Oatman

Oatman grew up around rich gold strikes in the Black Mountains in the early twentieth century, and for a time it was one of the busiest mining towns in the region, with mines like the Tom Reed and the Gold Road pulling a great deal of ore from the surrounding hills. Thousands lived here at its peak, and the town buzzed with the energy of a boom.

As the richest ore played out and the mines wound down, Oatman began to empty, and when Route 66 was later rerouted to bypass the difficult mountain grade, the town lost its through traffic as well. Many places like it simply died. Oatman held on, kept going by its history, its setting, and the tourists drawn to a real Western town that had refused to disappear.

The town's name recalls Olive Oatman, a young woman whose pioneer family was attacked while crossing this region in the 1850s; she was taken captive and later lived among Native people before being returned years afterward, her story becoming one of the most famous of the frontier era. The name carried onto the mining camp that later grew nearby.

This corner of Arizona is the homeland of the Mojave people, who have lived along the lower Colorado River for countless generations and remain here today, along with the Hualapai whose lands lie in the mountains to the east. The river valley they know was a lifeline of water and trade long before the miners arrived, and their communities continue in the region.

Oatman's signature sight is its burros, small tough desert donkeys descended from the animals miners once used to haul ore and supplies. When the mines closed the burros were turned loose, and their offspring adapted to the harsh country and to people. Today they wander into town on their own schedule, working the crowds for the treats sold in the shops, and they have become the town's cheerful mascots.

Around the burros, Oatman leans happily into its Old West character. Costumed actors stage mock gunfights in the street, saloons and shops fill the historic storefronts, and the whole main drag plays like a frontier stage set that happens to be real. It is touristy in the best sense, a small town making a living by keeping its own past alive.

Oatman sits deep in the Mojave and Sonoran desert transition of western Arizona, a land of jagged volcanic mountains, dry washes, and hardy desert plants. The old Route 66 that reaches it climbs and twists through the Black Mountains in a series of switchbacks, one of the most scenic and challenging surviving stretches of the historic highway.

This is low, hot desert, so summer here is fierce, with searing midday heat that makes the cooler months by far the best time to visit. Fall, winter, and spring bring pleasant days ideal for strolling the town and watching the burros, and the clear desert air makes the mountain drive especially rewarding. Even in the mild seasons, water and sun protection are wise in this dry country.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.