Arizona’s West Coast
By Sam Lowe

For those capable of going in a straight line, the distance between Yuma and Bullhead City measures around 200 miles. Travel guides refer to that stretch as Arizona’s West Coast because it borders on the Colorado River.

However, those who make the trek in landlocked motor vehicles have to do it on Highway 95, the only major road through the area and an avenue not known for water-related scenery. For about the first 150 miles, from Yuma to Parker, Highway 95 distances itself from the river while cutting a direct route through the sands and creosote bushes of the Sonoran desert.

But there are pleasant little surprises along the route, waiting for the traveler who’s willing to take a side trip, spend some extra time and show some exploring initiative. The niceties range from moonlight canoe trips to having lunch with a burro. And even better, many of them don’t inflict serious wounds to the travel budget. Here are a few personal favorites that will help shorten the journey mentally while physically extending it. The list begins at Yuma and heads north.

Paddle your way down the Colorado River

The Yuma Parks and Recreation Department sponsors after-dark canoe trips upon request. It’s a relaxing two-mile journey with the guests providing the paddle power themselves. Park employees haul guests and gear to an up-river spot, and then go along as guides.

Along the way, paddlers encounter beavers, wading birds and, if the timing’s right, the last moments of the day reflected off the shimmering waters. Since the canoes go with the flow of the river, there’s very little strain on those assigned to paddling duties. Their major function is steering the craft so it doesn’t run into the shore.

The trip ends under the Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge, a Yuma landmark, where the guests also get to help pull the canoes out of the water.

For more information, call the Yuma Parks and Recreation Department, 928-373-5243, or log on to www.visityuma.com.

Pause for a moment of reflection

About 15 miles north of Yuma, as Highway 95 passes through fields of lettuce and other produce, farmer Loren Pratt built a church to honor his late wife. It’s on the west side of the road, sitting all alone in the flatlands, but it’s so small that it’s easy to miss.

The church is tiny on the outside and even tinier inside. The pews hold one person comfortably and total capacity is about six — eight, if they don’t mind standing close together. And there’s no air conditioning so most visitors make their prayers short. The non-denominational facility is open daily. There are no regular services, but Pratt organizes a large Easter observance every year.

Watch the Knights fall

The Golden Knights, the U.S. Army’s precision parachute teams, hold their winter jumping sessions at the Yuma Proving Grounds about 20 miles north of Yuma. The parachutists go through a rigorous training schedule that begins in mid-January and runs through mid-March.

The Knights parachute onto grass-covered Cox Field located in the center of the proving grounds complex. Bleacher seats are provided for the viewing public. The teams jump continually from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. There’s no admission fee.

The nearby Heritage Center is also open and free to the public. The center is dedicated to the history of the Army, military munitions development and equipment training at the proving grounds. It’s open even when the Knights aren’t there, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. To get there, watch for the signs and the big guns at the entrance, then drive about 4 ½ miles west. For more information, call 928-328-3394.

Take a hike to see the wild palm trees

The Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, located east of Highway 95, is home to quail, desert bighorn sheep, desert mule deer, coyote, bobcat, fox and other creatures. Unfortunately for those on a limited time schedule, they’re all shy and reclusive so chances of spotting one are limited.

But what you can see are the only native palm trees in Arizona. They’re California fan palms and they’ve been there for decades, perhaps even centuries. The Palm Canyon leads up to the highest point in southwestern Arizona, about 4000 feet.

The trailhead entrance is off Highway 95 about 62 miles north of Yuma or 18 miles south of Quartzsite, then another seven and a half miles east on Palm Canyon Road. The road pretty much ends there, then it’s a half-mile hike to the canyon where the palms are visible on the north side. Visitors who want a close look at the palms should use caution because some of the cliffs are steep and contain loose rock.

Get your Hi Jollies at Quartzsite

In the summer, the desert around Quartzsite is torrid, barren and almost serene, and the community’s population numbers less than 1000. In the winter, however, it fills up with trailer houses, mobile homes and campers and the population swells into the hundreds of thousands.

Most of them are just folks from cold country looking to get away from it all, but some come here specifically for the annual rock festival that draws dealers, gemologists and rock hounds from all over the country. It’s held in the spring and traffic becomes so intense that driving through downtown Quartzsite can be a frustrating experience.

Those who choose to avoid the festival can still find something worthwhile in the community, however — Hi Jolly’s gravesite. Located in a small cemetery near downtown, the site commemorates one Hadji Ali, a Syrian who came to the area in 1865 to work as a camel driver under a program started by the U.S. Army to solve its transportation problems in the Southwest. Soldiers changed his name to Hi Jolly because it was easier to pronounce. After the experiment fizzled, Hi Jolly (who also went by Philip Tedro when he became a naturalized citizen) stayed in the area and died there in 1902.

His tombstone is easy to spot. It’s the only one in the cemetery with a stone pyramid topped by a camel.

