The Ghost Town that Won’t Die

Thanks to my sister Nancy’s suggestion, when we broke camp and left Quartzsite we headed north to the little town of Oatman, Arizona. The town does it’s best to keep an Old West theme, but it’s real tourist draw are the wild burros that fill the Main Street every day.

The street does fit the part of what we saw on Gunsmoke or The Rifleman with the burro poop-laden dirt street, wooden walks and rustic, hand-written signs. They even have a few of the locals dressed in authentic 1880s outfits, including six shooters.

The real attention-grabbing part of the visit was the trip down the north side of the mountain from the town. Twisting, turning switchbacks that left little room for vehicles to pass at times. It was beautiful and scary at the same time as we made our way down a couple thousand feet.

If you’d like to know more about the history of Oatman, here it is in their own words: