In The Desert
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Back to Oatman, ArizonaWikimapia MapThis is an inter-active Wikimapia Map. You can zoom in / out and drag the map to scroll. Try it! Shown here -- Oatman, Arizona.
We took the back way into Oatman via the old Silver Creek Road. This is pretty much what the road looked like and is passable by 2 wheel drive.
If you have a Garmin GPS - you can download the GPS track which will take you from just outside Laughlin to Oatman and a side trip up to the Sitegreaves Pass Oatman gps
This area is loaded with old mines. Some are fenced in and others are not. It would take weeks to explore all the mines here. There are still active mining claims in the area, so be respectful of others property. There are also numerous people living out here - back in the hills.
This is one of the convenience stops along the way! Good place to eat a sandwich. We thought this was funny when we saw it. After all your real close to Laughlin, Nevada.
This is the Midnight Mine. There is a road that continues past it (can be seen in the background) and might be interesting to see that area. This was a fairly large mine in it's day; and of course like I said there are dozens of other mines in the area
This is the Gold Rock Mine and it's on the paved road going up to Sitgreaves Pass. It is still an active mine. When you get to the end of the gravel road (Silver Creek Road) you'll come to a paved road -- turn right to go to Oatman (1mile) or make a short detour to the left to this mine and up the hill (narrow with tight switch-backs) to Sitgreaves Pass for a great view of the valley below. Worth seeing!
Sitegreaves Pass -- elev. 3550 ft.
On one of the open sections of road on the way back down toward Oatman you can look at the Gold Rock Mine and off in the distance (see the arrow) you'll see the electric power station in Laughlin. Even one of the Casinos is visible from here to right of the power station.
One of the big attractions in Oatman is the Burros that walk thru town. We caught these just on the outskirts of town.
They love carrots and know what that word means too! They came running. One tried to get into the passenger side of the Cruiser and another one wouldn't let me get into the drivers side to leave. Be careful, they can be pushy -- to say the least!
The street was blocked and they just had a really neat shoot-out! The cowboys (miners) were dressed to fit the part and the shoot-out looked real. Neat old town setting!
All the residents of Oatman seemed really nice and friendly. This older lady was up on her deck cleaning her charcoal grill, saw us, and then put it on her head and waved.
One of the old towns you shouldn't miss if you like the Old West. This is one of the nicest day trips we've taken. Don't miss Oatman! Have a fun trip in the desert!
Laughlin, Nevada |