Grab the wheel and pull over for a slice of history on California Route 66: the Needles Railroad Borax Wagon in Needles, California.
This big wagon is both a cool photo opp and a reminder of the town’s past. Once parked outside the local El Rancho Hotel, it used to boast about the hotel’s refrigerated air and sparkling swimming pool (a big deal in the desert heat!). When the hotel was torn down in the late 1950s to make way for the freeway, the wagon was moved, stripped of its ad paint, and now simply reads “Needles, California” in a cheery bright yellow.
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And no, this isn’t your average chuck wagon: it’s a borax wagon, just like the heavy-duty ones that hauled borax out of Death Valley in the 1880s. 18 mules and 2 horses used to pull these massive wagons across the desert to haul borax (a type of salt) from Death Valley to the railway. Talk about horsepower!
This roadside stop was one of my very first on California Route 66. The Needles sun was blazing behind me and I was a bit sweaty in the 115 degree heat, but this California roadside attraction still felt like a must-see welcome to town…and the perfect start of the final stretch of The Mother Road.
Photos of the Needles Railroad Borax Wagon in Needles, California
