Is Oatman a Ghost Town?

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

The little brochures on Oatman we had picked up indicated it was a ghost town. It was also an old mining town where burros roamed freely in the street. In its prime in the early1900’s there was more gold mined out of the Oatman mine than any place else in Arizona. It was a very rich strike that soon waned. Many western movies had been shot there and they reenact gun fights in the streets on the weekends. Like Tombstone it was once a thriving town that now thrives due to tourism. It’s one of those places you need to go at least once so you can say you’ve been there. That’s just what we did.

Look at this photo now …. blah, blah, blah. It’s so bland. Of course, I didn’t fiddle with it either.

The road to Oatman is an experience in itself. We felt like we were really in the Wild, Wild West. Signs along the route indicated it’s the old Historic Route 66 but nothing over 40’ is allowed. We thought it was possibly due to curves and grades. Well, that’s only half of it. It’s like riding a bumpy roller coaster as the road is constantly up and down with many dips. These dips are deep enough that a big rig could very easily get high centered. Obviously, this is not a road you want to travel when it’s raining or you’re likely to be swept away by flash floods. However, in just a vehicle it’s not a bad road.

There were a lot of people in Oatman. We didn’t see many on the road but they were everywhere once we arrived. One of the big differences between this little town and other similar places is that in Oatman cars are allowed to park on the street in front of the stores. That’s probably because it really is a town. It was packed and with the people, the burros and the cars, it was a little difficult to discover all the little touristy shops. We had planned to eat in the saloon while in town. Isn’t that where all the cowpokes eat? However, the flavor disappeared when we looked inside and noticed that all the tables and chairs looked like something you’d just bought recently at Camping World. There were a couple more places to eat but we figured we’d find something to eat along the way back.

We didn’t stay long. One walk through town was about it. We were hungry and ready for an early dinner or late lunch depending on what you wanted to call it.

We had some favorite places to go for beef brisket and good barbecue when we lived in Texas. When we passed Waldo’s BBQ on the way back we just had to stop. The sign indicated it was Texas style. It’s a cute little place right by the airport in Lake Havasu City. The brisket was good but nothing close to Texas style.

Back at “camp” I was itching to check the photos I had taken of Oatman. My camera had been set to bracket for HDR imaging. Oops …. I realized I had also frozen the exposure in the bracket too so none of those photos were shot with different exposures. Oh well, changing the exposure manually can be done but it’s not as much fun or as efficient. With camera in hand, I walked around the park and took more photos so I could try out different exposure settings.

This park is spread out on two sides of the road. The actual members of CRA stay in the newer section and the non-members stay in the older section. We aren’t a member of CRA but we like the side we’re in. We had heard some folks complaining but I can’t imagine what the difference makes. It’s a nice park and the people around us are friendly. We’ve met a lot of folks here chatting in the evening at one rig or another. The pool is fabulous and not overcrowded. If there was more to do in town, we’d probably return but my guess is that we might be here only another day or so.

Anyway, now that we’ve been to Oatman we can actually say “been there, done that” and mark it off our list.