Watery Wonderland

Come for the inland sea, stay for the wacky story about how it got there and the push to protect it. This mightily saline body of water—even saltier than the Pacific Ocean—was an engineering accident. In the rainy spring of 1905, the Colorado River rushed through the canal gates built to hold it back, flooding the Imperial Valley. This had happened several times in the past, but this time, it stuck. It took engineers roughly a year and a half to stem the flow, and in the meantime, water continued to pool at 227 feet below sea level. Today, the sea is fed by agricultural runoff. Some naturalists worry that if it continues getting saltier, many of the white pelicans and other birds that use it as a place to fuel up during migration may be out of luck.

Skip the eerie ruins of abandoned buildings chapped and flaking in the desert and check out the criminally underrated visitor center, where a pelican skull, with its long, sharp bill, is sure to leave you slack-jawed. If you’ve got a steel stomach, don't miss a slew of “Salton Sea Hush Puppies” near the window. (The charming name describes globs of waxy, insoluble fat formed when untold numbers of tilapia died at the same time in the briny water.) Then, make your way down to the beach. With each step, you’ll kick up sharp little backbones and barnacles that almost look tinted purple or dusty rose. Sit for awhile on the sun-battered picnic tables, surveying one of the prettiest infrastructure mishaps around.