As a kid, I always enjoyed stopping at the Cabazon Dinosaurs on our road trips to Palm Springs and the Salton Sea. I recently got a chance to go there with my oldest son and we really enjoyed it. It’s a great roadside attraction. If you are a fan of the 1985 movie, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, you’ll especially enjoy remembering the scenes filmed there.
History:
Claude Bell, an artist and sculpltor for Knott’s Berry Farm, created the dinosaurs to attract customers to his Wheel Inn Restaurant. Construction of Dinny began in 1964 and was completed in the mid 1970’s.
Mr Rex was also built near Dinny and was completed in 1982.
Claude Bell died in 1988, so his plans for adding a Mammoth were not completed. Current ownership promotes a creationist view of the world.
Cabazon Dinosaurs also features an open-air museum with fiberglass and robotic dinosaurs. We stopped early in the morning and the open air museum had not opened yet.
Don’t forget to stop at another California landmark that’s nearby, Hadley’s Fruit Orchard Store. Buy some dried fruit or nuts and try a date shake.
