Valley of Opportunity

   

When one hears the name 'hidden valley', they might assume someone is on a salad dressing kick. Of course, there are many valleys that are hidden because they are off the beaten to death path. Often they contain no paved roads and just might be home to a person of means who wishes to eschew general human contact. There are times I envy those who can attain that kind of freedom.

There is one sort-of hidden valley in the Mojave Desert that is of some note. It holds a town that Vickie and I like to frequent when we can afford it. Before a couple of major developments in the 20th Century, this valley was quite barren of human activity...once again, not such a bad thing. This valley is known as the Colorado River Valley.

Aside from the presence of the indigenous Mojave people of the region for centuries, construction of the Davis Dam on the Colorado River between 1942 and 1953 required an encampment of workers, similar to how Boulder City in Nevada housed the workers of Boulder Dam, later renamed Hoover Dam. That settlement would later grow into a town called Bullhead City in Arizona. Davis Dam is another cross-river connection between Nevada and Arizona, much like Hoover Dam 70 miles north.

The other major development in the valley began in 1964 when Minnesota-born Don Laughlin, fresh from selling his 101 Club in North Las Vegas, flew over the desolate valley and saw an opportunity. He bought a boarded up old motel in an area then known as Tri State (California-Nevada-Arizona) and within 2 years remodeled it to have a small restaurant selling 98 cent all-you-can eat chicken dinners and a small group of slots. Within decades, Don Laughlin had built that small outfit into a major hotel-casino boasting many slots, table games, fine restaurants, a top notch bowling alley, and 6-screen movie theater as well as a venue for top comedy and music artists. The town containing his casino, Laughlin, was given its name by a fellow Irish postal worker who said the place needed a name so Don could receive mail. The town of Laughlin, Nevada now holds several casino-hotels on Casino Drive and has expanded to a small but growing desert community outside the casino row, although many residents work in the hotel-casino business as do residents of Bullhead City.

At one time, people had to cross the Davis Dam and then head south from Arizona to reach Laughlin, but Mr. Laughlin funded a modest highway bridge to funnel traffic across the Colorado River in 1987.

However, Bullhead City and Laughlin are just the northern end of the Colorado River Valley, if the most populated. On the Arizona side, AZ highway 95 in Bullhead stretches a few miles south and then passes through Fort Mohave. Miles south, the area is still populated here and there, though not centrally, until AZ 95 crosses a modest bridge over the river into Needles, California.

Ah, Needles! Sadly, this is what I consider to be the armpit of the Colorado River Valley. California holds only a small part of the valley and does not appear to value it in terms of state and/or county government. Another aspect of Needles is that it is a relic of the old route 66, a ghost that is more supported and honored in Arizona. When I 40 supplanted 66, much local business was hurt, and the interstate bisects the town into 2 equally run-down parts. The funny thing is that the locals of Needles don't get their gas in their own overpriced town, they get it in Arizona, where the nearest station is about $3 a gallon less.

Actually, if one follows 40 into Arizona, the first exit is for old 66 into its original roots of Topock and Golden Shores before heading northeast into the high hills for Oatman, a dangerous road that was rerouted to safer areas in 1953. From Golden Shores, there is a small network of roads heading back to AZ 95, connecting that part of Arizona well.

On the Nevada side, NV 163 takes drivers from US 95 (AZ 95's parent route) just north of the CA-NV (within a mile in fact) to Laughlin. Just west of Laughlin, there is a turnoff for Needles Highway, a really neat unnumbered desert road also leading to the armpit town. The Nevada portion is well maintained, the California portion is bumpier. Along the way, the Needles Highway passes through the residential portion of Laughlin. Also, there are two access points to the Avi resort/hotel/casino. Vickie and I stayed there a few times, not bad in terms of a place to stay and play, but away from the wide part of the river that we love so much.

So what is it about this valley that I find so fascinating? For one thing, the people in the whole region seem friendlier than in the more metro Las Vegas. Definitely there is a more pronounced population of the "desert rat" so commonly mentioned by those who pass through and stupidly buy the gas off I 40. Also I just find this "hidden valley" so full of potential riches in terms of story. The scenery on all sides is spectacular, with many of the mountains so ruggedly carved ages ago by the then-wilder Colorado River.

Vickie and I love taking the Celebration Cruise every time we go to Laughlin. It gives a rich history of the river and Don Laughlin (a man so worth a movie by himself) that I never tire of. We play slots sometimes but I know I am a horrible gambler while Vickie often finds small luck. We also cross into Arizona to fill up at the Sam's Club so visible from the Laughlin hotel rooms and swing into central Bullhead to the Pizza Hut where one can still sit and dine. Bullhead lacks a distinct center, and sometimes just driving down AZ 95 is a joy in itself.

The valley is just 100 miles from Vegas via NV 163 and US 95, 132 miles from Vegas via AZ 68 and US 93, about 33 miles from Kingman AZ (a great 66 mecca!) and if you feel adventurous, 30 miles from Oatman, a home to burros and 66 history and good souvenirs...and if you absolutely need to see Needles, by golly go see it. The Wagon Wheel Restaurant is pretty good.



In closing, I highly recommend this area as a desert side trip or even main event as there is a lot to see, do, and just experience and enjoy. Where you get your gas is your own business.