Find the Real Old West in Oatman, Arizona

When I started this newsletter, I used to include a short story on fun places to visit, especially since traveling is the reason for RVing. So this time, I’ve decided to include an article about a place on old Route 66, which many of you have probably never heard about before.

If you take off on old Route 66 to the West, just outside Kingman, AZ, you can’t miss the little ghost town of Oatman. When we made the trip, we left out motorhome behind in Kingman. This section of Route 66 is not a road over which you want to drive your big RV, nor is there a place in the ghost town to park your rig. The road there is narrow and winding, plus it does some climbing. This town is also easily reached within an hour or so from Needles, CA, Laughlin, NV and Bullhead City, AZ, but the 25 mile road to Bullhead City is unpaved, although well graded.

You’ll know you’ve reached Oatman when you spot burros meandering down the street and along the wooden sidewalks. These are descendants of the original beasts of burden that were brought in to help miners back in the town’s heyday, and then were turned loose to fend for themselves when the miners left. The original burros and their descendants quickly learned to beg for food. Today they come down from the surrounding hills each morning to solicit food from friendly tourists and shop owners, and have no fear of poking their heads through doorways if they think a friendly handout might await them there. Most shops sell carrots to feed the burros.

Oatman was founded in the 1800s, then hit it big in 1915 when a gold strike worth $10 million drew 3500 people to the area. A narrow-guage railroad served Oatman for a short while, but the town died more than once as first, the gold played out, then later when Interstate 40 drew tourists and travelers away from the old highway and the town. The Oatman Hotel was made famous by the honeymoon stopover of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, famous ‘30s movie actors, on March 18, 1939. Tourists who remember them still ask to see the room where they stayed.

Today, Oatman is still an active place on weekends, where staged gunfights take place on the main street. Prospectors still comb the area in search of gold, especially since gold prices have reached record levels during this past year. And you might recognize some familiar scenes from western movies like How the West Was Won.

The trip to Oatman is a perfect, picturesque journey into the past, and a glimpse into the true Old West.