Hualapai Mountain Park
The Hualapai, whose name means "pine tree
folk," lived in these mountains until the military relocated the tribe northward
in the 1870s. Today the 14-mile paved Hualapai Mountain Road takes you up to the
park's dense forests, scenic views, hiking trails, picnicking, camping, and rustic
cabins. Elevations range from 5,000 to 8,417 feet, attracting wildlife rarely seen
elsewhere in northwestern Arizona. Groves of manzanita, scrub and Gambel oak, pinyon
and ponderosa pine, white fir, and aspen grow on the slopes. Mule deer, elk, mountain
lion, fox, and raccoon roam the forests. Hiking trails wind through the mountains
to the summit of Aspen Peak and overlooks on Hayden Peak. Day use costs $5/vehicle.
Campsites have drinking water, except in winter, but no showers, $10. A small RV
area offers hookups for $17. Cabins, built for a Civilian Conservation Corps camp
in the 1930s, have kitchens and bathrooms, $35-75. You can visit the park any time
of year, though winter snows sometimes require chains or 4WD. The Hualapai Ranger
Station (928/757-3859) at the park entrance is open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. For information
and reservations at the cabins, contact the Mohave County Parks Department (6230
Hualapai Mountain Rd., Kingman, AZ 86401, 928/754-7273 or 877/757-0915,
https://parks.mohave.gov/, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. daily).
The nearby Hualapai Mountain Lodge (in the village of Pine Lake, 928/757-3545)
offers a motel, RV park, restaurant, and store. Some of the well-preserved buildings
here once belonged to the Civilian Conservation Corps camp. The motel ($75 d, $110
suite) and restaurant are open Tues.-Sun. year-round. The restaurant serves breakfast
(Sat.-Sun. only), lunch, and dinner. RVs can park for $20 w/hookups. From Kingman,
drive to the Hualapai Mountain Park, then continue on the paved road 0.75 mile past
the ranger station. Also open all year, Pine Lake Inn Bed & Breakfast
(928/757-1884, $95 d) is 0.75 mile farther and overlooks the lake.
The Bureau of Land Management's Wild Cow Springs Campground ($5, no water)
nestles in a secluded valley of ponderosa pine and Gambel oak at an elevation of
6,200 feet, but you'll need a high-clearance vehicle to get here; the season normally
runs May to October. From Hualapai Mountain Park, continue just past the turn for
Hualapai Mountain Lodge, then turn right four miles at the sign on a rough unpaved
road.
With a high-clearance 4WD vehicle, you can continue
high on Hualapai Ridge Road 13.5 miles past the campground to the trailhead
for Wabayuma Peak in Wabayuma Peak Wilderness Area. From an elevation of
6,047 feet, the trail follows a road at first, then turns west up to a saddle, where
you'll head northwest to the 7,601-foot summit and great views; it's three miles
one-way; use the 7.5-minute Wabayuma topo map. The rough jeep road continues south,
then turns west down the Boriana Mine Road to Yucca at I-40 Exit 25. The drive is
slow, taking at least three hours one way from Wild Cow Springs Campground to I-40,
but you'll have great panoramas of the Hualapai Mountains and beyond. The amazing
range of vegetation on this drive includes ponderosa pine forests, pinyon pine and
juniper woodlands, and chaparral atop the ridges, then saguaro, ocotillo, yucca,
and Joshua trees in the desert below. You'll see extensive ruins of the Boriana
Mine on the descent.
Hackberry General Store & Visitor Center
For a trip into America's
motoring past, stop here on your drive along Route 66 between Kingman and Seligman.
A colorful collection (928/769-2605, open daily, free) of Route 66 memorabilia,
including a '57 Corvette and other vintage cars and trucks, surrounds the old store.
Signs from long ago cover the walls inside and outside. Vintage gas pumps have unbelievable
prices, but have long since gone dry. You can shop for Route 66 memorabilia. It's
on the north side of Route 66 opposite the Hackberry turnoff, 24 miles northeast
of Kingman.
