Originally built in the 1950s and then revived by way of a massive renovation in the late 1990s, the Rock-A-Hoola Water Park closed in 2004 after struggling to overcome a costly - and ultimately devastating - lawsuit.

Just a year after the park's re-opening, an employee took a turn on one of the waterslides and became paraplegic after landing in an under-filled catch pool. Designed to recall the hey day of Route 66, when America embraced the automobile and hit the highway in search of adventure, the park is now a monument to a broken dream, dusty and clogged by tumbleweeds. It's a highly evocative wasteland in the middle of one of the nation's harshest deserts.

Check out some incredible photographs below, and learn more about Rock-A-Hoola here!