Boulder City
Next Gas Stop: 82 Miles in Laughlan

Boulder City is a great place to fuel up and restock any snacks and drinks you might need. There are also plenty of restaurants if you want to stop for a bite to eat. This is a good place to stock up as it is the last stop before camp.

This is a long section. You’ll start by taking the pavement south down Highway 95 for roughly 25 miles until you get to Nelson Cutoff Road, where it’s right back to dirt. From there, you’ll turn and follow the powerline road (initially called Grandpa’s Road). This is a fun road that leads you up the hills where the trail tightens up. You’ll get into some awesome rock formations, and eventually you’ll ride alongside Lake Mohave.

The road straightens out across the valley but slowly gets curvier as you head into the next mountain set. This is a fun dirt road – even in the dark! Eventually, the road comes to a “T,” and this is where you break away from the powerlines and head up the Roman Wash. This is a fun (but challenging) wash that is full of loose gravel and sand.

EZ BYPASS: The EZ BYPASS stays on the highway at Nelson Cutoff Road. It meets back up with the main route near camp 1. This goes right past the LORAN station.

Camp 1 is at the top of Roman Wash at Loran Station Road, just under Spirit Mountain. This is a nice, secluded campsite with plenty of shelter from wind provided by the surrounding mountains. There are also plenty of flat areas for tents.

Interesting facts and trivia can be found below.

Lake Mohave

Lake Mohave was formed by the creation of the Davis Dam just north of Laughlin. The lake extends essentially from of the Hoover Dam to the Davis Dam, though it gets several miles wide just east of Searchlight. It is a popular recreational location and is also home to numerous fish species.

Loran Station Road

LORAN (long range navigation) was a radio navigation system developed by the military during World War II. It was widely utilized (including by civilians, such as fishermen) until it slowly fell out of use in favor of GPS.

Loran Station Road is named for an old LORAN-C station that operated near Cal-Nev-Ari, a small town built by Slim and Nancy Kidwell in the 1960s. The entire town went up for sale in 2016 for $8 million.

GPS File Name: Section 5 Loran Station Road to Laughlin

You’ll next head west out of the canyon on Loran Station Road. Near the base of the mountain, you’ll turn south and eventually hit Christmas Tree Pass. This is a cool canyon road that is lined with beautiful mountains, and the trees have been decorated with Christmas ornaments.

This is a fun two track that meets up with the bigger Christmas Tree Pass Road. It’s also a nice warm-up trail to get the day going. You’ll follow the pass all the way down until it meets up with the highway that’ll drop you right into Laughlin, where you can gas up and restock any supplies you need.

Interesting facts and trivia can be found below.

Spirit Mountain

The route wraps around Spirit Mountain, a sacred place for the Native American tribes of the area. According to their religion, Spirit Mountain is their spiritual birthplace. Spirit Mountain is the tallest peak in the Newberry Mountains.

Grapevine Canyon

Grapevine Canyon is accessible off of Christmas Tree Pass Road. Petroglyphs are visible in numerous places in the canyon, but there are many that can be viewed near the entrance of the canyon.

Laughlin

Laughlin is a popular tourist spot and casino destination. It was originally started by Don Laughlin who saw potential for the area. He subsequently built a motel and casino, and the town has grown from there.

Section 6: Laughlin to Oatman

GPS File Name: Section 6 Laughlin to Oatman

Laughlin
Next Gas Stop: 46 Miles in Kingman

After leaving Laughlin, you’ll pass the bridge over the Colorado River into Bullhead and head south on Highway 95. Next, you’ll take the dirt roads through the mountains until you hit the historic Route 66. From there, you’ll head south a short distance until you roll into Oatman.

Oatman is an old mining town that grew rapidly after gold was found in 1915. When the mines shut down, the town was practically abandoned, but tourism has revived it in recent years. Wild burros (descended from pack animals that the miners released) roam free within the town. From antiques to old mining equipment, there are a lot of things to see in the gift shops that line Main Street. Gunfights are also reenacted in the town.

