Nipton, California is an historic Mojave Desert town having its roots in the nineteenth century mining and ranching industries of the western United States. The coming of the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad established Nippeno Camp as a town-site in 1905. The consolidation of the SP, LA & SL RR with the Union Pacific Railroad, circa 1910, prompted renaming the town-site and rail station as NIPTON, a continuing California place name.
Okay, so a bed and breakfast doesn't mean you get served breakfast in bed. You actually have to get up, get dressed and probably be somewhat presentable. I can do that, and I did. It was well worth it. Before I summarize though, let me tell you about the evening prior to this personal revelation.
Nipton is located on the boundary of the extreme northeast corner of the Mojave National Preserve. Searchlight, Nevada is about 20 miles to the east, and Cottonwood Cove on the Colorado River is another 14 or so east of there. About an hour from Las Vegas. About 45 minutes from Laughlin. The first time I blew through there was about 6 years ago looping around from Route 66 off of the Highway north from Needles. I remember thinking, "Wow, some shade."
This time, Nipton was the destination. We checked in at the store about an half-hour before sunset. I dropped off all our junk in the room and went to sit on the porch. After about 10 minutes I remembered the railroad origins of the town. This was because all hell broke loose at the crossing some 100 yards from the hotel. The crossing started dinging and and lights started flashing and blinking, the arms to the gate dropped down, the ground started to rumble and all of a sudden, while I was watching this all take place to my right, a train roared through from my left. "Whoa," I thought, "that was fast!" It sure was pretty though. The setting sun peeked through between the cars flashing across the hotel porch. I sipped at my coffee.
"Now where did you get the cup of coffee?" you're probably thinking. There are three things I require for survival in the desert during the winter. First thing, water of course. You need water to make coffee, which is the second thing. Thirdly, is bacon. The bacon is required in the morning. At least the smell of it cooking. Since it wasn't morning, and I wondered that since the hotel is a bed and breakfast, if I'd get bacon with my breakfast in bed the next day... I'll get back to the coffee I was sipping on.
There are five small rooms in the Nipton and a very nice common sitting area. There are two baths, and by this I mean not two per room. Yep, you get to share. They are private baths, so it's not like risky or anything like that. The common area had a drip coffee maker and fixings for coffee. Funny how I zoom right in on things like that. The coffee pot setup was the first thing I noticed when I walked into the hotel. So anyhow, to keep a long story to the current size, that's how I ended up on the porch with a cup of hot coffee watching the train go by.
It was pretty relaxing watching the occasional train go by and twilight creep in. I could see down the road five or six or maybe even seven miles. Further away across the Ivanpah Valley I could see the freeway and little teeny lights of little teeny cars and big old trucks hurriedly tracing across the desert toward the stateline casinos at Primm, Nevada and points beyond. Looking back up the highway leading across the valley I could see one lone vehicle traveling toward Nipton.
Traffic was light on the road slicing through the bare valley. I had gotten a feel for the time it took for a car or truck to come from the pass west to the hotel and store. This particular truck appeared to be going much faster than those I had observed previously. The truck was about a half mile away and the crossing bells and alarms started up again and the gates dropped down. The pickup truck pulled up to the stop line and I could feel the rumble of the train. The truck had a palm tree, about 5 foot tall secured by rope in the bed. The train rolled by, but not as fast as the others had. The train slowed down, The train slowed down even more, and then slowly came to a stop. The lights and bells and weird noises at the crossing kept on as the train stopped fully across the road. The pickup just sat there. Curses, I finished the coffee in my cup.
"Oh good," I thought. The truck with the palm tree was still there when I returned with my cup topped off. The train was too. The guy in the truck was getting anxious. He backed up a bit, he took off down the dirt road along the siding. I've been down that road, it's about 8 miles to the next crossing, and no road on the other side. Suddenly, with a rumble and a roar, another train came careening through on the track next to the siding that the first train was on. It took a few minutes, but under the wheels of the trains I could see the pickup with the palm tree return to the crossing. Maybe another 5 minutes and the drama was over. The palm tree was jostled from the trip down the dirt road. The first train lumbered off slowly. The driver was slump-shouldered, his spirit broken. Ten minutes of his life were gone, never to be gotten back. I sipped at my coffee. "A bit weak," I thought.
The hotel is so cool! Built in the early 1900's, the rooms are small, but cozy. The common area is divided into two areas and the lighting can be adjusted through table and floor lamps for comfortable reading. A large, round coffee table sits in front of one of the couches and is perfect for rolling out large maps. A radio sits on the table next to a guestbook containing comments from visitors from all over the country and the world. The history of the hotel is kept in a notebook and is also interesting to read through. The story of Clara Bow and her relationship to the hotel and the area are included. The beds were very comfortable.
As I lay in bed I could hear the rumble of an approaching train. I remembered an episode of 'I Love Lucy,' where the room shook, shattered and everyone scrambled while the train passed by only feet from the window. I wondered if this would be the same type of experience. I thought of the truck with the crooked little palm tree. He was on his way taking palm trees to wherever they must go in the desert. It was actually very relaxing and I was fast asleep before the train finished passing in the night. Occasionally, I'd wake up a bit when a train passed by. With the harmonic of the train on the track while it continued, it was actually pleasent. I slept very well.
The night before, I had noticed on the map of the grounds that there was a pond about 200 yards from the hotel. My intention was to get up there and take some photos, possibly of some wildlife at the crack of dawn. I was awake before sunrise and prepared my equipment. I read somewhere that if you are serious about outdoor photography you can say goodbye to normal breakfasts and dinners with the family. This time though, I would beat the system and have my photos shot and be back in bed before 8:00, the time we had breakfast scheduled.
So at 7:55, while snuggled back in bed with my little face shyly peeking from under the covers, my wife informed me that that a 'bed and breakfast' did not mean 'breakfast in bed.' At 8:03, we had the little restaurant next door to ourselves. Breakfast was great. Can remember exactly what we had -- Pork chop and eggs come to mind. Oh yeah, that was it! Teriyaki sauce is kind of different for me, but it was pretty good. Thanks Bill!
We'll be back, we really enjoyed having the hotel to ourselves.
Nipton Hotel
107355 Nipton Road
Nipton, CA 92364
(760) 856-2335
Really, really quiet, most of the time.
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About the Reviewer Walter Feller has been eating and sleeping in places since he was a kid. He finds there is no special skill involved other than chewing with his mouth closed. Over the last 12 years he has been traveling mostly throughout the Mojave Desert, but goes other places also. He sleeps nearly every night, enjoying it immensely. He says he finds it "Rejuvenating." |
Nipton is located at the northeast corner of the Mojave Preserve and about 20 miles west of Searchlight, Nevada. The New York mountains lie to the southwest and Stateline (Primm, NV.) is along the I-10 freeway and directly to the north. East of Searchlight is the Colorado River and Lake Mojave.
The Mojave Preserve features Kelso Depot, a recently remodeled train station now functioning as the visitor center for the preserve. Nearby the station are the beautiful Kelso Dunes.
The area abounds in gold mines and wildlife. During the spring, the wide expanses and varying altitudes often provide desert wildflower displays that can be enjoyed in solitude.