Alamo Road

Alamo Road is a strategic road for the longer Overlanding routes and the main artery for adventures in the area. Traveling from I-40 between Kingman and Lake Havasu, Alamo Road traverses mountains and valleys along its 58-mile path before ending at Alamo Lake. This desert area is where the Sonora and Mohave Deserts mix, offering a unique blend of the plants found in each region. From typical sandy soil to red dirt, joshua trees, Saguaros, and Junipers share space in this often hot and hostile part of the desert. Blackened rocks and hillsides are common backdrops from the thousands of years of sunshine, baking the surface of anything that doesn't move. Submerged beneath the lake is the town of Alamo Crossing. The town was located near the best place to cross the Bill Williams River. A buoy line across the lake marks the historic crossing. The town housed a general store, a five stamp mill, and a post office that was open for just over one year, closing in December of 1900. In 1911 the Post Office reopened with the new name of Alamo and continued to operate through the end of 1918. Manganese mining revived the town in the 1950s during a short boom before the dam was built in the early 1960s, flooding the town in the early 1970s. Alamo Lake Dam was completed in 1968 to control flash flooding into the Colorado River. The watershed that feeds this river through the intermittent Big Sandy Santa Maria Rivers is over 5000 square miles. During heavy rains, the water level in the lake can rise as much as 3 feet per hour. FYI, the hardest part is this unsuspecting cattle guard. Many travelers have tested their flying abilities here. Be cautious with speed on this road. There are many blind spots and often speedy vehicles.