Interesting facts and trivia can be found below.

Bullhead City

Bullhead is on the Arizona side of the Colorado River, across from Laughlin. It originally existed as Hardyville, a small settlement named after William Hardy, who operated a ferry service and raised goats there in the 1800s. The town was later abandoned, but Bullhead City emerged in the same location about 50 years later when the Davis Dam was constructed nearby.

Oatman

The Oatman Hotel is one of the main attractions of the town. Built in 1902, it is the oldest two-story adobe building in the county. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard honeymooned there in 1939, and their suite can be viewed as part of the building’s museum. Visitors frequently leave autographed dollar bills on the wall and ceiling, a practice that dates back to the Oatman’s mining days. The Oatman Hotel is also known for being haunted by “Oatie,” a friendly ghost.

Oatman was named after Olive Oatman, a young girl who was enslaved by a tribe of Native Americans after they slaughtered her family. She was later traded to the Mojave people, who improved her treatment and adopted her. She was released at the age of 19 near the location where the town of Oatman is located today.

Section 7: Oatman to Kingman

GPS File Name: Section 7 Oatman to Kingman

This is an all-road section. From Oatman, you’ll head up Route 66 (Oatman Highway). There are a lot of fun curves with some views of the old gold mines located throughout the mountain range. This road takes you to the freeway just south of Kingman. Stop here to fuel and restock as it will be the last fuel opportunity before camp.

Interesting facts and trivia can be found below.

Route 66

US Route 66 was established in 1926 from Illinois to California and eventually became one of the most famous roads in America. Of the nearly 2,500 miles of road on Route 66, the portion through the Black Mountains (now called the Oatman Highway) was notorious for being the most dangerous segment, and many travelers hired locals to drive that section for them.

There’s a real thrill about jumping on Route 66 out of Oatman. Maybe it’s the history. Maybe it’s the super curvy road. Regardless, you’ll be sure to “get your kicks” on this section.

Gold Road Mine

In 1900, a miner named Jose Jerez was looking for his lost burros when he accidentally discovered gold. He and his partner began digging a mine, which they later sold to a prospecting company. The settlement of Gold Road emerged. By 1950, it was a ghost town, but the mine was revived in 1995 and began producing again. After shutting down in 1998, the mine reopened again 10 years later.

Cool Springs

Once a typical gas station along Route 66, Cool Springs fell into disrepair over time as traffic in the area decreased. Ned Leuchtner bought the building in the late 90s and fixed it up into a gift shop and museum.

Kingman

Kingman emerged in 1882. Five years later, a disgruntled newspaper publisher based in Mineral Park threatened to move his paper and the county seat to Kingman. He made good on his promise and secretly moved county records to Kingman. An election later made the move official, and Kingman remains the county seat of Mojave County. Today, the town is known as the “Heart of Historic Route 66.”

Section 8: Kingman to Pre-Alamo Lake (Camp 2)

GPS File Name: Section 8 Kingman to Pre-Alamo Lake
EZ BYPASS File Name: Section 8 BYPASS EZ Chicken Springs skip Alamo Lake

Kingman
Next Gas Stop: 140 Miles in Wickenburg

From Kingman, you’ll take the freeway down to Yucca. There isn’t much in Yucca, but it is home to the huge Chrysler Arizona Proving Grounds where they do a lot of their automotive testing. You’ll then turn down the frontage road for a moment before turning into what we like to call the “Dirt Super Highway.” This long stretch of dirt road is wide, smooth and fast. It slowly gets curvier as it makes its way into the hills. The road also starts to offer some amazing landscapes full of big saguaro cactuses spread throughout the rolling hills.

In previous years, we’ve set up camp near Alamo Lake. However, this year, we decided to camp up in the hills away from the cold breeze from the lake. We found a beautiful camping spot in the middle of a valley right along a wash. It is a sandy, flat area. The site is marked on our GPS files.

