Lake Havasu City, AZ
On Monday we left Bullhead City and continued our trek south along the Colorado River to Lake Havasu City, a scenic drive of about 80 miles. We were fortunate to be able to get a four day reservation at Lake Havasu State Park, on the north side of the city right on the lake.
Lake Havasu’s main claim to fame is the London Bridge. We wrote about the bridge and its move from London in a blog from our previous stop here in 2014. If you’re interested in the story click here to read that blog.
Since we spent two weeks here during our previous visit we didn’t feel the need to do much exploring during this stay. Most our our time was spent cleaning the motorhome inside and out, as well as time just sitting outside enjoying the view of the lake and the mountains of California to the west.
Besides the bridge, another claim to fame of this area is its lighthouses. Lake Havasu City is home to more lighthouses than any other city in the entire country. These scaled-down replicas are actual functioning navigational aids built to the specifications of famous lighthouses on East Coast, West Coast and Great Lakes. More than eighteen can be seen on the shores of the lake. Most can be hiked to while some are only accessible by boat.
Fire Island Lighthouse – Fire Island, NY
This large collection of lighthouses was originally started for safety purposes. The Lake Havasu Lighthouse Club, a local non-profit group, wanted to make the lake a safe place for night boating and fishing. Instead of just settling on simple lighthouses that could be cheaply produced, they chose to pay homage to the famous lighthouses by making smaller replica lighthouses.
Point Gratiot Lighthouse – Dunkirk, NY
All of the lighthouses on the west side of Lake Havasu are replicas of famous lighthouses on the West Coast, while the east side consists of East Coast replicas. The lighthouses around the island are all replicas of lighthouses from the Great Lakes. As per the coast guard’s navigational regulations, lighthouses on the west coast use a green beacon, while east coast lighthouses use a red beacon.
Split Rock Lighthouse – Two Harbors, MN
Currituck Beach Lighthouse – Corolla, NC
After our four day stay we headed south on AZ 95 along the Colorado River. At Parker we turned west and headed into California on CA 62.
Crossing into California
Once across the river we continued for another hundred miles to the town of Twentynine Palms. We will be staying here for a week while we explore more of Joshua Tree National Park. We’ve visited this park twice before, but it is a huge park so there are plenty of new areas to explore.
More on that later . . .
Busy skies over Lake Havasu
Can’t think of a better place to sit and enjoy the views!
It is such a lovely spot with no one in our water view.
Such a beautiful setting. Wow!
And those lighthouses are just amazing. What a huge investment they made. Has that helped with tourism? Sure makes me want to go!
I don’t think this area needs help with tourism with the great lake. It’s a busy place.
I just wrote about doing the same thing, relaxing in a place we’ve been before and have done the “sights”. Love the story of the lighthouses. I’d love to see them. Have you seen all their namesakes? Seems like the lake is trying to attract tourists with them and the bridge. I always thought London should not have sold it. Lovely skies.
We have not seen any of the lighthouses but have been to several of the towns. The London Bridge certainly has put Lake Havasu on the map.
We’ve just driven through Lake Havasu or shopped there when staying in the desert–maybe we should have explored a bit more!
You should stop at least for an hours just to walk along the canal area. There’s lots of large vehicle parking at the Visitor Center right by the bridge.
I’m confused on the green beacons on the west coast. Umpqua in Oregon is red…or is this only at Lake Havasu?
I can’t find any other information. John’s statement is from the Coast Guard site. Maybe the red/green is for east and west sides of rivers and lakes!?
Biking to the lighthouses is a good idea, we’ll have to do that next time we are in Havasu.
You and Hans could get to more lighthouses than we did with your mountain bikes. You need to ride dirt/rocky paths to several of the lighthouses. It makes for a fun day with pretty views the whole ride.
We’ve never been to Lake Havasu, but I think we’d enjoy biking to the lighthouses. Looks like you had a nice site!
You need to put the Lake Havasu SP on your list. You two would love it here. It is so nice to be able to walk or bike to most places (except hiking) from the park. The sites along the water are nice.
What a fun fact about the lighthouses! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for joining us, Anne!
I love looking at lighthouses.
If we get to LH again, we will stay at the state park. It looks awesome.
We stayed in Twentynine Palms too when we were visiting Joshua Tree. Beautiful area. Have fun!
Yes, you should stay at the State Park. There a lot of sites on the water or with water view. You can walk to the London Bridge.
Such a beautiful spot to catch up and relax for a few days. So cool to see all the lighthouses!
This did make the perfect kick back spot for us.
Love Havasu and the State Park. The only negative when we were there a few years ago were the many boats with open exhaust systems. Safe travels!
It was nice being at the lake during the week at an off time of year. We only had a couple loud boats, enough to entertain us but not to annoy. We can’t imagine what it must be like in the summer.
I haven’t been to Lake Havasu for years, not since we took our ski boat there. I don’t even remember the lighthouses being there back then.
The first lighthouse was put in place in 2000. They have been adding them since then. So they may not have been there back when you were boating. You will have to head back and check them out.
I haven’t been there since this hubby so, nope, I haven’t seen any of them.
Beautiful setting with gorgeous light houses!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks, Nancy! Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving.
I have seen London Bridge and usually avoid Havasu but now that I know about the lighthouses will put it on the list. Nice to return to places and see something new.
Visiting in Nov. during the week was a perfect time. The place was almost empty and there were very few boats.
Cool lighthouses!
Love Havasu. Thanks for the information on the lighthouses. My hubby and I are looking for houses there in about a month!!!