Slab City, California

Slab City is an assemblage of mostly recreational vehicles; a community that formed on its own without any apparent organizational force. Located on the site of Camp Dunlop, a former WWII Marine base situated at the edge of the Chocolate Mountains, an active bombing range in the Imperial Valley, Slab City gets its name from the prevalence of concrete aprons, or slabs, at the site. A network of roadways and slabs accommodate a community of up to a few thousand occupants in the cooler winter months. The populace is comprised of all sorts, from road warriors living in buses that haven't moved in 20 years, to snow-birders, retired folks who migrate to warmer climes in their RVs in the winter. This varied mixture of people get along and seem to enjoy the variety of attitudes at Slab City.