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Destination: Outer Spaced, California

Cannabis Grower Buys California Town to Build Pot-Friendly Outpost

American Green Inc., a maker of cannabis products, is taking an unusual step to attract new customers as it capitalizes on California legalizing marijuana: It’s buying an entire town. The company has acquired the tiny burg of Nipton, California, for about $5 million and plans to invest as much as $2.5 million over the next 18 months to create a pot-friendly tourist destination. The purchase includes 120 acres of land with a general store, a hotel, a school building and mineral baths.

The joys of Nipton today:

“Nipton is an experience like nothing else. We stayed in Quatro cabin which we were advised had one of the best views from the front porch. (Totally true.) The cabins are simple and cozy, basically a great mix between camping and a hotel. The wood stove inside is a really nice touch; we were toasty warm despite the canvas roof in colder-than-average January weather, and I used it to make coffee the next morning. Each cabin has an AC, fire pit, picnic table, and an outdoor spicket for fresh Nipton water. There was also complimentary yogurt and whole fruit at the trading post in the morning for cabin guests.

“Overall, the experience was absolutely wonderful! It was my birthday and we wound up cooking outside under the full moon, as well as having a little party with locals Jim and Cody. The folks who live in Nipton are extremely welcoming and it was awesome getting to sit and listen to stories about the area, as well as learning about some interesting places to see that are way off the beaten path. Once we got settled in, I wished we had spent a few more days in Nipton as it really felt like home even in such a short time. Cannot wait to visit again!

Some tips for first-timers:
– Bring food and/or libations to share with the small community of permanent residents in town.
– Nipton is quite remote (little to no cellular data service) and their hotel wifi doesn’t really reach the cabins. This is a place to escape from the outside world, so if you “need” internet, stay at the hotel itself.
– Bring a cooler with ice if you have any perishables or drinks to keep cold.
– A main freight rail line is about 200 yards from the town; pack ear plugs if you’re a light sleeper.
– Bathrooms and showers are located in a Quonset hut. The shower rooms have a dirt floor outside the stall, so I’d recommend flip flops or shower shoes for wet feet.
– Searchlight, NV, or Primm, NV, are the closest towns with gas stations, larger restaurants, and amenities. Both are about a 20 minute drive from Nipton. Nearest grocery stores are in Bullhead City, AZ, which is over an hour drive. The trading post does offer some grocery essentials as well as sodas and beer. Nipton EcoCabins @ Nipton Trading Post

DOWNTOWN NIPTON AND THE NIPTON CROSSROADS:

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  • Vermont Woodchuck August 4, 2017, 5:53 AM

    Sounds about as regressive as a place can get. I lived slightly worse in the Nam.

  • SgtBob August 4, 2017, 6:34 AM

    Maybe it’s a California invention for retrieving water, but what is an “outdoor spicket?” In the deepness of Texas where I was raised, we had outdoor spigots, but never anything called a spicket.

  • BillH August 4, 2017, 7:24 AM

    About 25 years ago when we were young (early 60s), my wife booked us into these kinds of places on our annual driving trip through some part of the rocky/coastal mountains. She thought it would be a nice change. Ten days of misery. I’ve forgotten most of those trips, but not that one.

  • jwm August 4, 2017, 9:15 AM

    Nipton, huh? I’ve traveled through that area more than a few times. There is nothing in the world to recommend it. You see this a lot in the desert- some folks want to try a little gas station/ C-store / motel out in the middle of nothing. And it’s all boarded up, and covered in graffiti. There will be a small colony of trashed out looking houses. All of it abandoned. You wonder what they were thinking in the first place. Oh, but Nipton will have- WEED! Good luck, guys.

    JWM

  • ghostsniper August 4, 2017, 9:32 AM

    That place has the one thing that people like me require.

    NO PEOPLE

    UPS guy was here a few mins ago and we chatted briefly and that is the only human interaction I foresee into the indefinite future and I prefer it that way.

    We routinely go weeks without seeing other people and that suits us fine.
    We have our own interests and curiosities, chores, responsibilities, and we both work at home and deal with our clientele thru emails and cells.

    I scoped that Nipton out on google earth and the remoteness is the least of the problems. Lack of water and vegetation, and the unrelenting sun/heat. Thats what drove me out of Florida after 40 years of torture. The heat and the people. I’d rather not….

  • jwm August 4, 2017, 1:36 PM

    To be fair, it isn’t hot there ALL the time. You can jolly well freeze your ass off in winter as well.

    JWM

  • Monty James August 4, 2017, 2:53 PM

    “American Green Inc.” Right. Anyone can claim to be a company and announce on the Internet that they’re opening a pothead’s Mecca. I think the atomic test mutant cannibal clan that lives in that part of the country is just getting clever.