Cerbat
Gold and silver deposits in the Cerbat Mountains, north of present-day
Kingman, attracted miners in the late 1860s. They founded the town of Cerbat and
worked such mines as the Esmeralda, Golden Gem, and Vanderbilt. Cerbat became the
Mohave County seat in 1871 but lost the honor two years later to nearby Mineral
Park. By 1912 the Cerbat post office had closed. Still standing are the Golden Gem
mill and head frame, structures that rarely survive in other ghost towns. You'll
also see stone foundations and ruins of other buildings.
The
turnoff for Cerbat lies nine miles northwest of Kingman on US 93 at a historical
marker near Milepost 62. Head east 0.7 mile on a dirt road, turn left and drive
0.6 mile, then turn right and travel another two miles to the site. Keep left when
passing a ranch and a group of modern mine buildings just outside old Cerbat. The
last 0.3 mile is too rough for cars.
Mineral Park
During most of the 1870s and 1880s, Mineral Park reigned
as the county seat and most important town in the area, losing these distinctions
in 1886 to Kingman. By 1912 Mineral Park had lost even its post office. Some tattered
cabins, a head frame, mill foundations, and scattered mine shafts survive from the
old days. The huge piles of tailings to the south belong to a copper and molybdenum
mine that operated from 1961 to 1982. It still contains the world's largest turquoise
deposit, which is mined along with decorative rock. The signed turnoff and a historical
marker for Mineral Park lie 14 miles northwest of Kingman on US 93, between Mileposts
58 and 59. Turn east 4.3 miles on a paved road, then left 0.3 mile on a well-used
gravel road; the turn is just before the fenced-in modern mine.
Chloride
After discovering silver chloride ore here in the early 1860s,
prospectors founded the town—the oldest mining camp in northwestern Arizona.
Hualapai warriors made life precarious during Chloride's first years until army
troops subdued the tribe. The peak years of 1900 to 1920 saw 75 mines in operation.
Several buildings survive from the town's lengthy mining period, which lasted into
the 1940s. A few hundred people, including many retirees and artists, now live here.
This friendly town lies 20 miles northwest of Kingman; follow US 93 to the sign
between Mileposts 52 and 53, then turn east three miles on a paved road.
Historic structures include old miners' shacks, post office, Old Tennessee Saloon,
jail, bank, and railroad depot; the cemetery is to the right at the sign as you
enter town. It's fun to wander around the historic buildings and check out some
of the antique and crafts shops.
Artist Roy Purcell painted giant, brightly colored
murals in 1966 and 1975 on cliffs two miles southeast of town. He titled his work "The
Journey—Images from an Inward Search for Self." You can also spot prehistoric
petroglyphs across the road from the murals. To get here from Chloride, take Tennessee
Avenue (the main road into town) past the post office and Tennessee Mine, then follow
signs; the road may be too rough for low-slung cars. With a high-clearance 4WD vehicle,
it's possible to continue up the road, which becomes rocky and steep, to a seasonal
waterfall in another half mile or all the way up past old mines to the Big Wash
Road in the Cerbat Mountains (see description below); some of this is private land.
Mine
Shaft Market & Arizona Visitor Center sells groceries and has a coffee shop.
You can have a picnic at the park on Second Street across from Shep's. The post office, said
to be Arizona's oldest, is at Tennessee Avenue and Second Street.
Mine Shaft Market & Arizona Visitor Center provides tourist information
and a historic photo exhibition in the back. You can reach the Chloride Chamber
of Commerce at P.O. Box 268, Chloride, AZ 86431 or
www.visitchlorideaz.com/.
The Cerbat Mountains
Unpaved Big Wash Road twists up to the crest of
the Cerbat Mountains, where you can enjoy expansive views, picnicking, camping,
and hiking among pinyon pine and chaparral. The road begins near Milepost 51 on
US 93, 1.5 miles north of the Chloride junction. It's graded but too steep and winding
for RVs or trailers.
