The Desert View Tower and Boulder Park has a long history dating back to 1923. It was built as a monument to the pioneers who first traveled thru this area. It is now the last functioning roadside attraction on the San Diego to Yuma corridor. The road itself has a long history. Mike and I love roadside attractions, and this one is on a very old road.
This is a picture of John and his dog Sneakers. He is the grandson of the present owner. Along with a few other folks, he runs the tower. He takes your $ 6.50 admission and will tell you a little about his family, the history of the tower and his favorite spots in the boulder field. The tower is an amazing little place; a museum, a holder of family secrets, gift shop and book store. The newly added circular room with fireplace (1950) features an enlarged photo of a very pretty woman with her hair in pigtails. This is John’s grandmother. He told me “she was one of the finest persons to ever walk the earth”. You gotta love a guy like him, really. After a tour of the tower
we moved on to the boulder field. At first I thought I was wasn’t going to like any transformation of the natural landscape, but in the end, I loved this folk art masterpiece created by Merle Ratcliff. He was an unemployed engineer in 1933 who sculpted all this crazy stuff, threw on a little paint and boom. I loved it. 
