The hot tub at De Anza Springs Resort. All photos by Max Hartshorne.

American Nudist: Living the Naked Life in California’s Desert

By Max Hartshorne, GoNOMAD Editor

The desert winds are blowing hard in early May at De Anza Springs, in Jacumba, California, inland and just three miles shy of the Mexican border. The 600-acre property
borders a 100,000-acre state park, and is surrounded by volcanic mountains and miles and miles of view. I packed light, since it is a clothing optional resort.

I put what I brought with me in the hotel room bureau…it did not include more than some socks and toiletries. And a fleece jacket. And shoes…three pair. Plus three big bottles of sunscreen.

Half-Assed Nudist

Without anything but my coat and Tevas, I walked out. This was my first half-assed attempt at being a nudist. There was just a little sun, but it was tempered by the persistent chilly winds. I walked the desolate compound, not really ready yet for the Memorial Day holiday, in the distance huge volcanic boulders piled on each other. The road circled up with many parked RVs. The parcels where each RVer had made the space their own were neatly decorated. One sign read “Bobby and Linda’s Bare Buns Getaway” and another “Clara’s Place.”

At one a giant 18-wheeler cab was parked. But no one, clothed or other, was around. I met the owner of the truck cab later that night at a poker game where the players wore bathrobes. He and his wife were going to be buying a trailer and living as nudist nomads when they retire in a few months.

Sampling the Life

Saturday dawned clear and sunny, and the wind finally let up. The warm weather gave me a chance to sample the naked life, and I didn’t put on anything for the next two days. It is incredibly liberating, and in a funny way it is an experience like no other. It is almost like going back to a simpler time, a time so long ago, when you didn’t have clothes, and you played around in the nude. Not having pockets, a cell phone or my keys was a pleasant change, it made life seem simpler and less tied down to my material world.

Dave Landman, who owns De Anza Springs with his wife, Helen, has the chiseled good looks and easy smile of somebody who used to be in the movies. He told me that if I hear a knock on the hotel room door, don’t answer it, it is probably a Mexican looking for water, on his way over the border. The fence that separates the two countries isn’t even tall enough to stop anyone. It has a gap about three feet high at the bottom. But there are many sensors and other electronic devices, so it wouldn’t take long to draw the attention of the BP

Busy Border Patrol

On the ride over from San Diego Airport, Kim, owner Dave Landman’s daughter, talked to me about life so

Mexico border in Jacumba, CA.

near the border. “You always see border patrol picking up people and about three times a week we get Mexicans coming and trying to get into the resort. Some times they even try to blend in by taking off their clothes.” But they are easy to spot so this gambit hasn’t worked yet.

The town of Jacumba is the classic ‘blink and you’ll miss it,’ kind of burg, just a couple of shops and a dirt strip airport. The resort is set on 600 acres, with indoor and an outdoor pools and a hot tub where most people congregate. There are lots of activities, and just about everyone takes part. About 100 of the people here live full time at the resort in their motorhomes and RVs, and another 75-100 come out most weekends.

44,000 Strong—and Growing

There are more than 44,000 dues-paying members of the American Association for Nude Recreation, (AANR), the lobbying group based in Kissimee Florida. Thousands more enjoy nudity at home or skinnydipping at a local nude swimming hole. But the people who vacation every weekend at De Anza and at the more than 100 other naturist clubs across the U.S. regard taking it all off much more seriously. One women at the resort said that the first thing she does when she gets home from work is take off her bra. Nudists keep on going, and prefer to get naked as soon as they shut the door to the outside world.

We drove to the nearby Golden Acorn casino for dinner, on a windy bluff right off the Interstate. A Mariachi band, eight strong, played trumpets and guitars noisily in the background. The staff were all dressed in Cinco de Mayo outfits, one manager wore a cartoonishly large sombrero. Everyone recognized Dave and Helen, local business owners who employ almost as many people as the casino. Neighbors are friendly and after seven years, nobody here much cares about the naked people down in the hollow.

I asked Dave about that highway up on the bluff, can those drivers look down and see the naked folks here? He said he had the highway department do a study and the answer was no, the cars you can see clearly up there can’t make anything out way down here.

