Giant Rock Airport
Was Visited by the Traveling Webmaster on 5 March 2004.
Pictures Were Taken And Are Included Below.
Number of visitor comments for Giant Rock Airport: 32
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Destination : Giant Rock Airport
Category : Entertainment / Strange and Weird
Location : City : Landers State : California
When : Any Year: Spring, Fall or Winter
Reason to Visit : Giant Rock airport was home of the first Flying Saucer Convention and were hosted by George Van Tassel. It was first held during the weekend of April 4th, 1954. It was a favorite UFO gathtering for the next 16 years. The format for these conventions were with George Van Tassel, the owner of Giant Rock, who would address the attendees from a speaker's stand erected in front of Giant Rock. Topics generally centered around the study of flying saucers, alien visitations, extraterrestrial technology, pyramid power and similar wonderful things.
He is also the builder of the Integratron which is an alien visitation inspired cosmic machine for the purpose of rejuvenation. It's power is from it's physical location to the Giant Rock.
Many guest speakers (Major Donald E. Keyhoe among others) would address the convention.
It also was an opportunity for the entreapeaneurs of the day to sell their books and UFO trinkets. Many people just came for a weekend of camping and enjoying the great outdoors.
Up to until 2000 Giant Rock was considered to be the largest freestanding boulder in the world. Then a slice of the rock fell off. I am not sure if it still the largest freestanding boulder in the world, or not.
Directions:
Giant Rock Airport is located in Southern California near Joshua Tree and Landers not far from Twenty-nine Palms and the military bases there. For detailed directions to the Giant Rock Airport click here.
Submitted By : The Traveling Webmaster added Giant Rock Airport as I had intended to visit all along.
Visted Yet During This Adventure? :
Yes
Ray Plumlee's Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
When Visited : 5 March 2004
Ray Plumlee's Comments :
One of the highest priority destinations for me in the Southern California area was the Giant Rock Airport located near Yucca Valley and Landers California. The reason this was such a high priority for me and my first destination after arriving in California is it is a fond childhood memory.
In the mid to 1950's to early 1960's my family went to Giant Rock Airport most every year, except maybe one year, for the annual UFO Convention. That one year we went to the Calico Ghost Town where another Convention was held instead of the Giant Rock Airport.
The things I remember best are the flat open area that was the airstrip, the small domed mountain nearby where my family parked near with our camping trailer and of course the Rock itself, which was purported to be the largest freestanding boulder in the world.
Below you will see a series of pictures I took today (5 March 2004) interspersed with pictures from an 8mm home movie my family took during the 1950's.
If you are one of those like myself who have fond memories of those UFO Conventions hosted by George Van Tassel then I highly recommend you visit if you are in the Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, 29 Palms area. As there are no signs and the road gets a little primitive the directions are a little complicated. Below I have made some, I hope, good directions to Integratron and the Giant Rock Airport. To view these directions click here.
Bonus Info:
This is a view of Giant Rock in the mid 1950's with the Cafe on the left, the climbing platform next to the rock and the windsock on the top of Giant Rock.
This is a view of Giant Rock today (5 March 2004) with my truck. The cement pad where the Cafe, "Come On Inn," was is just in front of the bumper of my truck.
This is a view of the cemet patio area that was adjacent to the entrance to the under rock library/lounge room. Can't really see it because in this picture it is in the shadows.
Here is what is left of the patio area on 5 March 2004. The cement patio is still there but the entrance to the library/lounge room is totally gone. It appears to have been filled in. Sad. Becuase I remember how neat the room was. Not to mention how cool it was.
Here is a plane landing at the Giant Rock Airport in the mid 1950's.
Here is what the Giant Rock airstrip looks like today (5 March 2004).
This is a picture of the domed hill near Giant Rock Airport. Pictured here are my Brother and Sister (Jerry Plumlee and Linda Plumlee Yost) climbing this small hill which was near where we had our camping trailer.
One note about this. I was 10 or 12 years old at the time this photo was taken. Also the picture was taken from the base of the hill looking up the hill. So this picture best shows how big the hill looked to a pre-teen. The next picture best shows how big the hill is now and was then despite my child's eye.
This is a picture of that very same hill with my truck in front of it. Note going up the hill just behind the cab of my truck what appears to be a trail. I'm guessing but I bet that was done by motorcyclist. Picture taken 5 March 2004.
This is a picture of the Integratron rejuvenation machine which was being built at the time (mid 1950's) by George Van Tassel. He built the Integratron with input on the design from alien visitors.
George Van Tassel funded Integratron construction by using Giant Rock as a gathering place for UFO enthusiasts and holding a UFO Space Convention at Giant Rock each year. The first convention was held there in 1954. Thousands attended these events and by 1959, conferences attracted 11,000 followers.
