Field Trip to the Desert Lighthouse is an event series that brings participants together for a journey by bus from Pasadena, California to the Mojave Desert, culminating in a sunset viewing of Desert Lighthouse. Along the way, participants spend time in the nearby town of Hinkley, California, where they meet local residents and hear firsthand accounts of the area’s complex history of environmental contamination. The experience includes a communal meal hosted by residents at their community center, fostering conversation and connection. Blending elements of a guided tour, community gathering, and pilgrimage, each field trip offers a reflective and immersive encounter with both place and people. Sign up below to receive information on future field trip events.

Desert Lighthouse (2017 – Present) is a full size functioning lighthouse located in the Mojave Desert on the outskirts of Hinkley, California. Since its inaugural lighting in 2017, Desert Lighthouse has provided nearly uninterrupted illumination to a complex area of California’s High Desert. Located on the edge of the PG&E Hexavalent Chromium environmental disaster made famous by Erin Brockovich – and surrounded by militarized airspace – Desert Lighthouse has become a beacon of hope for locals who have faced decades of environmental and economic challenges. The location has become a common gathering place for locals, art tourists, sightseers, and wayward travelers. Responses to the lighthouse have been unexpected and varied, including local residents constructing a makeshift memorial to honor and scatter the ashes of their deceased loved ones at the site, the lighthouse being used as a staging ground for rescue operations for individuals lost in the surrounding desert, and the emergence of a UFO doomsday group, Stargate Hinkley, who believe the lighthouse is a cosmic portal to escape an impending apocalypse.

Daniel Hawkins, Desert Lighthouse, 2017 – Present, Structural steel, polycarbonate siding, off-grid solar powered electrical system, fresnel beacon, internal led lighting, 50 x 14 x 14 feet on 3.94 acre parcel.