OATMAN
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When you pull into Oatman you quickly realize, we're not in Kansas anymore Toto! You've just stepped back into the old west and it's time to party like it's 1899.
Oatman is about a 50 minute drive from Havasu, give or take a few depending on which route you take. But before we get into that, let's look at the reasons you want to get there!
The biggest attraction is the burros, wild burros descendants of the burros the miners brought to the area have adapted to tourism and know how to work a crowd. Luckily all the Oatman stores sell burro carrots......
(click on images to enlarge)
There's gold panning, or you can get dressed up for some old time photography....
There's baby burros and gunfighting on mainstreet......
There's cactus growing through the roof.........
There's the old Oatman Hotel where Carol Lombard and Clark Gable spent their honeymoon night on March 18, 1939, their room is preserved for your viewing pleasure, and there's Oatie the ghost..........
Not all that long ago you could rent a room and stay overnight in the Oatman Hotel, I've done it many times - $29 a night! Now their rooms are more like a museum, they're quite small, no TV's! And the bathroom is down the hall, so is the shower. Nothing quite like having to use the bathroom at 2 am, walking down the dark creaky hallway past Oatie's room in the Oatman Hotel. So you can't rent a room in the hotel anymore, but you can rent an authentic miners cabin from the 1900's for a night! Click HERE!
The Oatman Hotel was the local brothel back in the mining days. I know a woman who was born in Oatman, she told me her mother would not allow her to walk on the Oatman Hotel side of the street. When she was young she worked at the phone company in Oatman, where there was one phone and when a call came in for someone she had to go get them. She got in a lot of trouble by her mother once when she went to get someone from the hotel.
It somehow became a tradition when you visit the Oatman Hotel to sign a dollar bill and staple it to the wall. Downstairs from the hotel rooms are the lobby, bar, and restaurant. Inside the bar and restaurant the walls are completely covered with dollar bills. It would be interesting to count it all and see how much is stapled to the walls!
You can also have a Shotgun Wedding in Oatman........
The Parson Tom Woodard will take care of all your Shotgun Wedding needs.
The folks in Oatman do enjoy putting on some fun events. On the 4th of July they hold the Sidewalk Egg Fry Contest, and all the floozies and gunfighters get gussied up for the 4th of July Parade. They hold bed races and burro biscuit tossing contests - which is actually burro poop painted gold. They also have a roadside shrub decorating contest each Christmas.
You can also rent horses at the Oatman Stables......
A little warning for ya, unless you enjoy being surrounded by hundreds of bikers and Harleys, then avoid going to Oatman on the Saturday during the Laughlin River Run held each April. We forgot one time and it was a tad bit crowded to hang around for too long....
Okay, here's how to get there so you can take your own pictures and have your own fun.........
The most interesting way to get to Oatman is to take I-40 and head to Kingman, just before driving into Kingman take this turn-off - Shinarump Rd (don't ask, I don't know!) and go west under the interstate. It takes a little longer to get there going this way but it by far the most scenic and interesting.
Once you start climbing the mountain you'll be doing some hairpin turns, you'll see a small stream down below on your right - look for the big cottonwood trees, you can walk a short trail down to the stream and there's also a BIG tree swing. Keep going up the mountain, if you watch real closely, on one hairpin turn you'll see a little area on your left where you can park, look for the old cement steps going up. Climb them to the goldfish pool someone made ages ago and check out how water comes right out of the rock on the side of the mountain. You'll also have an amazing view from there. Back on the road as you head up to the top of the Sitgreaves Pass you can imagine what they went through back in the old days taking this route - Route 66 - by wagon.
Coming down the other side are more hairpin turns, another amazing view, and you'll see what's left of old rock buildings built by miners and you'll pass the old gold mine. Drive carefully down this road! We watched a rescue team pull people out of a car that went off the edge and down into a deep ravine. You don't want that to be you! You will eventually drive right in to Oatman.
The second scenic route is not quite so daring, doesn't take as long but takes you through a good stretch of desert and the wildlife refuge. To take this road head west on I-40 and take the Topock turnoff before the bridge over the Colorado River. Take this to Golden Shores and head straight at the Y. This road will take you straight in to Oatman and is a very pleasant desert drive.
The third route is through Mohave Valley, you can either take the Topock turnoff and hang a left at the Y in Golden Shores instead of going straight, follow that through the wildlife refuge until you get to a stoplight - turn right on Hwy 95, or go to Needles and go under the little one-car-at-a-time bridge under the railroad tracks and then across the bridge over the river - keep going north on Hwy 95 through Mohave Valley until you come to the stoplight where you can take a left to the Avi Casino. If you turn right on that street it'll take you right into Oatman. I'll get the name of that street and update this page next time I go up there!
Whichever way you choose to take to Oatman, you'll be glad you did! It's a fun place and there's nothing like it anywhere else.
Here's some links to Oatman businesses, check out their websites:
Before I forget, let me also mention that these stores have some really unique items, from antiques to very fun kid's toys that you won't find at Walmart or Toy-r-Us. And be sure to visit the tortoises (look for the sign), they have their own yard and you can go out there with them - a favorite, besides the burros, of the kids!
Now get goin' and have some FUN!
Good Article!
Good Video!
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