California's Largest Gas Station Is A Surreal Oasis In The Desert

If California is the birthplace of the roadside attraction, this one is its Frankenstein-like crown jewel. It doesn't boast of a natural highlight, like walking through an unimaginably giant tree, or stopping off for architecture highlights at the best tourist attractions along California's scenic coast. Instead, the Yermo, California, highlight, EddieWorld (36017 Calico Road), capitalizes on the one thing common to all road trips, regardless of destination: the regular need to fill up the gas tank.

Coastal Californians all along the state meet up with I-15 at the Inland Empire crossroads in Barstow before heading to Las Vegas. Just 12 miles east, a massive 65-foot-tall ice cream cone bids weary travelers to take a rest. "We picked the exact middle spot [between coastal California cities and Las Vegas], purely based on geography, and that's Yermo, whether you're coming or going," EddieWorld's owner, Alex Ringle, told SFGate.

Self-described as California's largest gas station, EddieWorld — which is open daily from 6 a.m. until midnight – offers 26 gas pumps and 24 electric vehicle charging stations, but fuel is hardly its main selling point. Read on to discover the highlights of its extensive food and drink offerings, and learn more about its place on the California road trip map.

A massive parking lot on the corner gives way to the army of covered gas and electric pumps, but the real attraction here might be the 26,000-square-foot facility with three restaurants, handmade popcorn, jerky, and ice cream (each sold separately), and a kingdom of candy, sweets, and nuts fit for a Halloween invasion of child zombies. A coffee shop serves Berkeley's famed roaster Peet's Coffee. The sandwiches, custom pizzas, burgers, fresh chicken tenders, salads, sushi, and other menu items at each of the three restaurants are carefully crafted to give customers a cut above your average gas station food. Similarly, the extensive jerky collection, courtesy of Jedediah's Jerky, can win over even skeptics. TripAdvisor reviewers, which give EddieWorld four out of five stars, agree that it's a fun experience with great food, although some say it's overpriced.

And some music to the ears of anyone who has ever held their breath and closed their eyes while squatting over a ghoulish rest stop toilet, EddieWorld's commitment to sparkling clean restrooms will come as a welcome surprise. As Alex Ringle told SFGate: "It's something we take a lot of pride in, they're cleaned every hour."

EddieWorld opened in 2018 to great local fanfare, with California news teams from KTLA, News 3 Las Vegas, and the NBC Nightly News all broadcasting segments about the unique venue that brought some life into the sleepy town of Yermo. And, with the electric vehicle charging stations already installed, it seems Alex Ringle is already looking ahead to the future of fuel. But another change in California's transportation network could bring an abrupt hollowing to this roadside attraction and along other stops on I-15, like California's most mysterious road in the Mojave.

In April 2024, Las Vegas broke ground on a much-anticipated bullet train between Sin City and the City of Angels, which is set to open in 2028. When completed, the two-hour journey between Los Angeles and Las Vegas would pick up passengers in Rancho Cucamonga, Hesperia, and Victor Valley, bypassing the I-15, Barstow, and Yermo altogether. The route will cut 800 million pounds of carbon emissions once completed, and an as-yet undetermined amount from EddieWorld's highway-loving bottom line. But for now, it's still the gas station destination of a road-tripper's dreams.