Oh Seven Magic Mountains, a magical place that calls to influencers from far and wide. An influencer pilgrimage, if you will. From across the globe influencers have traveled to see these brightly colored rocks stacked 30 feet high in the middle of the desert - well maybe from not from across the globe but definitely the American Southwest. What is it about these brightly colored stacked rocks just outside of Las Vegas that makes them so magical?
The Seven Magic Mountains are likely to be your most liked photo on Instagram, and the most beautiful colored aesthetics that you’ll shoot for years to come. What is it about this magical place that makes it so popular and sought after!? Perhaps it is the pink and purple rocks that you can stand in front of for a really cool fun unique backdrop? Well, it can’t be that unique, I saw at least five people take the same picture in front of the pink and purple rocks. Is it the hundreds of people that you’ll have to Photoshop out of your photos for hours on end to make it look like you were the only person there? Or maybe, it is the unrelenting heat in the middle of the desert? Are the rocks even there or is it a mirage?
Take it from me, I am not Instagram famous, I do not have 100k followers, I did not get paid to go on this road trip, I just like to get out of the city and go to the desert. And I can tell you from first-hand experience that I don’t get what the big deal is! They are rocks in the middle of the desert. I don’t know if people know this already, but there’s already a lot of rocks in the middle of the desert. Admittedly the photos that I posted of the Seven Magic Mountains on my Instagram got the most likes of any photo I’ve ever posted. Why is that? I don’t know, but I did look at a few influencers accounts who have posted photos of the seven Magic Mountain and they too are some of their most liked photos.
I think the appeal is quite simple really, the colors of the rocks do give you very nice aesthetic. It’s nice to look at and people like to look at nice things on Instagram. We have a lot of stuff on Instagram some of it lovely and some of it not, a lot of it important but not beautiful. People like to look at pretty things. I think that a lot of these places that give you a nice aesthetic have their moment in time, and this moment in time for the Seven Magic Mountains is lasting quite a while because people keep making the pilgrimage to see them.
I also think it helps that they are located in a place where most people are road tripping and any excuse to stop and stretch your legs on a long road in the middle of the desert is something people will take it advantage of. It’s a stop that provides something to see besides endless dirt and rocks. No shade to dirt and rocks, I love dirt and rocks.
Now I would be lying if I said that I didn’t love the way that my photos at the Seven Magic Mountains came out! Truly I do, the colors are nice and vibrant, once I photoshopped all the other people out it truly did look like a fun little desert oasis (without water) if you will. I love these photos. That being said, I don’t necessarily think that the Seven Magic Mountain absolutely need to be a stop that you make on your southwest road trip if you’re not already driving this way. I do not think it is worth the detour. I know you’re probably thinking “Oh but I want those cool Instagram photos too!” but it’s literally just a photo opportunity, there is nothing else to do. You park in the parking lot, walk the two minute walk from the lot to the rocks, take some pictures and leave. No hiking trails, no little shop, not even a plaque that explains the reason these rocks exist in the first place.
The Seven Magic Mountains are in fact, an artist installation. Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone created the public art installation for the Nevada Museum of Art in 2016, and has been petitioning to keep it up past the original two years it was scheduled for. The Bureau of Land Management issued a three year extension in 2018, which means they could very well be removed in 2021 (http://sevenmagicmountains.com/).
We went to the Seven Magic Mountains during the pandemic. It was very easy for us to social distance from people during our stop, almost everyone had masks on and it’s pretty spaced out. However, a lot of the people who had already been said that “we went on a good day” because there weren’t a lot of people in our videos. And let me tell you, there was still a lot of people. I cannot imagine how many people are swarming the Seven Magic Mountains during cooler seasons when it’s not 110° outside and when it is not the middle of a global pandemic. So if you want to go when there’s less people, I would say pick the hottest day of the year or maybe a day where it’s pouring down rain. Other than that I really can’t imagine going there and it not being crowded.
If you do decide that you are going to go to the Seven Magic Mountains, my photography recommendations are to take a wider lens - something in the range of a 24mm or a 35mm lens. I was there with my trusty 50mm lens and it did do the job okay but I was not able to get a shot with all seven of the rock piles in one photo. I did have to Photoshop two different shots together and I did have to get pretty low in order to get an entire tower from the floor up. It would have been easier had I had a wider lens, but I didn’t. Marty and Aaron were both shooting on wider lenses and they were having an easier time than I.
When it comes to your editing you’ll probably want to remove strangers from your photos. Take pictures of the rocks themselves, in multiple directions with multiple frames so you can clone the people out and use photos of the rocks that you don’t care about as a sample for the photo you do want.
Ultimately, the Seven Magic Mountains are a great stop on your road trip through Las Vegas. Stretch your legs, take some photos, spend hours editing people out of the background and enjoy your aesthetics. Don’t detour for it, but if you have the chance to make it there, it’s definitely worth seeing while you still can!
© Sofia Samarah 2020