Galleta Meadows 350-foot serpent

Borrego Springs, California, United States

Animals and creatures

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

A roughly 350-foot metal serpent, with a rattlesnake's tail and a dragon's head, by sculptor Ricardo Breceda, spans Borrego Springs Road at Galleta Meadows, part of about 130 Sky Art sculptures on open desert land near Borrego Springs, California.

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Galleta Meadows 350-foot serpent

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Approximate location · 33.288° N, 116.376° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

The serpent at Galleta Meadows is the most famous of the Sky Art sculptures around Borrego Springs: a metal creature about 350 feet long. The 2025 community guide says it creates the illusion of swimming through the sand.

DesertUSA reported its arrival in 2011 and also describes it as having the tail of a rattlesnake and the head of a dragon. FOX 5 San Diego reported in 2017 that the head is that of a Chinese dragon. A travel guide describes it in five parts, the head and two body sections west of Borrego Springs Road, another segment and the tail on the east side, so that it appears to pass beneath the road. A Borrego Springs community guide from April 2025 calls it the most famous of the sculptures and says it spans 350 feet.

It is the work of Ricardo Breceda, who FOX 5 said took three months to design the serpent and another three to install it. FOX 5 and DesertUSA both say Breceda made his first metal sculpture, a dinosaur, after his young daughter asked for one. The Under the Sun Foundation says the late landowner commissioned about 130 large free-standing metal sculptures, which he called Sky Art, spread over more than 1,500 acres of undeveloped desert. In 2011 DesertUSA counted the serpent as the newest of 129.

The foundation, now the steward of the sculptures, says it aims to balance public access with protecting the landscape. Its advice is to carry plenty of water, watch for snakes, and be wary of soft sand: some art is far from paved roads and cars have got stuck. Visitors should not climb or touch the sculptures or make new vehicle tracks. The Borrego Springs Chamber of Commerce has printed maps.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

A sculpture in five parts on both sides of Borrego Springs Road, in open desert land held by the Under the Sun Foundation. The foundation says the Sky Art is meant to be enjoyed by the public and asks visitors to carry plenty of water, watch for snakes, and not climb or touch the works.

ACCESS

On Borrego Springs Road north of town, on both sides of the road, at Galleta Meadows near Borrego Springs, California. The land is held by the Under the Sun Foundation, which asks visitors not to climb or touch the artworks or make new vehicle tracks.

COMMUNITY