Defense of Nudity

Dave has strong feelings in defense of nudity. He said he'd much rather leave his kids with nudists than with a YMCA or church camp. Others echo Dave’s belief that nudists are among the most trustworthy and God-fearing people you could ever meet. They suffer a stereotype only because

Sign as you enter De Anza Springs.

Americans equate nudity with sex, and that simply is not the case. Sex with strangers isn’t a part of nudist resorts, though of course, you can find this at other “alternative adult’ resorts that are a universe away from a place like De Anza Springs.

”COG’s” Not Allowed

The staff at De Anza has been trained to spot the signs of molesters and "creepy old guys," or COGS, and if someone is identified as such by a young person or anyone else, the hook is quick. Like a bad Vaudeville performer, the gig is up, they are yanked out. And they never complain or make a fuss.

“We ask them to leave,” said Dave. Still he's only had to do this about six times since he opened the resort seven years ago. "If someone is looking a little too long, or leering, or making another person uncomfortable, then we step in." he said. "The staff has been trained by people who know about the tendencies, people who study child molester behavior have provided clues, tip offs...these types don't last more than 15 minutes here, we know what to do and we act."

Another thing that’s banned at the club are cell phones with cameras. But of course, since out here in the desert there is no cell service, “anybody with a cell phone, that phone ends up in the bottom of the pool,” said Dave.

Not "Lifestyle"

Nudism, he said, should not be confused with adult alternative, or "lifestyle." These are code words for swinger clubs, where sexual partners are shared and recreational sex is the theme. There is a huge sector of the travel business called Adult Alternative. That's sex tourism, or swinger travel. Popular destinations are Cancun Mexico and Thailand where men can enjoy sex holidays and both straight and homosexual dalliances.

None of this takes place at AANR member clubs, who agree to keep the atmosphere clear of sexual vibes and attitudes. The only thing that is sexy are the outfits that come out at the Saturday night dance.

"Not all nudists are swingers, but some swingers are nudists." Dave explained.

The main difference is that swingers just want to be nude with their sex partners, but nudists just want to be nude period. Sex with strangers isn't part of the experience at these resorts.

It Goes Like This

Dave talked about the consistent pattern he sees when couples come to De Anza for the first time. It goes like this: The male member of the couple talks the woman into coming...she is reluctant but finally agrees to his wishes, perhaps surprising him with her consent as a birthday or Christmas gift.

They show up at the resort, and by about 10 am, he is lying nude by the pool and she is wearing a sarong, tied up near her shoulder, covering her up. By 11 the sarong goes down to her waist, she is comfortably topless and enjoying it. But by 2 pm, she is totally nude, and lying on her back. At this point she is totally comfortable and relaxed, and he is ready to go.

As Dave says, he's done what he came to do. He has seen what he came to see. She, however, is just getting into it. So she convinces him to get a hotel room or stay in one of the rental RVs, and they stay for the night. Many, many guests become regulars, at De Anza, and about 100 live this life full time. There is a collegiality among them, this solidarity versus the “textiled,” or clothed, comes up again and again here as I spoke with residents and guests.

Besides being able to be nude all the time, this is one of the most affordable places you could possibly live in expensive San Diego County. Rents for RV hookups with available electricity, phone and utilities are just $275 per month.

Getting Your Friends Involved

Another situation that comes up again and again, Dave said, is the couple with friends they want to come join them at the nudist club. One couple is reluctant to ask the other, but think that if they got just one of them to agree to try it, the other would eventually fall in line. Having experienced this situation so often, Dave has a special letter he sends out to friends if a couple wants him to, inviting them to come try it out with a free pass. It works.

Games and More Games

Lots of activities take place at the resort; these nudists are an active bunch, with a zeal for games like bingo, water volleyball, tennis and card games of all sorts. In various states of undress, they mingle; it is as if taking off one’s shirt (when you’re a woman) is about being liberated. There is a freedom, since you just can’t do that in the rest of society. So you see entertaining different states of undress, just more non chalance about what you ultimately look like.

Water volleyball is played in an indoor swimming pool, covered by a corrugated steel building, and there are five showers on the end. Everyone has to shower before stepping into the hot tub or the pool. There are parts of people’s bodies that you usually don’t see. There are magazines, I guess, that purport to show the readers “real women,” or “old women” or “one-legged women,” but you never really know what bodies can look like until you observe life in a nudist resort.

