Fender's River Road Resort

Named after the sharp peaks of the Mojave Mountains nearby, Needles a 15-minute drive away is good for stocking up on supplies, and is a gateway to the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. This long stretch of lakes branching off the Colorado River is a protected habitat for bighorn sheep and rare birds like the willowcatcher, and humans flock here for boat rides through the Topock Gorge, fishing and wildlife watching. The town of Oatman half an hour away is an unmissable example of how places reinvent themselves: established after a massive gold find in 1915, the mining ended in the 1960s, and this town (to quote The Specials) was coming like a ghost town... until a recent revival of interest in the forgotten corners of Route 66. These days, people stop at Oatman to feed the wild burros roaming the streets, watch (harmlessly re-enacted) gunfights and visit the hotel, where Clark Gable passed a honeymoon night with Carole Lombard, and a poltergeist still perpetrates mischief… so they say. Also half an hour away, the Mojave Desert is a fab and famed place, with its singing sand dunes, abandoned mines, ancient rock art and record busting summer temperatures. Bring water, and lots of it. If you’re shooting through as part of a great American road trip, it’s two hours’ drive to the bright lights of Las Vegas, three and a half to the heights of the Grand Canyon, and four to mighty LA.