Packsaddle Recreation Area lies
nine miles in, and the Windy Point Recreation Area entrance is 1.5 miles beyond.
Both areas have sites with picnic tables and vault toilets but no water; a $4 camping
fee applies at Windy Point, which has a particularly scenic setting among boulders
and great views to the west.
Cherum Peak Trail climbs
to near the 6,983-foot summit of the peak, second highest in the Cerbats, then it's
a short rock scramble up the last 200 feet to the top. This five-mile roundtrip
hike takes about 3.5 hours. You'll pass through pinyon pine groves and large areas
of chaparral, which contains shrub live oak, manzanita, Wrights's silk-tassel, broom
snakeweed, skunkbush, New Mexican locust, Gambel oak, and desert ceanothus. Many
wildflowers bloom in early summer. The trailhead (elev. about 6,000 feet) is on
the left, two miles past Windy Point. See the 7.5-minute Chloride topo map and the
handouts available from the BLM Kingman Field Office (928/692-4400,
www.az.blm.gov). Only high-clearance 4WD vehicles
can negotiate the steep, rough descent to Chloride past the trailhead.
Oatman
The weather-beaten gold-mining town of Oatman nestles in the
western foothills of the Black Mountains, 28 miles southwest of Kingman. Elephant's
Tooth, the gleaming white quartz pinnacle east of town, beckoned prospectors, who
knew that gold and silver often run with quartz. Gold mining began in 1904, attracting
hordes of miners and businesspeople. Citizens named the community for the Oatman
family, victims of an 1851 Mohave attack.
Oatman prospered,
attracting many new businesses including seven hotels, 20 saloons, and even a stock
exchange. Area mines produced nearly two million ounces of gold before panning out
in the 1930s. The town, which once boasted more than 12,000 citizens, began to fade
away, and might have disappeared altogether had it not become a travelers' stop
on Route 66. Oatman lost its highway traffic in 1952, when engineers rerouted the
road to the south. A few hundred citizens hang on today, relying largely on the
tourist business. You're almost sure to meet the town's wild burros as they wander
the streets looking for handouts. They like carrots but have been known to bite.
Getting here is half the fun if you take old Route 66 from Kingman (west on Andy
Devine or I-40 McConnico Exit 44) or from Golden Shores (north of I-40 Topock Exit
1). This section of the old highway, now a National Backcountry Byway, has great
scenery at every turn—and there are lots of them! Between Kingman and Oatman
you'll cross 3,550-foot Sitgreaves Pass over the Black Mountains; pullouts on each
side allow a stop for the views. Near Oatman, you'll pass the Gold Road Mine, which
has a long history and now offers underground tours.
Two other
roads connect Oatman with the outside world. From Bullhead City and Needles, you
can take paved Boundary Cone Road east from AZ 95. A more scenic option—best
with a high-clearance vehicle—follows Silver Creek Road into the hills; it
turns east off AZ 95 in Bullhead City between Mileposts 246 and 247 (pavement runs
out after crossing Bullhead Parkway) and joins the Oatman Highway at Milepost 26
between Oatman and the Gold Road Mine.
Many of the town's
old buildings survive, and some now house little exhibits, art galleries, and gift
shops. Step inside the Oatman Hotel (928/768-4408), a two-story adobe
structure built in 1902, to peer into the chamber where movie stars Clark Gable
and Carole Lombard spent part of their honeymoon in March 1939. Gable liked to
visit Oatman, a place where he could get away from the hectic pace of Hollywood
and enjoy poker with the miners.
Shootouts
take place daily on Main Street. Hilarity reigns on the second Sunday of January
in the Oatman Bed Races. On the Fourth of July, competitors warm up for the
Oatman Sidewalk Egg Fry. Oatman celebrates Gold Camp Days on Labor
Day weekend with shootouts, a burro biscuit tossing contest, costume parade, and
dancing. Desert flora glitters along Route 66 south of town during the Christmas
Bush Festival.
