Lake Havasu City, Arizona
- Amber Young
- Apr 4
- 2 min read
Lake Havasu will go down in our memories as our first opportunity to break out the kayak we have been hauling on top of our truck since the day we left home! We camped right on the lake, and the hot weather there made the water super inviting. We made the most of it!
Lake Havasu is like a sparkling blue gem surrounded by craggy, grey moonscape mountains. Every sunrise and sunset paints the sky with neon orange, pink, and lavender.
The city is an interesting mix of a 9os vacation land, a snowbird haven, and elements of London, complete with a fountain, red phone booths, and London Bridge itself! For reals.
The bridge was built in 1830 across the Thames in London. As the city grew, the bridge couldn't handle the traffic, and a decision was made to sell it rather than tearing it down.
So, a rich man from Arizona (the founder of Lake Havasu City) bought London Bridge for multiple millions of dollars, shipped it out to the desert, and had it painstakingly reconstructed in pieces. Oh, and he also went ahead and dredged a river for the bridge to span, creating the Island District by connecting the mainland to a point out in the lake back in 1971. No big deal.
Another interesting and odd thing about Lake Havasu is that its shores are home to 28 tiny lighthouses, each one a replica of an actual lighthouse around the USA. They are all functional navigation aids for boaters on the lake, and there's a club dedicated to their preservation and maintenance.
The snowbird lifestyle is real at Havasu. It was a full house at our RV park, with most campers staying on as full-time winter residents. Compared to our neighbors, we had the smallest camping setup (and carbon footprint) by a long shot. The spotless, shiny giant RVs were almost all paired with a collection of side-by-sides, golf carts, boats, and sometimes even classic cars. With the sunshine and big sparkling lake, I can certainly see the appeal of spending winters here to escape colder climates.
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