Zzyzx Mineral Springs

This former desert spa turned research station sits at natural warm springs that have drawn humans for thousands of years. The Cal State University Desert Studies Center now occupies the site where Curtis Howe Springer once operated his dubious health resort, complete with the fabricated town name Zzyzx (pronounced ZYE-zix) to ensure it would be last in any alphabetical listing. The springs still flow, feeding small ponds surrounded by palm trees and research buildings in an otherwise harsh desert landscape.

Access via a 4.5-mile paved side road off Zzyzx Road, which branches south from I-15 between Baker and Barstow. The springs and research station are open for public viewing during daylight hours, though the buildings are restricted. A short nature trail loops around the spring-fed ponds where you might spot the endangered Mojave tui chub, a fish found nowhere else on earth.

Desert oasis with the last word in the alphabet