This is what the Integratron looked like on 5 March 2004.
Directions to Giant Rock Airport and the Integratron
From Yucca Valley, at the main intersection in town just past Carl's Jr. (watch close as Carl's does not have a big sign), turn left at Old Woman Springs Road/Hwy 247. Drive 10 miles to Reche Road, where there is a large "Landers" sign on the right. Turn right, and drive 2.2 miles to Belfield Blvd. Turn left and drive about 1 mile. The Integratron is at the end of Belfield Blvd. Just past the Integratron, Belfield Blvd turns west and continues on. At this juction turn right onto a dirt road (Linn Road).
This is where it gets a little complicated so I took a couple of pictures to help you there. Giant Rock is about 3 miles from here.
After turning down the dirt road about a 100 yards the road forks. Take the left fork. At about the 2 mile point you will come again to another fork in the road. Take the right fork. I took a picture of this fork in the road so you could see how the fork is in front of a mountain and the road forks to go both ways around.
Continue down the right fork for about a half a mile and you will begin to see the Giant Rock coming into view. I have included a picture below that shows how the Giant Rock first comes into view.
Visitor comments for Giant Rock Airport:
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| Spy under Giant Rock: |
Kevin from From Palm Springs now in Passau Germany |
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10 of 14 |
| Galatic Integrator and Gold Mining near Giant Rock: |
Kevin from From Palm Springs now in Passau Germany |
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13 of 13 |
| convention goer: |
Thomas R Yerian from South Carolina |
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1 of 1 |
| worked on the desert in the 50s: |
barney mccoy from clark sd |
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4 of 4 |
| u.f.o. convention dates ?: |
linda lanier from klamath falls,oregon |
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1 of 2 |
| All neat things seem to slip away: |
Steveo from San Diego, CA |
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2 of 3 |
| Brings back memories: |
Kurt from Dillon, Colo. |
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3 of 4 |
| Thanks for the memories [and also for the pictures]: |
digr27@msn.com Hmitch from Topeka, Ks. USA |
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2 of 2 |
| spring 1967: |
David G from Santa Ana, Ca. |
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30 of 30 |
| Great area!: |
John MacDonald from Cypress, Calif |
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1 of 2 |
| March 1, 2007: |
Doug from Flanders, CA |
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4 of 5 |
| researcher needs info: |
Monarca Merrifield from Lancaster , PA. |
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3 of 3 |
| Also Want to Visit Giant Rock: |
Jeff Tarbell from Berkeley, CA 94705 |
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1 of 2 |
| boy the 50's were ???????: |
cousin from usa |
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1 of 2 |
| The First Encounter: |
Georgia Corbin Varga from Chicago, Illinois |
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1 of 2 |
| Had apple pie at the rock in the 60's: |
Ron Campbell from Upland, Ca |
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5 of 5 |
| Did the military shoot Giant Rock with a cannon?: |
H. Bootman from Pomona, CA |
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5 of 5 |
| June 1, 2008: |
Teamlost from Cathedral City, CA |
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2 of 2 |
| Early Sixties landing in the Navion Rangemaster aircraft: |
Alan A Memley, Memley Aviation, Inc from Fresno, CA |
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2 of 2 |
| Giant Rock 1972: |
E. N. Diliberto from Twain Harte, CA USA |
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4 of 4 |
| wonderful memories: |
Tom Yerian from Marathon fla, fla keys |
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2 of 2 |
| Thats it!: |
Scooter Hall from Long Beach Ca. USA |
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2 of 2 |
| Please don't use the runway: |
Howard Wilson from Mercer Island, WA |
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3 of 4 |
| Our trip to Giant Rock - we want to return!: |
Myril from Menifee, California |
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2 of 3 |
| FLEW IN WITH MY KID IN 2007: |
KlrKrusher from Everett, Wa. |
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2 of 2 |
| I Was There: |
Lucky 29 from Ogden, UT |
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1 of 1 |
| Just got home from there: |
Christopher Moran from Mentone, CA |
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1 of 1 |
| I personally knew Daniel Boone who lived at Giant Rock: |
Laxmi from Mt. Shasta, CA |
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0 of 0 |
| A late-40's plane ride with my dad: |
Don Graybill from Palm Desert, Calif. |
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0 of 0 |
| A time I will never forget: |
aka Gloria Salerni from California |
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0 of 0 |
| Learned to fly out there in 1979.: |
George from Fort Morgan, Colorado, USA |
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1 of 1 |
| There in 1969: |
Emile Guel from Lived in LA at time of visit. |
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0 of 0 |
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Page Last Modified: January 15, 2009
Todays Date: May 21, 2013
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