Planning Your Time

Kingman is an ideal base for exploring Lake Mead National Recreation Area, the ghost towns of Oatman and Chloride, and the forested Hualapai Mountain Park. You'll need at least a day to enjoy water sports on Lake Mead, whereas an hour or two is enough to explore the funky little ghost towns. Visitors to Lake Havasu should spend a night or two to get a real sense of this recreation hub, although you can get a quick taste by making a day trip from Kingman or Bullhead City. Water activities dominate the scene here, but in a shorter visit you can check out London Bridge, go on a birding expedition at Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, or a foray into the quaint shops in English Village. Fans of gambling can just hop across the Colorado River to Laughlin and spend hours or days reveling in the glitz and glitter—there's also a large casino on the Arizona side in Parker, an hour south of Lake Havasu City.

Remember that Arizona, in the mountain time zone, doesn't observe daylight saving time, but the neighboring states of Nevada and California, both in the Pacific time zone, do. When scheduling interstate travel, double-check all times to avoid confusion and missed connections.