Drive a Boat in Lawless Lake of the Wild West in Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Photos, story by Cassie Hepler

When London Bridge Resort reached out for a tour of now nearby to me Lake Havasu City, AZ, it was a no-brainer. Sparking turquoise water flanked by majestic copper canyons? It’s like a photographer’s dream so of course I was all in! One tourism tweet later on Twitter, I was connected to the lovely Jillian Danielson who is an amazing storm chasing photographer who also owns the well-known Lake Havasu go-to guide, River Scene Magazine.
Lake Havasu City is in western Arizona about four hours west of Phoenix, AZ and near the border of Eastern California. It’s known as a base for trails in the nearby desert and water sports on Lake Havasu as well as energy vortex areas including the beach and hiking trails. London Bridge, relocated from England, links the mainland to marinas and a looped path in an area known as the island. The London Bridge was originally built in 1831 over the River Thames in London, England. The vintage lamps on the bridge are made from the melted down cannons of Napoleon Bonaparte’s army and the inside of the bridge is hollow because it was rebuilt with steel so it could accommodate auto traffic. Do you believe in ghosts? The London Bridge is rumored to be haunted. For years, visitors have claimed sightings of a British police bobby patrolling the bridge and a woman in black roaming the night.
For all those history buffs, The Lake Havasu Museum of History documents Native American and steamboat history. Lake Havasu State Park has beaches with mountain views, plus picnic spots and birdlife. When there’s more than 300 days of sunshine a year, it’s hard to stay inside. Everywhere you look, folks are hiking, biking, boating, fishing, golfing, off roading, shopping, dining and enjoying seasonal events. And of course I chose Spring Break weekend because well, why not? When in Rome… or London in this case.

After arriving after a very lovely scenic drive across the desert with spotty cell reception, I arrived ravenous, tired and anxious to meet up with this female publisher who was like my Lake Havasu doppelganger. We met up at Mudshark Brewery & Restaurant where we got to know each other and I enjoyed a potent and tasty Belgian white beer (8.5%) and delicious steak. It’s walkable from the hotel and lake too so that’s always a good thing (no driving)!

We then went on a mini night tour where I learned that Lake Havasu City was founded in 1963, but it was not until 1971 that this new desert community gained momentum and international publicity. My mother who lived in Arizona before I even existed, recalls Lake Havasu City, AZ as having a bridge and a couple of shacks in the 1970s. Since then, McCulloch Properties also built an open-air mall called the “English Village.” Located on a vacant three-acre site on the northeast corner of the London Bridge, the English Village was anchored by “Hog in Armor Pub” and “City of London Arms Restaurant.”

Saturday night was lit at Kokomo Havasu and I’m just gonna drop this video from our friends at AZSpringBreak.com so you can see for yourself… let’s just say I can party like a 21 year old but can’t recover like one! You can read about Drake Bell’s performance and Q&A in the River Scene Magazine interview.

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 18 can be seen on the shores of the lake. Most can be hiked to while some are only accessible by boat.

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