While coming through Boron, CA the 20 Mule Team Museum is awaiting your visit. I think it is waiting for anyone to visit. We were on our way to the Saxon Aerospace Museum (next door) and we arrived right at opening time. Wow! Right on time, however, as luck would have it the place was locked. No one around.

20 Mule Team Museum Hours Vary

Well as places like this can be, and usually are dependent upon volunteers. In this small town, Boron (population 2,253), we weren’t too surprised. A few minutes later a pickup with two guys pull up and they wave one finger indicating, I think, that it will just be  few minutes.  Well they park their truck and tell us that the person who is opening the museum today, was having breakfast and they pointed at the restaurant across the street. No problem I say.  

So I wander next door to the 20 Mule Team Museum.  Now this place I have driven by for many years, and not stopped as the grounds looked pretty sad. Scattered around the place is bunch of ferric oxide disguised as mining equipment.

So,  I go into the museum, which is also the chamber of commerce of Boron, and sign the guest book and start looking around. The whole place seemed a bit small, and I thought this would be a real short visit. Then I was greeted by the staff member and the fun begins. She lit up everything and and museum began to take form. The back rooms came to light, There were models, displays, and photographs of the 20 Mule Team Experience. The viewing area has a movie about the mules and how they were used in the transport of the borax. The information is what you need to know if you are going to have mules pull your wagon. for sure it told me more about mules than I will ever need to know.

The collection of history is a nice stop to break the trip, be it to Vegas, Phoenix or beyond. I enjoy the work volunteers put into preserving history that would otherwise just fade to dust or rust in the desert. Oh Yes! Its Free. So help support it with a donation!