Elmer Long, creator of Bottle Tree Ranch, dies

Elmer Long, the eccentric creator of the beloved Bottle Tree Ranch on Route 66 near Oro Grande, California, died June 22 after a bout with lung cancer. He was 72.

Kelly Donovan, an administrator of Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch page on Facebook, announced Long’s death during a post on the page Friday afternoon.

No obituary for Long could be found online. However, an associate at Victor Valley Memorial Park and Mortuary in nearby Victorville, California, confirmed Long’s death and that he was buried Wednesday at Victor Valley Memorial Park.

Donovon wrote on the Facebook post:

Elmer and his art were an inspiration to us all. Most importantly, those of us who met him know how warm, friendly, and kind-hearted he was.

His son Ellsworth Hayes shared with us: “He was a bad-ass Marine, husband, father of 3 boys, and of course, the ‘bottle tree man’ … He was my best friend. And it brings tears to my eyes knowing there are people out there like yourself dedicated to the love of his bottle trees.”

Using materials that would normally be discarded, with desert land as his canvas, he created a destination that attracted visitors from all over the world and garnered international media attention–amazing!

Several roadies who left comments on the Facebook post noted the Bottle Tree Ranch was open to the public after his reported death.

And in a KCET interview in 2014, Long said his sons would continue running Bottle Tree Ranch after he dies.

Here’s a history of Bottle Tree Ranch, straight from the source in 2013:

Based on his own recollections, Long’s unofficial roadside park began about the year 2000. It eventually became known worldwide and even became a backdrop in a horror film.

Roadside America wrote this about the Bottle Tree Ranch:

The bottle tree pipes are tightly arranged, with enough room for visitors to walk between most and admire his handiwork. Some sculptures are decorated with bottles by color, vintage or brand. Most appear to be beer or liquor bottles. A few feature glass and ceramic power pole insulators.

Elmer also incorporates consumer objects — old metal toys, old radios, wheel rims, manual typewriters, rusting tools and appliances. Some things seem more by design than others. The old jeep with the eaten-away seats … art or utility?

This is an excellent roadside attraction, free and open (as are most folk art environments), and welcoming appreciative eyeballs. […]

It’s an obvious shutterbug and selfie haven. Elmer has sprinkled around old road signs, a peeling A&W restaurant menu board, and various petroliana artifacts. A vintage practice bomb casing is impaled on a pipe — perhaps a statement on war, or a statement on the availability of ordnance in the flight test-happy high desert.

On a windy day, the bottles emit sounds — pleasing or eerie, depending on your taste in randomly whistled bottle music. Though we didn’t encounter hazards during our visit, keep in mind that bottles occasionally break, and there are many abraded and rusting shin-level gewgaws.

So tread carefully, snap your pictures, and leave a donation!

Here’s another good video of the site and Long:

Elmer Long’s Bottle Tree Ranch from shadowplay on Vimeo.

Long almost certainly took inspiration from Miles Mahan’s Half Acre, also known as Hulaville, which had a few bottle trees with other quirky stuff in nearby Hesperia, California.

Mahan’s Half Acre was bulldozed shortly after his death in 1997, although a few artifacts remain on display at the California Route 66 Museum in Victorville.

UPDATE 7/13/2019: Jim Conkle, a longtime roadie in California, reported this today on Facebook:

Went by the Bottle Ranch early today, saw the gates locked for the first time. Stopped just now to check it out. Sorry the video is sideways. New chain & locks on front gate with two signs saying CLOSED TILL MID AUGUST.

I suspect that means relatives are working out the details of Long’s estate, and they hope to be done by the middle of next month.

UPDATE 8/28/2019: We’ve received word the Bottle Tree Ranch will reopen to the public Aug. 31.

(Image of Elmer Long at his Bottle Tree Ranch near Oro Grande, California, by Alex Weimer via Flickr)