Western Gothic USA Road Trip Stops: “Difficult Beauty”

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For today’s road trip inspiration, we’re diving into the realm of all things Western Gothic by skulking around America’s badlands, neon diners, and desolate truck stops.

Planning road trips can be about chasing an ambiance. Cities, landmarks, monuments, national parks, regional restaurants, and museums are of course interesting enough to stand alone, but together, a collection of them creates a mood and provides insight as to the local mindset. We can even use a road trip to absorb some of this mindset ourselves, to set our own tone. A road trip can be like a Spotify playlist, or a live action Pinterest board.

Western Gothic vs. Southern Gothic

The phrase “Southern Gothic” is usually spoken of in a literary context, with works by author William Faulkner serving as prime examples. Southern Gothic literature may involve themes of alienation and derelict decay juxtaposed with supernatural beauty; a hidden, sinister underbelly that lies beneath a shining veneer. Oxford Research Encyclopedia suggests that “The Southern Gothic brings to light the extent to which the idyllic vision of the pastoral, agrarian South rests on massive repressions of the region’s historical realities.”

Over time Southern Gothic has evolved, and in today’s vernacular can just as easily refer to a genre of music, film, or fashion. With its literary roots in mind, some may imagine plantations rotting in the hurricane-plagued regions of the Southeast where I grew up, and where you can drive the Natchez Trace Parkway through baldcypress and water tupelo swamps.

Personally, I’m more inspired when the phrase mutates into the Gothic Western subgenre to describe regions of the Southwest as dry and sun-stained as the Saint of Killers’ duster. I like my Southern Gothic with a neon side of grindhouse and spaghetti Western. The phrase “Western Gothic” is beginning to take hold in film and literature now, too, Southern Gothic perhaps having paved the way.

“Difficult Beauty”

I love the outlaw country of the American West and often seek out road trip destinations that elicit Gothic Western visions of snakeskin, motorcycles, diners, cactus, dust, and roadside motels with rusted signs.

I thought this meant that I enjoy pioneer and cowboy history, so I’ve also visited northern frontiers more known for a “mountain man” version of the American West. Places like Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado have dramatic mountains, harsh winters, log cabins, bison, and abandoned gold mines.

However, I’ve never felt as inspired by the north/midwest as I have by the desert and couldn’t pinpoint why. As a frequent hiker, I enjoy experiencing different landscapes all around the world, and the outdoor adventure opportunities in this region are spectacular. It’s not that I don’t find Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado beautiful, but I don’t feel a pull to them like I do the Southwestern badlands and canyons.

“The western desert is the best…
I’ve got the south in my veins
but California in my mouth…
Yes we’re freaks,
but they can’t touch us out West
in San Bernardino.”

“San Berdoo Sunburn” lyrics, Eagles of Death Metal

I recently listened to an episode of the Deviate with Rolf Potts travel podcast where he interviewed author Chloe Cooper Jones. Jones wrote a book called Easy Beauty, which is about a lot of things, but one concept that stuck with me from this conversation was her definition of the title phrase itself. She said that when she visits tourist destinations that are well known for being undeniably beautiful, she feels as if she’s not experiencing the place as a real person, but is instead having a very generalized, expected, and appropriate response. When joining a curated tour, the curators have designed an itinerary after asking themselves “what do people like?,” but Jones is not people, she is an individual with her own tastes and preferences.

“It’s very immediate, overwhelming, powerful beauty. It’s so overwhelming that it almost makes me feel angry, or ill. It’s this very majestic place, but part of what occurs to me in these sorts of places is an inherent discomfort or almost a rejection of ‘easy beauty’.”

Chloe Cooper Jones about Lake Como

I immediately resonated with this concept, which validated and explained my aversion to certain travel destinations in a way I’d never been able to articulate. I realized that my subconscious wants to reject the vistas of “mountain man” regions of the West because their beauty is too obvious. Any random person who beholds them will come to the same unchallenging conclusion, that they are indeed beautiful, and for all the same reasons the next person finds them beautiful. There is nothing about them that touches my own heart as an individual, nothing that makes this region worthy of being a muse. Where is the unique scar, the mole on the upper lip, the cowlick? Wyoming is like a classic Hollywood beauty, airbrushed and perfect and liked equally by everyone, while the Southwest has a few tattoos and practices voodoo. If Wyoming is Captain America, then Arizona is an antihero.

When I think of the Southwest, I think of movies like Tombstone, Kill Bill, Natural Born Killers, Seven Psychopaths, True Romance, Thelma and Louise, Vengeance (2022), and the TV show Preacher. I think of music from Nick Cave, The Black Angels, The Dead Weather, The Kills, Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, Steve Earle, Colter Wall, and Queens of the Stone Age. I think of Alison Mosshart playing Russian roulette with the Sons of Anarchy.