EZ BYPASS: If you’re looking to stay out of the sand and water that you’ll find on section 9, there is a nice alternate route you can start on section 8 which bypasses all of Alamo Lake. You’ll turn off Alamo Road onto Chicken Springs Road, which leads to Wikieup, where you can hop on Highway 93 and head south. This is a nice, maintained scenic mountain pass, and it encompasses more slab than the Alamo Lake option. You can still use camp 2, but it will just include some backtracking. The EZ BYPASS route is included in the GPS files.

Interesting facts and trivia can be found below.

Interstate 40

President Eisenhower championed the creation of the Interstate Highway System as a means to more efficiently transport troops across the country. I-40 was built along a similar path as Route 66, and while it was more efficient, it also bypassed many of the towns and sites that led to the latter’s charm. Charles Kuralt remarked, “It is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything.”

GPS File Name: Section 9 Pre-Alamo Lake to Phoenix
EZ BYPASS File Name: Section 8 BYPASS EZ Chicken Springs skip Alamo Lake

Wickenburg
Next Gas Stop: 60 Miles in Phoenix

You’ll continue along the Dirt Super Highway until you get to Alamo Lake. Once down in the valley, the road slowly makes its way into the hills, where it gets rocky and technical with some steeper hills. An old, abandoned bus is in this area, and we usually stop to see it. This is a cool area full of loose sand and tamarisk tunnels that lead down over the Bill Williams River.

In past years, this river has been completely dried up and was just a long, sandy wash. However, we found a decent amount of flowing water in 2016, which made for a more exciting crossing. Be aware that depending on when you go, you might find water in the river – and if it’s the rainy season, you might not want to risk crossing it at all.

This section is always exciting because it is different every year. There is a little curve ball here. As you exit the wash, stay to the trail on the left. If you take the trail to the right, it goes quite a ways down the sandy wash to a dead end. Carnage will ensue. If you have gone farther than 100 yards on the deep sand, you are on the wrong trail.

The trail then leads through the tamarisk on a fun winding trail. This will lead you back to Wickenburg Road (another dirt super highway), which eventually turns into Alamo Road again. This is a nice, long, high-speed section; you just have to be wary of the cross washes along the road. Alamo Road will then take you to Highway 93.

Once on Highway 93, you’ll head south until you hit your gas stop in Wickenburg. It’s also a great place to eat lunch. From there, you’ll continue south and take Highway 60 into Phoenix. We usually plan our HOP ride around the Phoenix round of supercross, but there is always something to do or see in the area, making it a great destination at many different times of the year. (It is too hot to make the HOP practical during the summer, however.)

Interesting facts and trivia can be found below.

Alamo Lake

The Alamo Dam was built in 1968 by the Army Corps of Engineers to help control flooding caused by heavy seasonal rains. Alamo Lake formed as a result. The lake is now part of the Alamo Lake State Park and is a popular camping and fishing location.

The abandoned bus in this area served as living quarters and was part of the Alamo Crossing community, a tiny town that used to exist in the area before the dam was built and submerged it under Alamo Lake. When the lake’s water level decreased in the 1980s, the bus became accessible by land again. However, the rest of the town is further south and still submerged.

Bill William River

The Bill Williams River is over 45 miles long and feeds into Lake Havasu. The banks of the river are green and full of life, standing in stark contrast to the rest of the desert landscape. 80% of Arizona’s plant and wildlife species are found along rivers such as the Bill Williams.

The Wayside Oasis

The Wayside Oasis, a bar and grill as well as an RV park, is situated to the east of Alamo Lake. Despite its remoteness, it has become a popular destination for campers, off-road enthusiasts and local pilots.

Phoenix

The Phoenix Metropolitan Area includes Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale, Chandler and many other cities, making it one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States and the third largest west of Texas (after Los Angeles and San Francisco).

GPS File Name: Section 10 Phoenix to 17 Mile Road

Phoenix
Next Gas Stop: 60 Miles in Wickenburg

There are plenty of places to eat breakfast within the Phoenix area. However, in true adventure fashion, we chose to head back to Wickenburg, where we found a nice little local restaurant called Horseshoe Cafe. You might want to check it out yourself. The town of Wickenburg offers a lot of history of gold mining and lots of old western relics. It also has some great local restaurants.

