Burros In Oatman AZ

Tim and I have been at Cattail Cove AZ State campground south of Lake Havasu, AZ since leaving the Quartzsite Rally.  Today we drove 60 some miles to visit Oatman, AZ which is an old mining town between Parker and Kingman on old route highway 66.  We had been there before when our kids were little and Tim was working for Santa Fe Railroad doing "track work" from Needles to Kingman, AZ.  Oatman hasn't changed.

This little mining town is known for it's wild Burros that basically wander all over town and they still do.  They were everywhere.  Warnings are posted telling tourist that they can bite, kick and be mean.  A couple of burros tried to take folk's sandwiches right out of their hands, nudged people to get them a treat and even climbed up on the sidewalks where they could pull on the door and try to go in.

If you've not been there it's a fun place to visit.  We drove in from the south on Route 66, continued on, ending up near Kingman, took I40 back West toward Lake Havasu.

Marsha~

Aye Marsha, the burros in Oatman are a hoot. Thanks for the reminder.

Marsha,
I'll never forget our visit to Oatman. We went prepared with a few bags of carrots for those cute Burros. Despite the warnings, not a single one bit me, but boy they can nudge you and one even nipped me in the bum for a carrot.  ;D

Did you see the hotel where Clark a Gable and Carole Lombard spent some time?

We were staying at Blake Ranch RV park around the Christmas holiday and took a day trip up to Oatman.  Enjoyed the drive and town.  Burros were fun to watch.

We were there two years ago after leaving QZ...We really enjoyed that little town.

Not A Clue said:

We were staying at Blake Ranch RV park around the Christmas holiday and took a day trip up to Oatman.  Enjoyed the drive and town.  Burros were fun to watch.

Click to expand...

I spent last winter at Blake Ranch RV Park and made the trip to Oatman twice - I loved it, second time I took a bag of carrots and it was great fun....

Fun town to visit and great scenery and Chinese trinkets to buy....

Thanks for reminding me and I hope you enjoyed Blake Ranch, I really liked that campground...

Jim

Wigpro said:

I spent last winter at Blake Ranch RV Park and made the trip to Oatman twice - I loved it, second time I took a bag of carrots and it was great fun....

Fun town to visit and great scenery and Chinese trinkets to buy....

Thanks for reminding me and I hope you enjoyed Blake Ranch, I really liked that campground...

Jim

Click to expand...

Yep, Blake Ranch was a nice campground, quiet also (for that time of year)

Love that lil town of Oatman. We stopped in there last May on our Route 66 tour. Taking our 28' RV through the twists and turns of the old 66 was heart pounding!! We have a video up on our YouTube and Blog as well as some photos.

Have a look!

I am thinking of going to Blake Ranch this month about the 15th. Does it get cold?

We were there in January.  They are strongly discouraging people from bringing carrots as the burros get very aggressive trying to get them.  A few of the burros had signs on them saying 'I bite, do not feed me'.  We bought a bag of the recommended food.  It looked like alfalfa.  They like it, but not enough to knock over tourists.

All of Oatman was a hoot.  Even the corny bank robbery.

Loved visiting Oatman. Don't buy carrots in town. The people think they are made of gold!

I lived in Lake Havasu City for 18 years and now in Laughlin so have been to Oatman many times. First thing: carrots are not healthy burro food so don't bring them (the BLM even issued a statement that carrots were making the burros fat). They no longer sell carrots to feed the burros in Oatman and if a local sees you doing so you could be made to feel unwelcome.

While the burros that are in Oatman and the surrounding areas are feral they are not indigenous to the area: they were brought by miners as beasts of burden a century or more ago and have survived after mining subsided (they are not even native to the Americas). Burros are not really an example of southwest "wildlife." Many local burros don't go into Oatman itself and the BLM found that they were healthier than those that did.

What is really amazing about Oatman is what a treacherous drive it was when it was route 66. The poor Grapes-of-Wrathers had no idea what they were in for right before they got to California, after passing Kingman, AZ. There was a gas station, cafe and cabins in Cool Springs, AZ before you got to Oatman back then. Many of the Grapes-of-Wrathers, rumor has it, had their old Tin Lizzies towed or driven through Oatman by that gas station. The gas station has been restored and is there today.

No doubt Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, after eloping and marrying in Kingman earlier in the day (since it was faster and easier to marry in AZ than CA at the time), were exasperated after driving from Kingman to Oatman at night in 1939 just decided to stop there--no matter how rural the town was. That hotel room, their honeymoon "suite," is still as it was at the Oatman Hotel.

That stretch of Route 66 was one of the first portions to be bypassed, in 1953 (by what is now I-40).



Michael

We were there last fall and one followed my wife and tried to steal the plastic bag she was carrying. It's a neat place you should not miss ...