Our Impressions of Needles, CA, Oatman, AZ and Lake Havasu City, AZ
This has been one of our most diverse stops while traveling. We stayed in Needles, an old Historic Route 66 town on the west bank of the Colorado River. We also visited an all but abandoned old mining town (Oatman) and a thriving, shiny water sport town (Lake Havasu City). Where we ate was just as diverse! This is what we love about traveling: being able to see and experience so many things and places all within a relatively short period! All three locations are highly recommended to visit!
Attractions
Geographically Needles is a small town located in southern California on the Colorado River (Arizona-California border). Oatman is about 45 miles northeast of Needles, across the Colorado River in Arizona. Lake Havasu City is about 45 miles southeast of Needles across the Colorado River in Arizona.
Needles
Probably the biggest attraction is the Colorado River. Almost any time of day or day of the week, there are people swimming, boating, and fishing the Colorado! The water is clear and clean.
The other “attraction” of Needles is its connection to Historic Route 66. There are local stores, businesses and a museum devoted to “The Mother Road”. You can feel its connection just about everywhere you drive in the area.
Oatman
The town of Oatman is the attraction. As we drove into Oatman we were greeted by wild burros wandering on the road! There were multiple small shops to explore from ones with old west mining town items to today’s souvenir shops, gift shops and a couple of restaurants.
Starting in 1863 a small bit of gold was discovered in the surrounding Black Mountains. Then in 1915 two lucky prospectors struck it rich with a 10-million-dollar claim! Oatman grew rapidly from a tiny tent mining village. By the 1920s and 30s, the population grew to around 10,000. The decade-long gold rush started to dry up, and then so did everything else. Oatman’s biggest mine closed in 1924, and by 1941, the government ordered the closing of Oatman’s remaining mining operations as part of the country’s war efforts.
When the mines went under, deflated prospectors turned their burros loose to fend for themselves. Today, these wild burros roam the streets during the day and head into the Black Mountains at night to graze. After years of receiving handouts from tourists, the burros are extremely friendly!
Lake Havasu City
By far the biggest attraction is the Lake!! Coming in second would be the London Bridge and the English Village at the base of the bridge! The number of people who were in boats and personal watercraft (PWC) or jet skis on the lake was mind-blowing!
Food and Drink
Needles
Wagon Wheel Restaurant: Small, local, casual restaurant with a western theme. Good, plentiful food, interesting atmosphere and attentive waitstaff.
Oatman
The Oatman Hotel is a fascinating place! It is the only historic two-story adobe building in Mohave County. The Durlin was originally built in 1902 and then rebuilt in 1924 after the big fire that destroyed the town. In the late 1960s, the Durlin Hotel’s name was changed to the Oatman Hotel. The eight-room hotel did a booming business with local miners, who began the practice of covering the hotel’s walls and ceiling with signed and dated one-dollar bills. That practice continues today! Clark Gable and Carole Lombard honeymooned at the Durlin Hotel after their wedding in Kingman, Arizona in 1939. The Oatman Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Lake Havasu City
The Chair. The Chair is a waterfront restaurant in the English Village. We sat outside on the porch seating and watched the boats go by! We had a wonderful conversation with the people at the next table about boating on the lake. The food was excellent, especially the “Stinky Toes”, jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon and drizzled with steak seasoning!! A definite go-to again!
Home Base: The Campground
For us, a campground is not our destination. Our RV is self-contained. Except for water, electric and sewer rarely do we use campground services or amenities. We are explorers, not campground reviewers!
We stayed on site B-31 at the Desert View RV Resort in Needles, CA. 30 and 50 amp service were available. The campground was clean and well-maintained. The staff was friendly. Our full hook up (water-sewer-electric) site was on level hard-packed gravel with a cement pad of crushed stone. Our pull through site was long enough to have both the RV and the Jeep off the road. There was good cell phone coverage (Verizon) and a good open southern sky for our satellite. Easy off I-40.
