The Mojave Desert lies east of the Sierra Mountains stretching from California into Nevada, Arizona and Utah. It is the driest of the North American deserts and home to several unique plant species including the Joshua Tree. Human history dating back 10,000 years is evidenced in the valleys, basins, canyons and mountains of the landscape.
Shoshone, CA
Mining of all kinds created boom towns throughout the Mojave desert region beginning in the mid 1800’s. Miners and characters with colorful names such as Shotgun Kitty Tubb, Death Valley Slim, Lady Buffalo Thacker, Kit Carson, Shorty Harris, Death Valley Scotty, Borax Smith, Seldom Seen Slim, Happy Days Diminy and Siberian Red came looking for fortune and freedom. Established in the Amargosa Basin at the southern entrance to Death Valley, Shoshone provided miners with water, housing, supplies and a place to spend their pay. Reduced to a population of 31, Shoshone’s main industry now is tourism. Several buildings are preserved from the boom town years including the museum. Originally a gas station and general store, the museum is packed with artifacts and vintage equipment from the mining camps, desert prohibition years, suffragettes, railroad history, and a full non-fossilized mammoth skeleton discovered near the town in the 1960’s.
“A tin coffee pot for cold mornings and a whiskey bottle for cold nights out on the desert were essential…” (still true!)
Built in the 1930’s, the “famous” Crowbar Cafe and Saloon served one of the best burgers and french fries we’ve had!
A walking tour along the town’s main street provides a look into what life in a desert mining town was like in the early 1900’s.
The unconventional cemetery hill was filled with both unmarked graves, elaborately decorated sites, and some western humor.
Behind cemetery hill are the remains of dwellings carved into the clay embankments by miners in the 1920’s. Named “Dublin Gulch”, these continued to be occupied until 1970. Some of the caves had multiple entrances, stove pipes exiting at the rear wall, iron beds, and even a garage. Rusting cans, broken glass, and discarded fixtures form piles of weird modern day artifacts left behind by the Dublin Gulch community.
Laughlin, NV
From the Rocky Mountains, through the Grand Canyon, the mighty Colorado River winds its way to the Gulf of California regulated by a variety of dams along its 1,450 mile course. The extensive development of the river as it crosses seven western states makes this the “Lifeline of the Southwest.” Each improvement whether for irrigation, hydro-electric energy, recreation, flood control and/or water supply altered its resources and, in many cases, spawned a city. Laughlin is just one of these river refuges on the Nevada side of the river.
Known as Southpointe township during the construction of the Davis Dam, the city housed construction workers and miners in the 1940’s. As the project was completed and the workers moved on, Southpointe was pretty much vacated by 1960. A few years later, Don Laughlin, a Las Vegas casino owner, saw the potential for drawing gambling and recreation tourism. Laughlin (as it was later re-named by the Post Office Inspector) is located on the Nevada side of the Colorado River at the southernmost tip of the state where Nevada, Arizona and California meet in a crazy quilt pattern of state lines. Looking south is Lake Havasu formed by another dam located at Parker, AZ. Las Vegas and Hoover Dam are only about 80 miles to the north. Opposite the banks of the Colorado River is the year round vacation community of Bullhead City, AZ. Once the headquarters for the Davis Dam construction project, this original stern wheel paddle steamboat port became a prime location on the newly impounded Lake Mohave in the 1950’s.
Sharing the life giving river that makes oases in the desert, Laughlin is known for it’s world class entertainment and dining, nine casino properties, water sports and fun in the sun.
Though there was fun (and martinis) to be had in the Riverside gambling hall while watching the river taxis shuttle visitors among the waterfront properties, it wasn’t long before we struck out for the dirt roads in the nearby desert mountains…
Grapevine Canyon
Northwest of Laughlin near the sacred region of Spirit Mountain lies a granite canyon filled with hundreds of Native American petroglyphs.
Signs indicated that some of the etchings are more than 800 years old with some as recent as 150 years. Spirit Mountain is known as a sacred place for Yuman speaking tribes of the Colorado River area. Recognizable images and symbols are intermingled with unknown designs among the desert varnished panels.
Further up the canyon, we scrambled along the dry falls trails and spent some time in the quiet solitude of the boulder hillside.
Laughlin and the surrounding areas offer more trails and recreation than we were able to explore during our stay. We look forward to returning to this diversely developed region later in our travels this year.
Campground Review: Don Laughlin’s Riverside Resort RV Park
We stayed At Don Laughlin’s Riverside Resort RV Park for 2 nights in a back in, FHU site. Our site was located on the 4th level with a concrete pad for the rig parking then gravel surrounding the rest of the site. Sites are level; no table, fire ring or grill. This large RV park is across the street from the Riverside Casino and Hotel and easily entered from the main road. There are shuttles running between the park and the casino that will pick up at any site or bus stop. The restrooms and laundry rooms were very clean, located throughout the park, and accessed with a key card. Pools are shared with the hotel and are located in their towers (we did not visit the pool). Only paid WiFi service is offered however, cable TV is available at each site. We had a strong T-Mobile signal during our stay. Riverside Resort has convenient access to the river-walk, water taxis and river tour boats at the edge of the property. License and registration documents are required for check in. Reservations are only done by phone, however the customer service staff member was super pleasant and easy to work with. We look forward to staying here again in the future.
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Next up…Destination: Quartzsite!
Their RV Travels 
Fantastic etchings! Thanks for the ride, Cheryl, that was an awesome trip!🙏❤️
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