People have scars in every which place, and some people’s legs are all tangled up, and others have tremendous gouges taken out of their skin. Many have such huge barrel rolls of fat that their privates are nearly hidden in the fleshy abundance. One man at the resort was missing both of his arms, but he was welcomed and even signed up as a member after his short visit.

The mixture of sveldt and fat and in-between is fascinating, I found myself distracted as we played water volleyball watching the various people coming and going to the shower.

People You Don’t Wanna See Naked

There is an old saying (well maybe I am making this up) that nudist resorts are where you go and see people you don’t want to see naked. But I never lost interest in seeing all that I saw, hoping that more people would come strolling out off the mountain, or walking into the restaurant bare-assed.

As the day went by, it was clear that the sparse crowds last night were due to the weather in San Diego…It was cloudy and about fifty five--not exactly weather that would you make you decide to drive an hour to your RV out in the desert. But later that day, the crowds began to arrive. Nudism is perhaps the most weather dependent recreation of any. Who wants to be cold?

I thought about the average age of any nudist here— about 55. So where are tomorrow’s nudists going to come from? That’s a challenge that the AANR is facing right now. Like Italians and Japanese, nudists are not creating enough new nudists to sustain the number needed to keep an active nudist organization for many more decades

Nude Youth Camps.

Buffeted by the tacky publicity about Michael Jackson, hearing so many tales about convicted child molesters dressed as priests, many Americans are turning against the idea of youth nudism. There are three camps that are organized by age 11-18 year olds, 18-25 go to "Nude U," altogether about 80 kids go to these camps in three locations around the US.

These summer camps have been the target of many state legislators, sensing a moral angle and easy points with the religious right. Virginia passed a law requiring a parent or guardian to be present during the camp sessions. But according to Carolyn Hawkins of AANR, this hasn't dimmed the enrollment, it has just turned camp into a family outing. She said that every time there is a burst of publicity over an event such as the youth camps, they see a surge in interest at the website and in the member clubs.

But the facts don’t bear out the hyperbolic solons' pursuit against the immorality of boys and girls being naked around each other. Time after time, and in just about every other country where this has been studied, there is a confirmation: Nudists do not turn into pedophiles and nudism

does not equate with sodomy, homosexuality, child abuse, nor wife swapping. Children raised among nudists have the least likely chance of becoming abusers. This is usually the done by people who have been abused.

Over and over, the nudists I met here said there is something about being a nudist that makes you more honest, and more real with the world. First, you’re showing everybody exactly what you look like. Second, you can’t conceal weapons, contraband or anything else—hell, you don’t even have your wallet on you. So this openness has to have ramifications. They are that you’re honestly, just you, you’re naked, you’re not hiding anything. I feel a kinship with anyone else I meet today who is showing their fat, pale, unattractive body with the world.

Most of the campers grew up in nudist households, where that was just the way they did things. The “family” as it feels here at De Anza, welcomes you back from that cold and cruel, clothed outside world. A sign hangs just inside the driveway here. It says “Relax, you’re home now,” and pictures an old naked couple leaning on a post.

A Birthday Celebration

The word was that there would be surprise party to honor the oldest resident of the park, Clara Bailey, who just turned 85. I trudged up the dirt road, naked but carrying a towel to sit on. That’s a rule in this environment, you don’t sit your bare ass down anywhere.

I was joined by a fifty-something couple I met by the pool. Pat used to work for Raytheon and the Navy, designing weapons. Now he teaches high school science in Yuma. He got sick of the rat race in San Diego, and moved East, like so many other Californians, who’ve gotten fed up with the real estate insanity and the encroaching yuppiedom taking over the Golden state.

He and his wife Freda have been coming to De Anza for a few years. Before that they attended another nude resort, The Swallows, nearer to San Diego. But this park met a terrible fate, located as it was in the path of the great fires that burned so much of San Diego two years ago. The park was destroyed, so many of these members now call De Anza Springs their naked weekend home.

Men, Women and Nudity

Bonnie is a large woman of about 50 whom I chatted with at the party. She said that women are much different than men in regard to their willingness to get naked. “Men, they’ll do it at the drop of a hat,” she said, wearing a tee shirt. “But women are more reserved, and more conscious of their bodies. They won’t get naked nearly as quickly as men will. They like to have something on, somewhere, either on top or down below”

But as Bonnie said, it is a true equalizer, and nakedness induces trust. The original Olympians ran naked for a reason: You have to be honest when you have nothing to hide behind.

