The true story of Quartzsite, Arizona, the tiny, desert town from 'Nomadland' that'due south much quirkier in real life

Quartzsite thumb v1

Groundwork: A couple drives an off-highway vehicle through the streets of Quartzsite, Arizona. Inlay: Fern, played by actress Frances McDormand, visits Quartzsite in "Nomadland."
Background: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images; Inlay: © 20th Century Studios;
  • Warning: Spoilers ahead for University Honor best picture "Nomadland."
  • The tiny desert town of Quartzsite, Arizona, is ane of the principal locations featured in "Nomadland."
  • Quartzsite is a real-life RVers' stomping ground that attracts 2 one thousand thousand visitors each yr.
  • Director Chloe Zhao called Quartzsite "one of the wildest towns" she's been to.
  • From the purported largest RV gathering in the globe to a human being known every bit the naked bookseller, here is the real-life story of Quartzsite.

Quartzsite, Arizona, is one of the main filming locations for Academy Award best picture "Nomadland" and a real-life nomads' stomping footing.

Actress Frances McDormand plays Fern in "Nomadland."
Searchlight Pictures

Based on a 2017 book by Jessica Bruder, the flick follows the journey of Fern, a 61-year-old adult female who turns to van life afterwards she loses everything in the wake of the 2008 recession.

While Fern is a fictional character played by actress Frances McDormand, the places she visits, and many of the people she meets, exist in real life.

The tiny boondocks is located in the Sonoran Desert 129 miles west of Phoenix with a permanent population of roughly three,700 people.

An pointer shows the location of Quartzsite, Arizona.
Google Maps

Zhao called Quartzsite, Arizona, a master filming location for the moving-picture show, "1 of the wildest towns" she'south ever been to in a recent interview with Conde Nast Traveler.

It's "the place that nomads assemble once a yr — yous actually want to see what it's like. It's special," Zhao said.

In "Nomadland," Fern decides to brand the pilgrimage to Quartzsite to bring together her friend Linda May at a real-life result chosen Rubber Tramp Rendevous, as well known every bit RTR.

Fern, played by actress Frances McPherson, attends the Prophylactic Tramp Rendezvous founder Bob Wells.
© 20th Century Studios

The RTR is an annual gathering of nomads run by Bob Wells, a van dweller since 1995 and founder of the blog Cheap RV Living, who plays himself in the motion-picture show. The event is gratis to attend and takes place over two weeks in January.

Bob Wells in "Nomadland."
© 20th Century Studios

Source: Homes on Wheels Brotherhood

The goal of RTR is to provide van dwellers with essential survival skills and a sense of community. Seminars cover topics like how to go to the bathroom while on the road and how to stealth park.

A van dweller teaches RTR attendees how to properly defecate into a bucket in "Nomadland."
© 20th Century Studios

"I love this lifestyle," one RTR instuctor says in the moving-picture show every bit she teaches attendees how to defecate into a bucket. "It is a lifestyle of freedom and beauty, and connectedness to the Earth. Yet there is a trade‐off. You gotta acquire how to take care of your own shit.

This yr, seminars were virtual.

The inaugural RTR in 2010 started with 45 people and has grown over the years, co-ordinate to the New York Times. In 2018, an estimated 3,000 nomads attended.

Van dwellers gather during the Safety Tramp Rendezvous in "Nomadland."
© 20th Century Studios

"The RTR is full of kindred spirits, like a not-claret family," Jessica Bruder, author of "Nomadland," told the New York Times in 2018. "People there experience heard and understood and valuable. There can be a sense of isolation out at that place in the globe. When they go to the RTR, it melts abroad."

While in Quartzsite attending RTR, Fern heads to the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Testify, an almanac event that bills itself equally the largest RV gathering in the world.

Left to right: Swankie and Linda May, nomads in real-life, attend the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show with Fern (Frances McDormand) in "Nomadland."
© 20th Century Studios

Ane night, Fern goes line dancing at the Quartzsite Yacht Gild, a real-life, gunkhole-themed motel made upward of a bar, restaurant, and hotel rooms housed in mobile homes.

RTR attendees dance at the Quartzsite Yacht Club in "Nomadland."
© 20th Century Studios

"It doesn't go delighfully quirkier" than the Quartzsite Yacht Order, one Yelp reviewer wrote. "Even in Quartzsite, which is most the quirkiest place s of bizarre."