For local information, contact the Oatman-Goldroad Chamber of Commerce (PO
Box 423, Oatman, AZ 86433, 928/768-6222,
www.oatmangoldroad.org/).
Vicinity of Oatman
Mohave and Milltown Railroad Trails follow a seven-mile
section of the old railway bed, beginning about five miles southwest of Oatman.
Signs at trailheads tell about the railroad's history. Separate trails and trailheads
accommodate both off-highway vehicles/equestrians and hikers-bikers. Cautiously
driven SUVs can follow the trail. The BLM Kingman Field Office (928/692-4400,
www.az.blm.gov) has a map and description. From
Oatman, head southwest about three miles on Route 66 and turn right two miles at
the fork on Boundary Cone Road to Mile 9.25 for the east hiker-biker trailhead at
the pullout on your left. For the east vehicle-equestrian trailhead, stay on Route
66 two miles past the fork, then turn right (southwest) half a mile on an unpaved
and unsigned road opposite Milepost 21. The west trailhead is a bit trickier to
find: turn east from AZ 95 on Willow Drive near Spirit Mountain Casino, then, after
three miles, turn left at two consecutive unsigned road forks and continue 1.8 miles.
Dinosphere
This odd structure, looking like a cross between a giant
golf ball and a spaceship, stands near Yucca (I-40 Exit 25) between Kingman and
the California state line. It has three levels and measures 40 feet in diameter.
Lake Havasu Estates built it in 1976 as a restaurant and cocktail lounge for a land
development. The company went bankrupt, however, and the white sphere now serves
as a private home. It's not open to the public.
Burro Creek Recreation Site
If you're driving US 93 between Kingman
and Wickenburg or Phoenix, you'll pass this scenic canyon. A perennial stream feeds
deep blue pools and lush greenery in the desert at an elevation of 1,960 feet. Open
all year, it's a great place to take a break from the long drive; day use is free.
Visitors enjoy camping, picnicking, birding, swimming, hiking, four wheeling, and
rock hounding for agates and Apache tears. A cactus garden and interpretive signs
introduce life of the desert. Hikers can head up the creek bed if the water isn't
too high—the creek extends some 40 miles upstream and goes through the heart
of Burro Creek Wilderness; downstream is private land. The campground has drinking
water, flush toilets, and a dump station, but no showers, $10 per night. For information
and group campsite ($30) reservations, contact the BLM's Kingman Field Office (2475
Beverly Ave., Kingman, AZ 86401, 928/692-4400, www.az.blm.gov).
Head southeast 65 miles from Kingman on I-40 and US 93, or northwest 63 miles from
Wickenburg, then turn west 1.3 miles at the sign. An overlook on the west side of
the highway near the bridge provides a fine panorama of the area.
This growing community of more than 35,000 residents lines AZ 95 and the Colorado
River for about 10 miles. Gamblers, anglers, and boaters enjoy the river setting,
and Lake Mohave's 240 square miles of deep blue water lies six miles north.
Although gold miners had worked prospects nearby, this remote site lay deserted
until the 1940s, when construction workers arrived to build Davis Dam upstream.
With completion of the dam in 1953, everyone assumed that the construction camp
called Bullhead City would disappear. Instead it became a center for outdoor recreation.
The "bullhead" rock formation that gave the place its name nearly did
disappear—only the "horns" now poke out of the lake.
Bullhead City lies 35 miles west of Kingman via AZ 68 and 25 miles north of Needles,
California, on AZ 95. Bright lights of gambling casinos in sister city Laughlin
sparkle from across the river in Nevada. South of town, the Colorado River enters
Havasu National Wildlife Refuge; see North of Lake Havasu City above.
Colorado River Historical Society Museum
Exhibits (928/754-3399, Tues.-Sun.
