Amboy, California
Roy's Motel & Cafe
What it is
The lonely mid-Mojave outpost whose 1959 googie sign is one of the most photographed on earth.
Why it matters
The definitive desert-stretch stop — silence, heat, and one glowing sign.
What we experienced
Amboy was one of the day's main stops, and the one I had been looking forward to. The sign is what everybody photographs and it earns that, but what stays with you is everything behind it — the motel closed since the eighties, the school across the road abandoned with its sign still up, a post office, a couple of palm trees, and then nothing in any direction. People in the comments keep pointing out that we stop at every sign to take a picture. That is the whole point.
Watch this moment18:57Plan your visit
Practical notes
- Status
- Hours change out here — confirm locally before you go.
Along the route
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- Santa Monica PierSanta Monica, Californiafinish
- Needles, CaliforniaNeedles, Californiatownguide entry coming