Fun Facts
Peanuts creator Charles Schulz lived in Needles as a boy. Snoopy’s brother, Spike, lived in the desert outside Needles. He frequently heads to Needles to partake of the town’s nightlife, often running afoul of the local coyotes.
BNSF Railway has been Needles’ main employment source for over a century.
Movies using locations in Needles: The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), Convoy (1978), Repo Man (1984), Suture (1993), Evicted (2000), Domino (2005), Criminal Xing (2007), Into the Wild (2007).
Needles is mentioned in the lyrics of Hoyt Axton’s “Never Been To Spain;” the song was a hit for Three Dog Night in 1972 and was also performed by Elvis: “Well I never been to England, but I kinda like the Beatles. Well, I headed for Las Vegas, only made it out to Needles. Can you feel it? Must be real. It feels so good!”
The London Bridge: For nearly 2,000 years, a series of bridges has spanned the River Thames in London. The “Old” London Bridge of nursery rhyme fame was a stone bridge built by Peter of Colechurch, an architect and priest, between 1176 and 1209. Due to uneven construction, the bridge required frequent repairs yet survived more than 600 years. By the end of the 18th century, the old London Bridge needed to be replaced. It had fallen into severe disrepair and was blocking river traffic.
Designed in 1799 by Scottish engineer John Rennie, who died before his design was approved, the “New” London Bridge was dedicated on August 1, 1831.
Due to the weight of the automobile traffic crossing the bridge in the early 20th century, London Bridge began sinking into the River Thames at the rate of an inch every eight years. By 1924, the east side of the bridge was some three to four inches lower than the west side.
In the 1960s, Robert P. McCulloch, Sr. was an inventor and entrepreneur who had great success in the boat motor and chainsaw markets. In need of a body of water to test his boat motors, McCulloch moved his company from land-locked eastern California to the Lake Havasu area. He purchased a 26-square-mile parcel of raw desert along the lake’s eastern shore.
In 1967, the City of London was looking for someone to buy the defunct and dismantled bridge. Oddly enough, McCulloch had a hunch that this iconic piece of British history would drive growth in Lake Havasu City. He was right! McCulloch placed the winning bid of $2.4 million on April 18, 1968 (over $17 million in today’s dollars). The purchase included ornate lampposts made from the melted-down cannons captured by the British from Napoleon’s army, after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. These lampposts line the London Bridge today.
Each block was numbered before the bridge was disassembled. After it was dismantled, all the 10,276 exterior granite blocks from the original bridge were shipped to Lake Havasu City via the Panama Canal, Long Beach, California to Arizona.
| Needles, CA | Oatman, AZ | Lake Havasu, AZ | |
| Population: | 4,857 | 43 | 58,284 |
| Elevation: | 495 | 2,700 | 738 |
| Founded: | 1883 | 1860 / 1915 | 1963 |
| Average Income: | $19,417 | $32,000 | $30,022 |
| Average House: | $192,050 | $159,000 | $562,000 |
| Median Age: | 45 | 58 | 54 |
Websites:
Needles: https://cityofneedles.com/
Oatman: https://www.visitarizona.com/places/cities/oatman/
Lake Havasu City: https://www.lhcaz.gov/
Summary
We were pleasantly surprised by our stop in Needles and the surrounding area. It was really hot when we visited; the average day time temperature was 108!!! Our two AC units were running constantly!! We are glad we stopped and visited this area. We would encourage you to visit as well!
Since beginning our full-time journey to discover the country, we have found something to appreciate in every city and town we have passed through. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we have enjoyed discovering them!
Your partners in travel,
Kathryn and Dave
RVing Nomads
It’s a lifestyle
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| No person, business or attraction has paid us for an endorsement. AI has not been used to create any of the content in this blog or website. All of the photos in this blog and website were taken by Dave or Kathryn Harrington. |