10 a.m.-4 p.m., closed Mon. and July-August, donations welcome) commemorate local
Native Americans, steam boating on the Colorado River, mining, ranching, and dam
construction. Photographs and maps show the growth of the Bullhead City/Laughlin
area from early beginnings to modern times. A children's room offers activities.
Head north 0.3 mile on AZ 68 from the Laughlin Bridge junction, then turn left.
Arizona Veterans Memorial
In a dramatic setting above the Colorado
River, commemorates the 3,000 Arizonans who lost their lives in service for
their country during the 20th century. Head south four miles on AZ 95 from the chamber
office, then turn west two miles on Riverview Drive and follow signs.
Recreation
Bullhead Community Park, just north of the chamber of commerce,
is a pleasant spot for a picnic overlooking the Colorado River; there's also a playground
and boat ramp.
Some of the best Colorado River fishing lies
right in front of Bullhead City. The cold and swift waters from Davis Dam harbor
large rainbow trout, channel catfish and, during late spring and early summer, giant
striped bass weighing 20 pounds and more.
Information and Services
Bullhead Area Chamber of Commerce (1251 Hwy.
95, Bullhead City, AZ 86429, 928/754-4121,
https://bullheadareachamber.com/)
is on the south side of Bullhead Community Park, 2.2 miles south of the Laughlin
bridge. Open year-round Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m., plus Saturdays from October to
April. The public library (1170 E. Hancock Rd., 928/758-071, closed Sun.)
is in south Bullhead City. Hastings Books (1985 Hwy. 95, 928/763-0025) offers
regional and general-interest titles.
A post office
(990 Hwy. 95, 928/758-5711) is on the north edge of town. Western Arizona Regional
Medical Center (2735 Silver Creek Rd., 928/763-2273) is 1.3 miles south of the
chamber office on AZ 95, then east on Silver Creek Road.
The casinos on the Nevada side of the river try to attract your business with
dazzle, entertainment, lavish food, and lodging deals. Laughlin's casinos have a
more casual—some say more friendly—atmosphere than the bigger gambling
centers of Las Vegas and Reno. From Bullhead City you can drive across the Colorado
River bridge just north of town or take the eight-mile route via Davis Dam farther
north. Buses and boats connect the casinos for a small charge.
Standard rooms at the casinos typically run in the low to mid-$20s Sun.-Thurs.,
$45-75 Fri.-Sat., and $45-145 on holiday weekends; advance reservations help to
secure lower prices. You can call a hotel reservation service at 800/452-8445 (800/4LAUGHLIN)
or surf to www.visitlaughlin.com.
Buffets can have long lines—you may wish to avoid those offering specials!
Many locals prefer to patronize the town's fine-dining restaurants, which have better
service and still offer good prices.
Don Laughlin's Riverside Resort Hotel &
Casino (702/298-2535 or 928/763-7070, www.riversideresort.com)
features Don Laughlin's Classic Car Collection (free) and a six-plex movie
theater at the north end of the strip. Horizon Outlet Center (1955 S.
Casino Dr., 702/298-3003) offers shopping and a nine-plex movie theater. Tour
boats head out on short trips near Laughlin and on all-day excursions to Lake
Havasu City via Topock Gorge; ask at one of the visitor centers.
Laughlin Visitor Center (1555 S. Casino Dr., Laughlin, NV 89029, 702/298-3321
or 800/452-8445, www.visitlaughlin.com,
daily 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.) is on your right as you enter the strip from Bullhead City;
staff offer travel information for Las Vegas too. Pick up a hotel reservation courtesy
phone to find the best lodging deals here or in Las Vegas.
Next door, the Laughlin Chamber of Commerce (1585 S. Casino Dr. or P.O. Box
77777, Laughlin, NV 89028, 702/298-2214 or 800/227-5245,
www.laughlinchamber.com, Mon.-Fri.
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.) will help you plan a visit too, and can also advise on sights
and services in the Bullhead City area.