follow the trend for years and stopped at Desert Center weather or not I needed to. I'll never forget the comfort of knowing that those places actually existed at one time.

Stayed in the Cafe for several hours back in 1991 when my motorcycle engine ran hot and finally blew up. The nice lady behind the counter said their claim to fame was being the location for an episode of the TV show Airwolf. They had a lot of pictures around the Cafe from the show. Nice place and very friendly people. Thanks again Steve.

When I was a truck driver in the middle 1990's, I would stop there to take a break. The cafe would have breakfast, lunch and dinner blue plate specials ( two eggs, bacon or sausage, hash browns, toast and coffee for less than $4.00 ) . The hamburger place also sold ground beef tacos, burgers and fries with coca cola, rootbeer and Sprite in paper cups . Desert Center market had cold sodas, juice, milk, bread etc . There was an old caboose outside the cafe and a locomotive and a 1930's sedan inside the cafe's garage ) i was told that the railroad equipment belonged to the Eagle mountain railway . I purchased several postcards at the cafe that showed the town during its heyday.

My father and I stopped by the Desert Center on route to Phoenix. I still have a receipt from the cafe since my father passed away some few years later, RIP, Frank.

As a trucker who did a lot of backnforth between L.A. & Phoenix, I'd stop & do a 10hr brk here once in a while. I always liked that neat cafe sign of an old miner & his burro cooking his supper over a campfire; a really unique painted tin & neon vintage sign. Too bad it disappeared after the town was sold. There was a wooden totem pole too outside of the cafe. I read something about an auction sale took the best goodies away from Desert Center. Sitting in my truck there & watching ALL the ppl drive by on I-10, I couldn't help but think that just a lone In & Out Burger here would be funny & do a HUGE business. Like the Prada store in the middle of nowhere in west Texas.

Sad to see Mr Ragsdale's desert oasis has fallen into such awful dereliction. Desert Center would make a great location for a huge EV charger site, as in Kettleman, CA. 100+ charging stalls, solar canopies, and a 50s-themed diner, to bring some old-school road trip vibes to a 21st century installation.

Thank you, Steve. I hope all of your hard work also benefits you because you’re doing us a great service with your videos. As a TV/Radio major I appreciate your pacing, diction and tone. All the best for 2024.

I recognized the Cafe in Google maps. It was in an episode of Airwolf (80s TV show). It was the episode were we meet Catlin in her CHP helicopter. I stopped by on a camping trip.

Thanks for the video! I grew up in Rialto and during the late 50’s and into the 60’s we would often spend weekends at the Colorado River. I remember heading out in the pre-dawn hours and stopping at the Desert Center Cafe for an early breakfast, or sometimes having dinner there on our way back home. I have fond childhood memories of that place.