Lake Havasu City

the wandering chick

...Lake Havasu City

and Topock Gorge

Lake Havasu City is an oasis of a town situated on the Colorado River on the Arizona-California border. It's a mecca for snowbirds as well as those looking for year-round boating activities. It's also the home of London Bridge, purchased by an American entrepreneur Robert McCulloch who purchased not only the bridge, but, in 1964, the land that would become Lake Havasu City.

A two-and-a-half-hour boat ride from Lake Havasu City will take you to Topock Gorge, which is accessible only by boat. It's a 20+ mile wildly rugged section of the lower Colorado River and which cuts through the Havasu Natural Wildlife Refuge between Needles and Lake Havasu City. Its red rock cliffs jutting out of the cool jade water create spectacular scenery as do a few interesting hoodoos you see along the way.

A path along the Bridgewater Channel starting at English Village under the London Bridge makes for a wonderful late afternoon stroll.

silhouette of palms on Bridgewater Channel

London Bridge once spanned the River Thames in London, but because its structure was weakening, it was sold by the city and purchased by Robert McCulloch in 1967. By 1971 the reconstruction along with reinforced concrete was completed and now spans Lake Havasu.

The Dixie Belle is a paddlewheel boat that takes tourists on rides along Lake Havasu.

The Chemehuevi Wash can be hiked from Lake Havasu City to the lake. Once you get close, you find exceptional views of Lake Havasu, such as the one to the right.

Along the shores of Lake Havasu, the city has installed several working lighthouses, replicas at a scale of 1/3 the size of the real lighthouses on U.S. coasts. Sixteen replicas have been installed so far, and others are being added. As a result, it can be said that Lake Havasu has more lighthouses than any other body of water in the U.S.

lighthouse replica, one of several on Lake Havasu

Rotary Park at the south end of the Bridgewater Channel

This and the remaining shots were taken in Topock Gorge.

Petroglyphs can be seen etched on the rock in several different parts of the gorge.

Sandy dunes are a part of the terrain of the Topock Gorge.

Various wildlife can also be seen roaming the gorge, including the burros above.

An occasional sandy cove such as this one gives kayakers a place to stop and rest.

various grasses that thrive in the gorge

Various types of grass thrive along the shores of the Topock Gorge.

Two hoodoos - a rock formation that takes on a human appearance - were pointed out to us along the route of the gorge. The one on the right is called the Star Gazer. With little imagination, you can see a face looking upward and a 'star' where the eye would be.

In the picture on the left, I see an elephant's eye. This formation was not 'on the list' of documented formations. I think I just saw it and snapped the picture. Perhaps it takes a little more stretch of the imagination than the two documented ones.

The other formation is in the picture below, on the right. It's of an Indian facing left. You might also see his praying hands.

No hoodoo here; only a rock that appears could be sent tumbling in the next high wind.

the jade colored water of the Topock Gorge

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Looking at Thompson Bay from the walking path that parallels the Bridgewater Channel.

And one last shot of Havasu's tall but not always so straight palms.