Monday, August 17, 2026 / Pleasant Hill
Furthur finally left the Kesey farm
After 57 years in Pleasant Hill — including 15 in a swamp — the original Merry Pranksters bus is headed to a San Francisco exhibition and an uncertain restoration.
The original Furthur bus left Pleasant Hill on Monday morning, which is notable because it had been on the Kesey family farm since 1969 and had not been especially eager to qualify as a vehicle.
Ken Kesey bought the 1939 International Harvester bus in 1964, painted it with the Merry Pranksters and took it across the country. After a failed trip toward Woodstock, it returned to Oregon. The bus later spent about 15 years in a swamp, emerged under layers of rust and moss, and waited another two decades in a barn.
It is now bound for the Haight Street Art Center's Forever Grateful exhibition, scheduled Sept. 5 through Oct. 25 in San Francisco. The Kesey family hopes Bay Area supporters can help fund a museum-quality restoration. The move is not a prank, family members told Lookout, a clarification this particular object has earned.
The farm is private and not a tourist destination. People who want to see Furthur will finally have a public option — just not in Pleasant Hill.
Field notes
What changed: The original Furthur bus was loaded out of Pleasant Hill on Aug. 17 for public display and restoration work in the Bay Area.
Why it matters: A globally recognizable piece of Lane County cultural history is leaving its private longtime home and becoming publicly viewable again.
Who may be affected: Fans of Ken Kesey, the Merry Pranksters, local literary history and the Haight-Ashbury counterculture archive.