This is one of those episodes that I was absolutely sure I had already shared; and I was reminded of it when I caught a glimpse of the tower in the first few minutes of the Road Trip episode I shared last week. I love checking out towers, although I’ve never visited this one. It’s yet another nearly forgotten roadside attraction from the days before the interstate.

The Desert View Tower stands 3,000 feet above sea level, three miles east of Jacumba in the Imperial Valley. The four-story, cut-stone structure was built in the 1920s by Bert Vaughn, who owned the town of Jacumba. The pre-highway trek to the Pacific Coast was arduous, so Vaughn thought it appropriate to commemorate the pioneers who struggled across the arid desert. Join Huell as he climbs to the top of the tower to see the spectacular views of the desert below.

(Click on the linked image below to see the video.)