Take a history lesson about shame

A backtracking side trip to Poston to explore one of the country’s less-than-stellar episodes is both moving and worthwhile. The Colorado River Tribes erected the Poston Memorial Monument and Kiosk in memory of an injustice. When World War II broke out, 120,000 people of Japanese descent from California and Arizona were removed from their homes and relocated to 10 internment camps in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.

The monument marks the site of the Colorado River War Relocation Center where a combined total of 17,867 men, women and children were interned in three camps from May 5, 1942, to Nov. 28, 1945. The single concrete column stands 30 feet tall and symbolizes unity of spirit. It was built as a cooperative effort between members of the Colorado Indian tribes and the Japanese community.

Poston is on a paved road about 15 miles southwest of Parker on the Colorado River Indian Reservation. There are no admission fees or hours at the monument.

Tour a multicultural museum

The Colorado River Indian Tribes Museum is also on the reservation. The reservation is unique because four distinct tribal groups – Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi and Navajo – live there. And the tribal museum reflects that intermingling.

The museum contains displays and artifacts from all four tribes. The Mohaves are represented by their beadwork, which blends colorful beads into intricate designs. The Chemehuevi basketry is some of the best in the Southwest, exquisitely woven of willow, devils claw and juncos. Hopi craftsmen created pottery, jewelry and kachinas and the Navajos contributed classic examples of silver and turquoise jewelry.

The museum also houses a library, computer facilities and archives. It’s located at the tribal administrative complex on Mohave Road and Second Avenue near Poston. There is an admission fee and the hours vary. For more information, call 928-669-9211, extension 1331 or 1332.

See how they used all that dam concrete

Visitors aren’t allowed to drive their vehicles across or even close to Parker Dam since the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. But pedestrian access is uninhibited and that allows tourists an opportunity to stare down at the world’s deepest dam.

Before the dam was built, construction workers had to dig down almost 240 feet through sand and gravel to reach the bedrock necessary to stabilize the foundation. Now that the dam is surrounded by water, only about one-third of it is visible but it’s still impressive. The dam backs up the Colorado River to form Lake Havasu, a prime recreational resource on the river as well as a storage area for up to 211 billion gallons of water, much of which is pumped to southern California through the Colorado River Aqueduct.

Learn about lighthouses with a British accent

When the subject of Lake Havasu City arises, there’s a natural inclination toward thoughts of the London Bridge because it’s billed as one of Arizona’s top tourist attractions.

The bridge has a colorful history. Originally constructed over the River Thames in 1824, it was put up for sale in the 1960s when British engineers discovered it was sinking. Lake Havasu City developer Robert P. McCullough paid $2.4 million for it on the assumption that having the London Bridge in the Mohave Desert would help land sales. Every stone was numbered before the bridge was dismantled, shipped across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal, then trucked to Lake Havasu from Long Beach, Calif. It was reconstructed over a barren stretch of sand and when the rebuilding was complete, the sand was removed and a channel was cut, allowing water to flow under the bridge. The total cost was about $7.5 million.

But there’s at least one other attraction worth seeing when in the city. It’s the string of mini-lighthouses erected on the banks of Lake Havasu. There are 12 of them, sort of lighting the way for the small boats that cruise the waters.

They’re not real lighthouses, of course. They’re half-scale models designed and built by local residents. But they all have rotating lights and some of them actually function as channel markers.

Those responsible for the first dozen also expect to add another 12 in the future. For more information, log on to www.lh-lighthouseclub.org.

Have lunch with some long-eared friends

Highway 95 intersects with Interstate 40 some 19 miles north of Lake Havasu City, then meanders off by itself again after about six miles of four-lane traffic and continues on to Bullhead City. But history and a unique dining experience await those who leave 95 and make the 21-mile side trip to Oatman.

Once a well-populated mining town, Oatman is now inhabited by about 150 humans and a herd of burros descended from pack animals turned loose by miners. Now they roam the streets with celebrity status because they provide much of the community’s economy. They come into town from the surrounding hills and take up their posts along the main street where they consort with tourists and accept handouts of burro food.

Two-legged residents take the burros seriously. Most merchants offer burro-related items and the town has adopted strict laws to protect the animals. Hitting a burro with a motor vehicle, for example, can result in a stiff fine for the driver.

History buffs also take particular interest in Oatman because it’s on Route 66, the fabled Mother Road that once ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. Route 66 highway signs and merchandise are common in the area. So are foreign tourists on motorcycles.

Say farewell to the route and the river

Highway 95 ends a couple miles north of Bullhead City where it joins Highway 68. The juncture is the last place along this particular route where the Colorado River is visible. The best viewing spot is at Davis Dam, which impounds the waters that create Lake Mohave to the north.

Davis Dam isn’t as spectacular as Parker Dam downstream, but the view of the river and the Chemehuevi Mountains across the water in California is a fitting end to the journey, especially at sunset.