We first visited this quirky desert art installation just outside Las Vegas along I15 back in 2017, when it was first installed. Now, as we were traveling on I15 on our way to a 10-day off-roading trip to Southern Utah, we decided to stop for another visit. Boy, what a difference social media has made.
These seven brightly colored, stacked boulders, each standing over 30 feet high, were created by Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone from locally sourced limestone. It officially opened in May of 2016 and was scheduled to be on view for two years. However, due to its immense popularity, its permit was extended and here it still is 9 years later.
The site is intentionally placed between the natural desert landscape and the artificiality of the Las Vegas city light, to invite visitors to reflect on the relationship between nature and human intervention.
But boy, what a difference from our visit 8 years ago when there were only two other people. Now there were probably close to a hundred people, all taking turns making silly poses in front of the “mountains.”
It’s not just here that visitation has exploded. We are finding that since Covid, more and more people have discovered the great outdoors, and there are fewer and fewer places to get away from the crowds. Thankfully, we were traveling in our Toyota 4Runner, which would allow us to do just that.