America's Coolest Desert Towns To Add To Your Bucket List

While you may have some concerns about traveling to a town that is surrounded by the Chihuahuan Desert and smaller than two square miles, the only real concern should be how long you'll be staying. Marfa, Texas isn't just a blip on the map, it's an established hub for creatives and is known for its art scene.

The surrounding area of the tiny town often incorporates its barren landscapes as an important part of art spaces and individual pieces. Marfa Prada, for example, is an interesting art installation that appears as if a Prada store just appeared in the center of an otherwise desolate land. Although it is not a real store, the juxtaposition of a high-end fashion brand in the desert is thought-provoking and somewhat jarring. Another large-scale installation is "Giant," a tribute to a film that was shot in the area that consists of painted plywood cutouts of the movie. The giant figures backdropped by a wide and open sky is an attractive sight.

There may even be a supernatural kind of visual artistry at work in the town, as the phenomenon known as the Marfa Lights has baffled locals and visitors for a number of years. Marfa isn't just a place where art exists, creativity seems to be interwoven into the land itself. A visit here will open your eyes to some of the magic the desert can hold.

While not a town per se, Slab City consists of a group of free thinkers and artists who have turned an unwanted piece of desert into something truly mesmerizing. This collective of artistic squatters has created a community that has been widely considered America's only lawless community. Though police intervention does happen on occasion, the residents of this bizarre makeshift society largely govern themselves with a general code of mutual respect and minding one's own business.

Instead of buildings housing businesses and residences, the "town" is a mass of art installations and shelters made of recycled junk. The result is quite amazing, making a visit here a visual treat. Salvation Mountain is the most famous of these art installations and looks as though a small landfill was covered in adobe, painted, and adorned with words affirming God and the power of love. If the Bible were written by Dr. Seuss, it would look a lot like Salvation Mountain.

Less than a mile away is East Jesus, another community within Slab City that focuses on creating art out of unwanted items. If you plan to visit, announce your intent to visit, never show up after dark, and don't even think about leaving a cigarette butt on the ground. If you follow these rules, you'll likely have a lovely time admiring all the funky art, but be mindful, as disrespecting their guidelines for strangers could turn dangerous. Respect the art and the creators or stay out of Slab City altogether.

While there is no one who currently lives in Rhyolite, the ghost town has not been forgotten. In fact, the intricate installations that have been created there have given what was once a thriving town new life. Just under two hours from Las Vegas, the ghost town makes a decent day trip from the neon strip. Bottle houses that have been crafted from thousands of old bottles and an eerie open-air museum make a trip to this deserted desert town worth the time and gas.

The Goldwell Open Air Museum leaves a haunting presence in the desert under a mile away from Rhyolite. One of the outdoor museum's permanent works is a rendition of Da Vinci's "Last Supper" and depicts a number of ghostly figures in similar positions as the original painting. The desert landscape surrounds the contrasting stark white figures for maximum creepy effect.

Rhyolite contains a number of bottle houses, the most popular of which was created by a man named Tom Kelly. With tens of thousands of bottles collected from the nearby abandoned bars, he built a full cabin that has turned into a popular work of art for people to admire. If you're going to pick one of America's abandoned places to visit, this one has plenty of after-collapse additions that have made it an art destination.

Visiting Pioneertown is like walking onto the set of a Western movie, probably because it has been used for shooting many of the films over the decades. Although it is largely a theme town, there are a few hundred people who call Pioneertown home. This, of course, means that some of the seemingly outdated salons and businesses here are fully functional. You can grab a drink and meal at the Red Dog Saloon and throw some clay at MazAmar Art Pottery, both of which are disguised as old Wild West buildings.

Though the businesses are real and exist in the here and now, the building facades are not the only pieces of history that Pioneertown showcases. There may not be movies regularly shot in the town these days, but shootouts and gunfights are apparently a regular occurrence out on the street. Don't worry, no cowboys are actually harmed, but Mane Street Stampede puts on a good show for visitors.

If you've dreamed of sci-fi worlds and think you'd thrive in a dystopian novel, then a trip to Bombay Beach may be the perfect thing to tide you over until the end of days. A couple hundred people still live here, but what was once a resort town abandoned by the community, Bombay Beach is now comprised of intriguing art installations and dilapidated buildings filled with graffitied messages and portraits. Those who still remain at Bombay Beach have crafted sculptures, themed rooms, and makeshift hangout spots from things left behind and other unwanted items.

Highlights of Bombay Beach include its only real restaurant the Ski Inn, an old drive-in with vintage cars in various states of disintegration, as well as a collection of eerie sculptures on and near the water. A singular swing rests in the water just past a free-standing doorway to nowhere on the beach. These art pieces reflect a certain feeling of isolation around the town, but there's also a quirkiness to it all. Larger sculptures are found throughout the town, such as a huge metal fish with wings that stands outside one of the residences, and visitors are welcome to explore as long as they respect the residents, as well as the work they have put into making the town a creative space.

Walking down Silver City's Main Street is like exploring a Crayola box, and we mean that in the best way possible. Vibrant colors paint storefronts, and Native American influence can be seen throughout the town's historic downtown. Main Street is packed with art galleries and artisans who work with various mediums.

Pottery and clay art is prominent in Silver City, and the annual Clay Festival takes place for around a week every summer. The festival brings educators and creatives to the town, but gorgeous pottery can be found here year-round. Printmaking, textiles, painting, and jewelry crafting all have a place here, and visitors will not have trouble finding a work of art that they want to take home as a memento of their time in the creative town.

The architecture of Silver City is something to marvel at as well, and styles ranging from Art Deco to Gothic to Victorian can be seen here. An artful mix of old and new is found throughout the city, giving off a sense of timelessness that contributes to the good vibes felt by locals and visitors alike.

If you've ever been in a conversation with a conspiracy theorist or are one yourself, Roswell is probably a familiar name. The town in New Mexico is allegedly the site of one of the most famous extraterrestrial events in modern history, the 1947 UFO crash. Though this event didn't publicly end with us making contact with any alien life forms, it did result in the area being transformed into an unexpected tourist attraction for travelers interested in the unknown.

Individuals hoping for a close encounter flock to the town, and it's impossible to visit without seeing little green men everywhere. Everyone has a hand in the novelty of the extraterrestrial in Roswell, from a McDonald's shaped like a UFO to the International UFO Museum and Research Center. The tourist town is just plain fun. While you likely won't experience a real alien abduction, you could walk away from the town with a new, state-of-the-art tin foil hat.