Landers, California
Downtown Landers, Ca.
Landers is a small, unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, set in the Homestead Valley of the southeastern Mojave Desert at about 3,100 feet (940 m). It lies roughly 14 miles (23 km) north of Yucca Valley, with Joshua Tree to the southeast, Johnson Valley to the north, and Pioneertown to the southwest. California State Route 247—known locally as Old Woman Springs Road—runs through Landers, linking the area south toward Yucca Valley and north toward Barstow, and giving the town its main travel spine.
Landers is also closely tied to one of Southern California’s most significant modern earthquakes. At 4:57 a.m. on June 28, 1992, the M7.3 Landers earthquake jolted the region awake. Shaking lasted roughly two to three minutes. Although the event was larger than the 1994 Northridge earthquake, widespread catastrophe was limited because the rupture occurred in sparsely populated desert terrain. The quake was a right-lateral strike-slip event that broke across a chain of faults over about 75–85 km, including the Johnson Valley, Kickapoo (often called the Landers) Fault, Homestead Valley, Emerson, and Camp Rock faults. Surface rupture extended about 70 km, with horizontal offsets up to 5.5 m and vertical displacement up to 1.8 m.
Culturally, Landers is known for desert “outsider” landmarks. Giant Rock—an enormous freestanding boulder—became a focal point for George Van Tassel’s mid-century “Spacecraft Conventions.” Van Tassel also built the Integratron, a striking wooden dome he said was inspired by UFO contact and ideas associated with Nikola Tesla; construction took 18 years, and today the site is famous for sound-bath experiences. Another long-running local institution is Gubler Orchids: started in 1954 when Hans Gubler sold orchids from his station wagon, the family business continues into a third generation. Together, these threads—high-desert geography, fault-driven history, and quirky landmarks—give Landers its distinct character in the Mojave.
Landers Regional Map
Landers Fault
Integratron
Gubler Orchids
Giant Rock
Otherside of Giant Rock
Landers Brewery