Davis Camp Park, Bullhead City, Arizona

Davis Camp Park, Bullhead City, Arizona

UPDATE March 16, 2013

We stopped here again for a two night stay before heading farther north.  Same campground, a little more crowded and showing a bit more sign of wear.

I did make it to the bicycle trail on the other side of the river.  Take the sidewalk back into town.  At the first stoplight....cross and then head into Laughlin on the south side of the bridge.   There is no sidewalk or path on the north side of the bridge.  In Laughlin, go down the main drag and you will see a parking area and restroom on the west side of the road.  That blue colored overpass is the bike trail to Davis Dam overlook.  The trail is about 2.5 miles and worth the easy bike ride.

Keeping with the 4 hour and 200 mile rule we left Newberry Springs and headed for Katherine's Landing inside of Lake Mead National Recreation Area.  There is a campground up from Lake Mohave.   I worked for the National Park Service on Lake Mohave the summer of 1977 and winter of 1978 before transferring to the Forest Service.  If we are around southern Nevada I always try and stop in to see how the area has changed.

We took Highway 95 and headed toward Searchlight, Nevada my work station in 1977 and home of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.  Please read the previous post on the weird residents of the Mohave Desert.  It hasn't changed.

Highway 95 in California has the railroad crossing from hell.  The road sign merely announces BUMP ahead.   It is more like a bucking bronco than a bump.  Here is what the rear of the 5th wheel looked after the "bump".  Like the table top sitting on the battery?

Damage except to the table was minor.  Got lucky on that one.  Happiness is seeing the California state line in your rear view mirror.    I remember when California was the rich state and Nevada the poor relative.  Not any longer...as soon as you cross the roads into Nevada you feel like your crossing from the third to first world.

The idea to camp at a National Park Service campground was subject to change.  The whole rig is 47 feet long and it is hard to find a NPS spur that long.  So we made the trip around the campground and headed back to Davis Camp Park which is run by Mohave County.

Here we did get a pull-through site with complete hook-ups for $25.  The park was a pleasant surprise the only downside being the traffic noise from the adjacent highway.  There is a LOT of traffic in Bullhead City.

Davis Camp Park is a old town housing the government workers that built Davis Dam.  And you can ride you bicycle right up to the base of Davis Dam.

It seems Mohave County has been having an adventure cleaning up the campground from year round residents.   Things are looking better, but a few RV's are "interesting".   Here is the link for their website:  Davis Camp Park.

It is a great place for riding a bicycle.  Here are some of the views around the RV portion.

Portions are a little rough, but the good design of the original town site still comes through.  You can even rent some of the original government housing as a vacation home.  For Susie, the concept of government housing being a vacation home was hard to understand.  Check out the web site and see if you want to pretend to be a government engineer!!  Monthly rates start at $800.

We did ride our electric bicycles into Bullhead City for a quick dinner at Panda Express and learned that Sam's Club will let you buy alcohol, pharmacy products, and eat at the cafe without membership.  So we made an "emergency" wine purchase.  But be warned...Sam's Club does not take VISA.  They were more than happy to take an Andrew Jackson and Lincoln for the wine.

There is a bike path on the Nevada side of the border, but we did not have the time to ride from Davis Dam south.   Its there, but there does not seem to be much information on the web.

We would stay here again.  If you do not need sewer hook-ups RV-A is the quietest and would be our first choice.  For full hook-ups RV-D is a nice area as are the riverfront sites in RV-B.

We stayed in RV-C and would NOT do that again.

Would we come back?  Absolutely.  Check out the picture on the top of the blog.  Crystal clear water, warm temperatures and great places to ride a bicycle plus your next to Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Book read:  Scorpions for Breakfast by Jan Brewer, Governor of Arizona.  This her book on 
SB 1070 passed in Arizona.   Well written book and as a result easy to read.  If your interested in SB 1070 from Arizona's perspective well recommended.  If your not interested in SB 1070 give this one a pass.  Guess its appropriate to read now that we are in Arizona.