Unusual and Fun-Loving Things to Do in Landers CA

If you’re looking to relocate to a more tranquil town and live in harmony with the desert, Landers CA is just the perfect place for you. The town is located in an unincorporated community in the Homestead Valley of the southeastern Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County. The Joshua Tree’s neighbor boasts a population of 2,982.  

Check out these unusual and fun-loving things you can do and start imagining your life in Landers California. 

Enjoy a Sound Bath at The Integratron

The Integration is a dome-shaped structure built by George Van Tassel. He’s an aeronautical engineer and ufologist. The construction started in 1954. Van Tassel allegedly received  instructions from extraterrestrials from Venus known as “The Council of Seven Lights.” The ufologist claimed that he was invited aboard a Venusian spaceship. He was given explicit instructions on creating a machine that could rejuvenate living cell tissues. 

The reason why he chose the site is because of its alleged powerful geomagnetic energy. He believed it could be amplified within the parabolic structure. The building consists of fiberglass and plywood. Theyare held together by wood dowels and a cement ring that serves as the keystone. 

Van Tessel believed that the building would serve as a rejuvenation machine, time machine, and anti-gravity device. He worked on it until 1978 when he suddenly died. Even though he didn’t live to test his creation, the building proved to be structurally sound. It withstood the 7.3-degree Landers Earthquake of 1992. 

In 2000, Nancy and Joanne Karl purchased the Integration. They have been exploring the building’s rejuvenating capabilities through their sound baths. Today, you can enjoy a half-hour sound baths while listening to seven musical notes on quartz crystal singing bowls. The bowls are made by crushing and hearing 99.99% pure quartz to 4,000 F. They are spinning it in a centrifugal mold. Each note is devoted to the body’s chakras. 

After the sound bath, you can stand in the chamber’s center and talk, hearing your voice reverberate back to you. Moreover, you can also see an exhibit about the history of the building. Just to sit outside in the shade and admire the unusual structure. 

Visit Giant Rock

The Giant Rock is a regular-looking, seven-story rock with an unbelievable history. It covers nearly 6,000 square feet and is dubbed the largest freestanding boulder globally. Its modern history began in the 1930s when Frank Critzer met George Van Tassel. Van Tassel gave Critzer a loan of $30 to purchase mining equipment. Critzer then dug a 400-square-foot residence immediately beneath the rock for himself. Critzer was also a radio buff and reportedly built a radio antenna on top of the rock to improve reception.

Unfortunately, Critzer’s German ancestry and radio antenna led to accusations that he was a spy during WWII. For this reason, the authorities raided his cavern. The actual cause of Critzer’s death is unknown. Rumor has it it happened when authorities attempted to remove him from his cave by shooting tear gas canisters into it. One person accidentally ignited a small supply of explosives and blew the odd loner to smithereens. 

Van Tassel went to Giant Rock in the 1950s after learning of his friend’s death. He reactivated an old airfield there, dubbing it Giant Rock Airport. In 1952, Tassel began organizing meditation sessions behind Giant Rock in Critzer’s old house. Van Tassel claimed he was receiving important information from alien sources to create a great machine from this location. According to Van Tassel’s alien sources, the body is electrical equipment, and a loss of power causes aging. Soon after, Van Tassel started holding the popular “Giant Rock Spacecraft Conventions” UFO conventions on the property. The convention went on for over 20 years to help raise money for the construction of the Integratron. 

The Dream Wanderer

The Dream Wanderer is a parked bus that seeks to transport visitors to a different reality. It features Lily Dale, a virtual reality piece inspired by and named after a small faith-based psychic utopian society in Western New York.

Lily Dale was established in the 1880s as a haven for spiritualists and freethinkers. The town’s mediums claim to be able to communicate with the dead. Flatsitter, a Buffalo, New York-based artists collective, has produced an immersive virtual reality experience based on interviews with today’s Lily Dale mediums that takes viewers on a vivid dream-like journey.

The entire experience combines a rich soundtrack with powerful visuals to provide consumers with a deep, sophisticated insight into the story of the various mediums. Visitors begin by selecting a deck of Tarot cards from which to start their adventure. Which of the three realities they enter is determined by the three cards they draw.

The Dream Wanderer journeyed across the United States before arriving at its final desert destination. Thousands of people across North America were exposed to these virtual reality experiences during the performers’ months-long tour. Their now-permanent facility is a one-of-a-kind stop for people passing through the Joshua Tree area and looking for a soothing, psychedelic, and mind-opening experience.

Tour Gublers Orchid Farm

Gubler Orchids, a vibrant jungle in the center of the Mojave Desert, has its headquarters near Landers. Founded near Zurich in 1918, patriarch Heinrich Gubler and his son Hans offered specimens that fueled the Victorian-era passion with exotic flowers to the upper crust of Switzerland. His son transferred the company to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s, first to Malibu and then to Altadena.

For many years, Hans and his wife sold orchids out of the back of their station wagon. Then, in the 1980s, they needed more space for expansion, so they purchased land in Landers Ca, a flat spot that had formerly been a stagecoach stop. Heinrich’s grandson, Chris Gubler, is now in charge of the business. He oversaw a significant repair and renovation of the greenhouses, which were nearly devastated in the 1992 earthquake and reopened in 1995. 

Nowadays, you can now guide the greenhouse and learn about fascinating giant white Phalaenopsis, purple-hued Cymbidiums, sculptural Lady Slippers, and delicate Dendrobiums. As a bonus, you can take photos of the beautiful plants and buy your favorites to spruce up your home. 

Final Thoughts

The distinctive features, such as the Integratron dome built by ufologist George Van Tassel give Landers CA, a heavy dose of quirkiness that makes it a magnet for UFO enthusiasts. Beyond that, Landers is a great place if you want a more rural setting. To be able to experience the beauty of the desert, and enjoy the small-town life. Discount Lots has the top selection of vacant land, so make sure to check it.