(928) 855-4033

If you are wintering at Crazy Horse Campground on the lake at Lake Havasu City, Arizona, you are most likely aware that you are at the heart of a vast adventurers paradise. And if you haven’t yet discovered the magic of this desert paradise it might come as a surprise to learn that Lake Havasu City is centrally located to a nearly endless opportunity for fun filled, fascinating, and memory making day trips.

Do you enjoy ATV adventures? Located just a few sandy miles from the Franconia exit on I 40 west of Yucca, Arizona is the last remnants of Franconia, a once bustling railroad side and supply center. Today only wind swept concrete slabs, the faint outlines of foundations, and massive trash piles mark the site. Only the forlorn graves with weathered markers hint that this was once an outpost of civilization.

For travelers on I 40, Needles, California is seldom given a second glance. But this old town is well worth exploring. And for added incentive, on Saturday, February 12, there is a Route 66 Byways conference at the historic El Garces depot and hotel.

The event will include guided tours of the historic property, a barbecue, and vintage car display with vehicles from throughout the tri state region. And here will be an array of displays. Mike Ward, a prolific collector from Phoenix, will display nearly a century of Route 66 post cards. Groups and organizations will be providing information about desert adventures, ghost towns, and Route 66.

Author Jim Hinckley, creator of Jim Hinckley’s America travel network, will be introducing his latest book, Here We Are On Route 66, and have an array of materials from all along the Route 66 corridor such as rack cards and visitors guides. He will be answering questions and providing assistance with Route 66 travel planning. Whitney Ortiz, the tourism director in Atlanta, Illinois will have a display with information about Atlanta and Route 66 in Illinois.

Needles is just a few miles from Oatman on historic Route 66. This old mining camp is the liveliest ghost town in Arizona, and at the historic hotel they serve a first rate buffalo burger.

And if you enjoy award winning distillery rums and whiskeys, craft beers and wineries, Kingman is just sixty scenic miles away. Downtown in the historic business district, just one block off Andy Devine Avenue, Route 66, is not one but two award winning microbreweries, and a wine bar. Just east of town at the Kingman airport is Desert Diamond Distillery with a century old dining car that has been converted to a restaurant. And a few miles to the east off Route 66 are two superb wineries, and at Stetson Winery, an event center.

Fall, winter or spring (and summer if you enjoy the heat) there are an endless array of opportunities for fun filled, memory making days if your home base is Crazy Horse Campground in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.