“I just get to know people better when we meet while we are nude,” said Bonnie. She is a member of the Camping Bares, a 30-year-old club of naked camping enthusiasts from San Diego. The Bears have their own road in DeAnza, and their trailers are all parked in their own special section of the circular park.

At the party, most of the men were fully naked, some wore shirts, others hats, but only a few women were fully naked. They had on sarongs, and large blouses with slits all through them, and other garments which would be deemed much too risqué anywhere else. Most of the resorts have shops that specialize in this sexy attire, and you can see it on display at the Saturday night dance. Basically, only a nudist would wear something like this, or perhaps a very hungry hooker looking for a quick sale.

Clara was announced, and the men and women on the patio and inside the trailer stood up. Clara, is the beloved doyen of the park. She was wearing a white bra. Later she took it off. Her face was radiant when there were singing happy birthday to her, and hugged everybody that came up to her every few minutes.

Later Clara told me that she had become a nudist at age 50, after visiting the famous Black’s Beach in San Diego. She joined the activists working to make sure Black’s remained a legal nude beach, and about five years ago she began coming out to De Anza on the weekends. “There is something about it that makes people more honest, more open. Clothes are a mask. It changes you. You lose your hang-ups when you’re nude and the people around you are nude. Being a nudist has been the best part of my life," she said.

Naked Golf

Dave wants to build a pitch and put or miniature golf course, to introduce nude golfing to the world. He can’t think of any other place where you can do this now. He mentioned that Conde Nast had done a study of thousands of activities, and narrowed it down to the top ten Things you Should Do Before You Die. Being naked outside or “Visiting a nudist colony” was among the top five. Certainly there is a desire to pursue this freedom, or perhaps, to flee the tyranny of having to wear clothes.

Leather and Lace

At night things become sexier when the lingerie and spicy outfits come out, since it has always been true that a little bit of revealing clothing is much more sexy than the whole thing open and on display. There was a band called Sneeky Feet set up and at about eight they began playing familiar ‘80s rock tunes. A couple walked in wearing leather chaps, black bikinis, and leather vests. A woman came in wearing a long sleeved fleece and only pale white chaps, and nothing underneath. The near nakedness was dazzling and the outfits varied.

One man wore only a belt around his waist, and his shoes. At my table a women wore a fishnet bodystocking with very large holes, and a windbreaker to offer a bit of modesty. A glamorous couple came into the room wearing flashing boots, cowboy hats and nothing else. I recognized the couple from the huge detailed painting of them that hung outside the reception area.

Some of the partiers preferred to disrobe in stages. I sat with a pretty woman named Stacey who wore a lacy top and a long skirt. At about 10 o’clock the skirt came off. And at 11 she had removed her top and everything else, happily starkers and dancing. She said her daughters are part-time nudists, but she admitted that the lifestyle isn’t for them, as much as it is for her. She lives full time here at the park.

Rattlesnakes in the Desert

I met up with Joe and his wife the next morning at the clubhouse. They are regular

hikers and every day they head out into the desert for miles of walking with a friend’s boxer dog named Sparkle. They’ve had a place here for three years, their house is up in a corner of the park and they have been lifelong nudists. They raised their daughter, who is now a deacon in her Texas church, as a nudist. Their kids come to visit them here and go to their own local nude resorts but don’t live as nudists.

During the hike, we came upon a diamondback rattlesnake, sunning himself on a rock. Sparkle didn’t try to rouse it. We walked though desert trails that were much more green than in previous years, owing to the more than 20 inches of rain that has fallen in San Diego this spring. The usual rainfall is about six inches a year. The rain has filled green lily filled gullies and we hiked next to a stream that fed a crystal clear pool. We followed railroad tracks and eventually came upon another hiker wearing clothes. He didn’t seem at all fazed to see us, as the dogs met and we kept on our way.

Sittin’ by the Pool

Joe said one of the problems at the club is that there are few members who like to be active, almost nobody wants to play tennis, horse shoes or shuffleboard. We did get a spirited game of water volleyball going, but Joe wishes that more members were interested in sports and active recreation. Joe drives a truck for Wal-Mart out of Phoenix during the week, he and his wife drive over every Friday night.