Wickenburg
Next Gas Stop: 95 Miles in Wikieup

In Wickenburg, you’ll gas up and head out on Highway 93. This is a good stretch of road to put in your earbuds and enjoy your music. You’ll head north on the highway for about 56 miles until you get to a dirt turnoff at a mountain pass – 17 Mile Road.

Interesting facts and trivia can be found below.

Surprise

The city of Surprise was founded in 1938. The name came from its founder, Flora Mae Statler, who reportedly said that she would be surprised “if the town ever amounted to much.” It is now one of the fastest growing municipalities of the Phoenix area.

Morristown

Morristown is a small town that lies along Highway 60. It is notable for being the home of the internet-famous “Grumpy Cat.”

Hassayampa River

Highway 60 follows the Hassayampa River south outside of Wickenburg. For most of its 100-mile length, the Hassayampa is actually underground and only appears with flowing water above ground in a few locations year round, though more water is pushed to the surface at different times of the year. The river’s name comes from a Native American word meaning “the river that flows upside down.”

Local legend says that anyone who drinks from the river is doomed to never tell the truth again. This legend extends back to the 1800s and may have its roots in stories of the miners in the area who made exaggerated statements about their finds.

Wickenburg

Wickenburg was built through the cooperation of miners, ranchers and farmers. It was named after Henry Wickenburg, a prospector who discovered a prosperous mine in the area. Although the town suffered numerous challenges, including Indian wars, mine closures, drought and a flood, the community continued to grow and remains a vibrant city today.

Nothing

The abandoned town of Nothing sits on Highway 93. The town sign read: “The staunch citizens of Nothing are full of Hope, Faith, and Believe in the work ethic. Thru-the-years-these dedicated people had faith in Nothing, hoped for Nothing, worked at Nothing, for Nothing.”

Section 11: 17 Mile Road to Coyote Wells Road

GPS File Name: Section 11 17 Mile Road to Coyote Wells Road
A Loop File Name: A Loop ALTERNATE Hardest

17 Mile Road is a well-maintained dirt road that offers some incredible views as well as fun twists and turns. The mountain pass is home to a variety of cactuses and other vegetation, making for some great pictures. This section is a great spot to take it easy and soak in everything the Arizona desert has to offer.

You’ll follow 17 Mile Road until you get to Signal Road. The ghost town of Greenwood is around this area and serves as a good place to take a break. You’ll then take Signal Road until you get to Coyote Wells Road. Be aware that you’ll cross the Big Sandy River wash when you first turn on Signal Road. In most years, it has been dry, but we did find water in it on our most recent ride through. You’ll turn on Coyote Wells Road until you hit Alamo Road.You’ll continue on Alamo Road for about five miles until you get to Chicken Springs Road.

A Loop: This is where the turnoff for an alternate loop is. We call it the “A Loop.” (This is how it is referred to in the GPS files as well.) This is for those who want a tougher challenge. It offers a lot of sand washes and steep rocky hills with rain ruts. Although it’s difficult, you’ll be rewarded with some great views and a fun (and curvy) two-track route back down the mountain. This trail will eventually make its way down and meet up with Alamo Road. From there, you’ll head north until Coyote Wells Road connects to Alamo Road and then on to Chicken Springs Road.

Interesting facts and trivia can be found below.

Ghost Towns

This route will take you through the ghost towns of Greenwood and Signal, both abandoned in the early 1900s. The only things left of these communities are some ruins and a few mentions in textbooks.

Section 12: Coyote Wells Road to Wikieup

GPS File Name: Section 12 Coyote Wells Road to Wikieup

Chicken Springs Road is another scenic mountain pass that will drop you down into Wikieup, a small town with a cool trading post. It’s a great place to gas up and have some dinner. This is the last gas stop before camp.