The Quartzsite Yacht Club is 1 of 2 lodging accomodations in town. Each motel room has a transport proper name like SS Minnow, and karaoke was a frequent occurence before the pandemic.

The cabin is temporarily closed, with plans to reopen in October.

At the decision of RTR, Fern watches attendees identify a large cardboard van cutout into a burn down. This tradition, among others, led the New York Times to dub the outcome the existent 'Burning Man' in 2018.

RTR attendees identify a cardboard van cutout into a fire in "Nomadland."
© 20th Century Studios

Source: The New York Times

Fern decides to stay in Quartzsite after RTR, finding work at a gem and mineral show.

Fern works at a precious stone and mineral testify in "Nomadland."
© 20th Century Studios

Quartzsite is known as a rock collectors' heaven and hosts multiple gem shows and swap-meets throughout January and Feb. The boondocks even made its slogan "the rock capital letter of the world."

Gems and minerals lay on tables at a show in Quartzsite, Arizona.
FileImage/Shutterstock

Quartzsite was home to 39 mines in its heyday, Thomas Farley wrote in a 2017 commodity for Rock & Gem magazine. By the mid 1960s, many had been shut down, and rockhounders came calling, he said.

Source: Desert U.s.a., Town of Quartzsite

Fern besides attends a pianoforte performance performed by famous Quartzsite resident Paul Winer. Winer, who passed abroad in 2019, was the owner of Reader's Haven Books, and was known equally the "naked bookseller" for walking around mostly nude.

Left: Paul Winer plays the piano in Quartzsite, Arizona, on February 11, 2011. Right: Winer performs in "Nomadland."
Marking Boster/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images; © 20th Century Studios

Quartzsite is "a tiny town by most standards, but near incomparably colorful," Russ and Tiña De Maris wrote in a postal service on RVtravel.com. "A big share of that color was courtesy of Paul Winer, the (in)famous 'Naked Bookseller.'"

"The attire on his scrawny frame commonly consisted of a single strategically placed sock covering his naughty bits, possibly a straw hat, a necklace and sandals," M.V. Moorhead recalled in a tribute to Winer published in Phoenix Magazine.

Before Winer passed, a sign exterior Reader's Haven Books read "Public Notice - Store-owner wears only a 'thong' ... in other words - nudist on premises."

When he wasn't selling books and posing for photos with visitors, Winer performed as "boogie woogie pianist" under the name Sweet Pie.

Winer is survived by his married woman Joanne, who now runs Reader's Oasis.

Throughout Fern's time in Quartzsite, caravans of off-highway vehicles (OHVs) can be seen in the background. OHVs are a mutual sight in Quartzsite since information technology is the gateway to the Arizona Peace Trail, a 675-mile network of OHV trails.

ATVs appear in the background of several shots in "Nomadland."
© 20th Century Studios

Over one,000 miles of designated OHV trails surround Quartzsite, and visitors can access trails from almost any road in town, Shanana Rain Gilded-Conduct, president of the Quartzite Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, told Insider.

"Quartzsite is like an island, only instead of being surrounded past water, we are totally surrounded by [Bureau of Country Management] lands," Gilded-Bear said.

Source: Quartzsite Tourism

Quartzside hosts an annual parade every Jan for OHvs called the Hi Jolly Daze Parade. Motorcyclists and classic car owners join in, and some participants build parade floats.

The annual ATV parade in Quartzsite rolls up Plymouth Artery on February 12, 2011.
Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Source: Hi Jolly Daze Parade

The parade honors a Syrian camel trainer nicknamed "Hi Jolly" who came to the U.s.a. in 1856 at the request of the government to help transport freight and people across the desert. He died in Quartzsite, and residents erected a tomb in his retentivity.

Howdy Jolly'south Tomb is pictured in the Quartzsite, Arizona, cemetery on July 3, 2019.
Frederic J. Brownish/AFP via Getty Images

Source: Roadside America

Fern eventually leaves Quartzsite to travel to various RV sites beyond the United states in "Nomadland," merely returns to the desert town the post-obit wintertime, like many existent-life nomads do year after year.

Fern walks through Quartzsite during the Safety Tramp Rendezvous in "Nomadland."
© 20th Century Studios

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