Check out Southern Gothic and Swamp Gothic playlists on Spotify here, here, and here. If you like music-themed road trips, I also have a post about travel destinations relevant to the emo genre.

When I think of the northwestern territories, I think of The Revenant, Jeremiah Johnson, Dances With Wolves, and TV shows like Yellowstone and Longmire. I think of Mumford & Sons, Fleet Foxes, and The Lumineers.

While I like those references, something about the north is off-putting to me. After living in Bozeman for three months while working remotely and people watching, I told my friends that the place is full of happy, shiny, smiling people riding bikes and pushing strollers. It’s like The Stepford Wives or Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” music video where citizens mow their lawns with permanent, toothy, uncanny-valley smiles. Where is the grit and grime, the edge? It simply isn’t cool.

“I’ll head on down to Texas, find me a decent piece of land, start pissing in the wind. Get me the hell out of this godforsaken place.”

John Fitzgerald dreaming of leaving the northern territories, The Revenant

Maybe it’s because the landscape up north is so green in the summer. There is abundant water access, wildlife, and resources. The most boring places in the world have abundant resources and little adversity; I mean, just think of England (sorry). 

If you’re on a mission to experience an edgier Western Gothic vibe in the States, let the following images and road trip destination suggestions inspire your itinerary. 

Don’t have the means to drive your own car, or are you nervous about renting one if coming from abroad? Check out some of these guided Western USA Coach Tours. They wont hit all the spots on my list, but some of them still look pretty badass.

Western Gothic Road Trip Destination Ideas

Marfa, Texas

Marfa is known for the Prada Marfa art installation sitting out in the middle of nowhere, highlighting how truly silly and unnecessary such luxuries are for most people in the world. Marfa is also home to the Marfa Ghost Lights phenomenon, a beloved saloon called the Lost Horse, and a cool glamping place called El Cosmico where you can rent yurts, trailers, or teepees. It’s a small town, but it’s made entirely of quirk.

Read about things to do in Marfa, Texas here.

Terlingua, Texas

The old folks who sit around in Study Butte and Terlingua drinking coffee and eating migas look like coyotes. Dusty old desert queens in carpet coats and leather jackets regale each other with stories of being put on probation. “Jolene” plays in the background at Chili Pepper Cafe while a waiter tells a chef “if you didn’t have bad luck you’d have no luck at all”.

I wrote about cool places to camp in Terlingua and Marathon, Texas here.

Amarillo, Texas

Amarillo is quite desolate and is not my favorite place out of all the cities I’ve stayed as a digital nomad, but the Jack Sisemore Traveland RV Museum is a nostalgic look at how stylish road trippers have made their way west over the years. The upended cars at Cadillac Ranch are an obligatory stop, and to get your fix of desert scenery, Palo Duro Canyon State Park is only a 30 minute drive away.

Bisbee, Arizona

There’s no place like Bisbee. I would live here full time if I could. Bisbee, Arizona was once a raucous Old West mining town, forgotten when luck ran out. That is, until artists and hippies starting moving in and revitalizing it for the modern day, creating a unique steampunk cowboy vibe (though the Lowell district remains abandoned; I think it must be the inspiration for Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City). The town is practically built into the hillside and thus doesn’t feel entirely removed from the land, and the alien hoodoos of nearby Chiricahua National Monument are always beckoning.

Read about things to do in Bisbee here.

Tombstone, Arizona

Tombstone, Arizona is the site of the legendary OK Corral shootout involving Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. While it reeks of tourism today, it manages to retain its outlaw personality. The historical sites you can visit are fascinating and well preserved, providing a peek into the Wild West’s lawlessness. Motorcyclists on cross-country tours rest in the ancient bars, and vagabonds like myself make pilgrimages to Tombstone.

I wrote about Tombstone alongside my Bisbee post.

Superstition Mountains, Arizona

I’ve never felt more like I was in a western film than when I backpacked the Dutchman Peralta Loop in the Superstitions in Arizona. Cactus and strange rock formations abound, but this wilderness area also has a dark edge to it. At times I recalled the Elephant Graveyard from the Lion King. I was always keenly aware of the possibility of mountain lions lurking in the shadows, and I crossed paths with a massive rattlesnake. The Superstitions are “difficult beauty.”

If it’s summertime you’ll want to stay away from the Superstitions; consider my Northern Arizona road trip itinerary instead.

Roswell, New Mexico

Roswell, New Mexico: the earthly home of aliens. Roswell is allegedly the site of a 1947 UFO crash, and the town hasn’t forgotten. The International UFO Museum and Research Center educates visitors about the Roswell Incident as well as general extraterrestrial phenomena around the world. Pretty much everything else in town is alien-themed as well, so Roswell is a must-visit road trip stop for those looking for the weird, unusual, and gothic in the American Southwest.

