Lower Colorado River -- Hoover Dam to Yuma
The Colorado River, particularly from Hoover Dam until it crosses the border into Mexico, creates an area that is relatively distinct from the three states that it runs through. Walled off by desert on both sides, the towns and sites along this stretch seemed to be more defined by their shared usage of the river than by allegiance to the states that define their political boundaries. Thus, rather than locating these pictures with the respective states of Arizona, California, and Nevada, they are grouped together here as "Lower Colorado". Pictures are divided into three groups starting from Hoover Dam and extending south to Yuma.
In 2009 I moved all of these photos to Flickr since it was easier to update pages on Flick -- the links below will take you to Flickr pages for each set.
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Hoover Dam Of the three areas covered here, Hoover Dam violates this assumption of shared culture since it is most closely associated with Las Vegas and Boulder City, Nevada, but it is important to remember that the river here is the border between Nevada and Arizona. More importantly, the dam is a cultural icon that helps define on a broader level the 20th century expansion of the American West. (Click picture for start of photos detailing Hoover dam area) |
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the river -- Laughlin to Parker to Blythe About 70 miles south of the dam starts the long stretch of newer resort and older farming communities running from Laughlin (NV), through Bullhead City (AZ), Needles (CA), and Parker (AZ) to Blythe (CA). (Click the picture for start of photos detailing the resorts, crowding on the river, tackiness, and history...) |
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Blythe to Yuma The southern segment covered here is the sparsely populated below Blythe and the rapidly growing area around Yuma, AZ (Click the picture for more on water projects, snowbird communities, and border politics.) |
