Sands Drive-In
2451 Needles Highway,
Needles,
CA
92363
2451 Needles Highway,
Needles,
CA
92363
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Most of the old Sands viewing area is the truck parking area behind and belonging to the Shell station at 2451 Needles Highway. But you’re right, the back edge of the Best Western property covers the location of the Sands' screen, and the side covers the former entrance road. Although either address points to the right place, the Best Western’s at 2371 Needles Highway is probably better.
The address above is incorrect.
2371 Needles Hwy, Needles, CA 92363.
This is the Best Western Inn. The theatre entrance road was next to it. It is not at Shell which is due north.
Please update.
The outline, ramps, and concession stand/projector booth are still present in 1969, but the screen is gone.
By 1976, just about everything was gone save for the entrance and exit roads. They disappeared as a Best Western was built over them by 1992. At that point, all traces of the drive-in were removed.
Today, most of the property is empty and used as a parking area for truck.
In the revised second edition of “Drive-Ins of Route 66,” I passed along a revelation suggested by tireless Needles historians: The Sands operated for less than one season. Its final ad in the Needles Desert Star listed movies through Oct. 15, 1953. Its manager transferred to Oregon the following February. The Sands wasn’t mentioned in the Desert Star for years, even as the indoor theater in town, owned by the same company, continued to advertise.
The historians pointed out to me that Needles gets hot in the summer. Very, very hot. Maybe it wasn’t the best place for a drive-in.
The outline still remains it is also a shell now