West Coast

West Coast Arizona runs along the Colorado River as it forms the state’s western border with California and Nevada, a stretch of low desert and river-edge towns from Hoover Dam south to the Mexican line at Yuma. Elevations stay below 1,500 feet, the climate is among the hottest in the country, and the river — managed through a chain of dams and reservoirs — supplies most of the regional travel character. Mohave County covers the northern stretch (Bullhead City, Kingman, Lake Havasu City). La Paz County holds the middle (Parker, Quartzsite). Yuma County anchors the south. Lake Havasu and Alamo Lake hold the major recreational water; Hoover, Parker, and Imperial dams control the river; the Kofa and Bill Williams River national wildlife refuges protect undeveloped desert. Most trips here are water-and-sun driven. Lake Havasu City pulls the boating crowd; Yuma handles winter snowbird traffic and the historic territorial prison; Quartzsite swells from a few thousand residents to half a million RVers each January for the rock and gem shows. Kingman sits on a long-running stretch of historic Route 66. Winter is peak; summer is brutal.