After the hike, I visited the couple in their comfortable modular home at the back of the park. Every family photo on display was nude, there was their nude daughter with a motorcycle, there was their nude son in law with their nude second daughter. Clearly, this was a lifestyle that was far more than a hobby.

I asked her about the photos, she said that she wanted to get photos of her grandsons in the nude, but her daughter was afraid to have them developed at a local CVS. So they sent her a digital camera.

The photos brought home the point that to Joe and Jeana, nude is normal. Nude is what makes them comfortable and whole. One time Joe was doing some work on his house in the buff, and the neighbors called the cops. Jeana said they cannot wait until they get here and are able to get naked and go outside. Some times their friends say they want to go out to the casino when they come up on Friday nights. But Jeane always says "no, we want to stay here and not have to put on clothes."

They have friends who have visited them at the resort but asked them to wear clothes. Jeana hates it. These friends are planning to come again for a week’s visit. This time nobody will bother with clothes--enough of that!

Textile Churches

Joe gave me some videotapes to look at, one was called Body Acceptance for Women. It was a documentary in which naked women nudists talked about what it felt like at a nude resort. Over and over, the woman said that nudism made them feel better about themselves. One woman said that ‘textile’ churches didn’t make her feel as safe and as spiritual as when she attended services in the nude.

“No one expects that women will be “tens,” at nudist resorts she said. Another woman said that sharing their nudity and not having to put on make up and stylish clothes is liberating. “It’s opened me up more, removed defenses that have separated me from others…without the encumberment of clothes, I feel so much more relaxed, so much more in touch with myself, so much freer.”

A third woman in the film said that being naked makes her “feel closer to the whole world. It helps me maintain my link to the natural world.” Being naked under the sun is so liberating, the textile world is more artificial, more sterile. Naturists say that there is nothing like being with the other nudists, this safety, this special bond with others is very satisfying.

Looking The Part

In the office, there are various degrees of nudity, a loose blouse for one receptionist, and no pants for Dave as he helps out a Dutch visitor who has come for the first time here, as evidenced by his pale skin. Kim said that it was important for the women in reception to look and act like nudists, since women so often can be terribly intimidated by the initial arrival.

There is an uncertainty about this lifestyle, as if it is precious because it could be lost . The average age of the nudists here is about 55. In a few decades, there will be far fewer people to rent these RV parks and sit by these pools. Young people don’t want to hear about their parents being naked. They certainly won’t emulate them in their future. I got the obligatory waving hand saying ‘no, no, no details, dad’ from my 24-year-old daughter, so that is my own empirical evidence that they aren’t going to join us.

Yet Stacey, whom I met at the dance, suggested that since many people discover nudity when they reach old age, or in retirement, maybe the vast wave of baby boomers will provide one last spurt of enthusiastic new nudists. Some times a widower will discover that nudity that he always wanted after his spouse passes away.

Dave said the hard part of getting more people to join their group is the “Bowling Alone,” syndrome—people these days are not big joiners, preferring to cocoon alone or do other more solitary activities. With today's soccer mom, kids-taking-lessons lifestyle, fewer and fewer families with children are joining nudist resort, said Carolyn Hawkins.

Still, Dave tries with some success to get younger people out to the club, and has had mixed results. One promising sign is a younger nudist, Brian, who now lives at the club. He has brought a younger crowd with him since he runs a club that offers a variety of nude excursions like Whale watches, trips to other clubs and dances.

It will be interesting to come back to De Anza Springs in twenty-five years, and see whether people in the year 2030 are still interested in nude recreation. It is not likely that you will see it, so if you ever wanted to get naked for a long time, the time is now.

De Anza Springs Resort is located in Jacumba, CA, a little more than an hour east of San Diego. Four nights in the hotel rooms or in one of their rental RVs and all meals cost about $340.00 plus airfare. To find out more about Nude Recreation visit www.aanr.org. or www.deanzasprings.com 619-766-4301

 The Berkshire Vista Resort in Hancock, MA offers many of the same amenities as De Anza Springs. 413-738-5154, www.berkshirevista.com.

Visit our Max Hartshorne Page with links to all his stories.