Downtown Las Vegas Mural Walk

The murals are created during the Life is Beautiful festival that has been held every fall since 2013 with the except of 2020. While it's mainly a three day music festival there are also food venues, performances, and speakers. The festival is spread out over eighteen city blocks which are closed off and require pricey tickets for entry. We're not fans of loud music and crowded festivals so the chance of us attending the festival is very low but we really enjoyed walking/rolling around the city streets to view the murals.

I found an article and a map online to use as a guide but some of the murals may have been painted over because we didn't find them. We also saw some that are not listed and may not have been created as part of a Life is Beautiful festival. None of that is important though because the murals are beautiful!

     

The sidewalks along the walking tour are in good condition and the curb cuts are excellent. The level terrain makes the tour very accessible.

       

We stayed in the RV park at Main Street Station Casino which is very close to the start of the tour. Map Main Street Station  36.16764, -115.14033

Historic Railroad Hiking Trail

I've wanted to take this trail for a long time. It's in the sun for the entire length but we decided since this spring was cooler than normal it was a perfect time for the hike. The trail follows the old railroad corridor that was built in the early 1930s to transport materials used in construction of the Hoover Dam. It's goes uphill gradually until it's high above Lake Mead with great views of the lake and surrounding hills. The trail travels through five tunnels that were blasted through the rock adding an interesting aspect to the hike.

We spotted a couple of young bighorn sheep butting horns. There were also patches of spring flowers.

The trails is hard packed sandy soil and is about 7 miles round trip from the trail head on Lakeshore Road to Hoover Dam parking garage. The first 2.2 miles are along the rail corridor but some of the last 1.3 miles deviate off the corridor and are much steeper. Wheelchair users will need assistance on the last section. Strong users may be able to push up the entire 2.2 miles of rail corridor. The return trip is all downhill.  Shipping containers for protection from falling rocks have been installed in two of the tunnels. They do not fit flush to the ground but most users will be able to navigate over the lip. We turned around at the 2.6 mark because we ran out of time to finish the trail in daylight. 

The parking lot is large enough for RVs. Additional parking is available at the Lake Mead Visitor Center. A paved trail connects to the rail trail.  Trail    36.01198, -114.794

Lake Havasu Museum of History

In 1963 Robert McCulloch bought 26 acres of desert land near Lake Havasu so that he could use the lake to test his racing engines. He also moved his chain saw factory to the area in hopes of attracting new residents and growing the city. This worked to a small extent but to attract more people McCulloch began offering free flights and all expense paid mini vacations to Lake Havasu. People who took advantage of the offer received a multi-day sales pitch of the city. The free flights continued for 15 years until 1978. Today Lake Havasu City is a thriving city with 60,000 residents and a million yearly tourists who come for the sunshine, water sports, outdoor activities, and the unusual attraction of a relocated 1831 London bridge - bought, dismantled, and reassembled by McCulloch to span the channel between the mainland and the island.

The museum tells McCullough's story along with exhibits on natural history and Native American tribes who lived along the Colorado River before the dam that formed Lake Havasu was built. 

The museum is accessible.

The museum is located in a strip shopping center and there's plenty of parking for RVs if they're pull through the spaces or parked lengthwise. Museum  34.48044, -114.35002

Lake Havasu BLM

Just a large gravel lot but very convenient to Lake Havasu so it's a popular spot. We stopped for one night and won't want to stay here long term but some people appeared to be doing that. Even so it's fairly quiet and tidy. The spots nearer Hwy 95 have better views of the mountains and more private because they're on the ridges. BLM  34.43862, -114.22607

Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge Auto Tour

The refuge was established in 1944 to protect stands of cottonwood and willow trees which provide a breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife. Unfortunately, a lightning strike in the summer of 2021 started a fire that burnt most of the trees and there hasn't been much of a recovery.

 

The auto tour is about six miles total out and back. It winds up and down around the rocky outcrops before dead ending at turnaround where the road is gated off but open for hiking. Several very short trails can be found along the auto tour road.

 

Nothing is accessible along the auto tour road. It's a nice short drive but Highway 95 is pretty spectacular so the tour can be skipped especially since the trees are gone. Stop at the visitor center on Highway 95 which has good exhibits and a short but accessible trail on a peninsula that extends out into Lake Havasu.

The road is bumpy but maintained and suitable for shorter RVs. Refuge  Tour Map

West Wetlands Park.

The wetlands was a city dump until it was closed in 1970. The plan to make it into a wetland habitat and recreation area required grants from many organizations and years of work before it finally opened in 2002 for local residents and visitors to enjoy. Improvement continue to be made and the park includes picnic shelters, a pond, walking and biking trails, native gardens, a beach, boat ramp, and the coolest playground ever made.

Trails running east and west parallel each other so it's easy to loop around on different trails. The trail next to the road is paved. The others are hard packed dirt. One follows close to the river. Another runs along a ridge. The paved trail continues east for a couple of miles to East Wetlands Park which remains in a more natural state.

The paved trail is accessible. The dirt trails are accessible but wheelchair users may need assistance in spots where the dirt is loose. All of the trails are fairly level.

The parking lots are large enough for RVs.

Yuma Airshow 2023

The Marine Corp has the smallest air force of the US armed forces so the airshow isn't as spectacular or large as some of the shows put on by other branches of the military. I think it was larger before coronavirus caused the show to be canceled in 2020, 2021, and 2022 so maybe in the future it will be larger again. 

Parking on the base is very limited and too small for RVs. Preferred parking on the base is $40 and general parking is free with shuttle service to and from the parking lot to the show entrance. Entry is by vehicle only and adults must have some type of photo ID.

Many people chose to park in the Yuma County Fairgrounds parking lot instead of going to the base. The planes fly directly over the parking lot and there's a good view of the runways. Unfortunately I didn't get any good photos. Of course the ground displays are not visible from the fairgrounds lot but everything else is including the demonstration of the USMC F-35B as it hovers, and takes off and lands vertically. Airshow  32.6698, -114.59304

Gunsight Wash Disersed Camping

When we camp near Ajo, Arizona we usually head to BLM land along Darby Wells Road. We enjoy the scenery and dispersed camping there but we wanted to visit a friend who was camping a little farther south at Gunsight Wash BLM dispersed camping area. I've always had the impression that Gunsight Wash is barren and dusty. It's not! The scenery is not as pretty as it is along Darby Wells Road and there are few saguaros but there is a lot of greenery and the trees grow larger. Winter has been cooler than normal this year so the flowers and birds have been slow in arriving.

The area is almost level and the ground is very hard packed sandy dirt which makes it an excellent boondocking area for campers using wheelchairs.

The roads are dirt and one lane but they're in very good condition. Many large and level clearings provide access for any size RV and are great for people who want to camp together. We camped about 1/2 mile off of Route 85. The roads deteriorate a bit farther in but it's possible to find fairly isolated sites by driving past the 1/2 mile mark. Gunsight Wash  32.24068, -112.76128