Check out my New Mexico road trip archives here; you may also love Bisti Badlands and the Billy the Kid outlaw stories from Las Cruces.

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

Valley of Fire State Park is my preferred Las Vegas-area park stop, if you have to choose between it and Red Rock Canyon. It truly looks like a fiery hellscape in the best way possible. When I was there I couldn’t help but play Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” on repeat in my car. Slickrock is always otherworldly; you can find similar terrain in Snow Canyon State Park or Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, and the desert wilderness near Capitol Reef is said to be Butch Cassidy territory – the perfect hideout. But the ambiance of this Nevada park is more mysterious and deliciously sinister to me for some reason I can’t quite place.

I wrote about my favorite day hikes in Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire here.

Death Valley National Park, California

Death Valley National Park is so massive that it takes hours to drive from one corner of it to another, sometimes with very few landmarks for encouragement. When you do reach Artist’s Palette, Zabriskie Point, or Dante’s View, the colorful geology really pops by comparison. Badwater Basin’s pearly white salt flats form the lowest elevation point in the states, and Death Valley is resultantly hot in the summers. Ghost towns hint at foolish settlement attempts of the past, bolstering the idea that Death Valley is best for transients and strays.

Read tips for visiting Death Valley National Park here.

Joshua Tree National Park, California

Joshua Tree National Park has formed the backdrop of countless films of many different genres, but the first one I always think of is Seven Psychopaths, a unique pseudo-example of the Western Gothic aesthetic of bold colors and bolder personalities juxtaposed against wide open and lonely landscapes. There’s something supernatural about the mangled shape of the Joshua trees themselves, not to mention the famous Skull Rock. Joshua Tree is also the site of Rancho De La Luna, where the Desert Sessions are recorded (Josh Homme, PJ Harvey, Les Claypool).

Read about my favorite Joshua Tree day hikes here.

Slab City, California

Slab City is “the last free place on earth”, a squat for anti-capitalists who don’t believe in paying for land or subscribing to stereotypical lifestyles. Drifters live out in the Southern Californian desert in converted vans or DIY shelters, and the government doesn’t seem to care. Most folks live at the Slabs in the winter and seek cooler climes in the summer. Visitors simply passing through tend to stop at the East Jesus junkyard art installation and at Salvation Mountain for photos.

Read about taking a day trip to Slab City here.

New Orleans, Louisiana

While New Orleans is clearly in the eastern United States and doesn’t fit the same geographical region I’ve presented throughout the rest of this post, it represents Southern Gothic’s roots, the other side of the same mysterious coin. Think True Blood, Preacher (seasons 2 and 3), and Interview with a Vampire. If you see my vision, you’ll understand why the swamps and delicate architectural facades of Louisiana tonally meld with the Gothic Western aesthetic of the other road trip destinations on this list.

Learn how to visit the Louisiana ambush site of Depression-era outlaws Bonnie & Clyde here, and consider driving the Natchez Trace Parkway through Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi on your way to New Orleans.

Honorable Mentions

The Mohave National Preserve is home to the mysterious Mohave Megaphone and features similar geology to Joshua Tree, Death Valley, and the Superstitions.

Lancaster, California is the location of the Two Pines Chapel featured in Quentin Tarantino’s desert grindhouse epic Kill Bill. Lancaster is also where the Dead Weather shot the music video for “Treat Me Like Your Mother.”

See a band play at Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown, California. In the high desert of San Bernardino County, Pioneertown is an 1880s inspired town used as a filming location for Westerns, but its also a local haunt where you can get a rock’n’roll fix.

🏨 Find budget hostels throughout the American West via Hostelworld.
🏕️ If you like to tent or car camp on your road trips, find free or paid campsites via The Dyrt.
✈️ Visiting us from abroad? Use an Airalo eSIM for affordable international cell data and don’t forget to protect your investment with travel insurance.

What’s your verdict – do you resonate with the overarching vibe I’m describing as Western Gothic? With this collage of travel destinations I’m presenting a mindset and an aesthetic, not an official definition. Have you ever visited a place that oozed Western Gothic? When it comes to the American West, do you see yourself as more of a Gothic Western aficionado, drawn to the deserts of Arizona and Texas, or do you prefer the frontier Mountain Man landscapes of the more northern states?

When I’m gone from the Southwest my heart aches for it; not only the ruggedness and otherworldly beauty of the terrain, but also the spirit, grit, style, and irreverence of its people, the tattoos and Cadillacs and scorpions. As a nomad I haven’t had a true “home” in many years, but perhaps this ode to my favorite Western Gothic USA road trip stops is the closest I’ve come to expressing homesickness.

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