Top Cool & Unusual Attractions in Lake Havasu

In the first half of the 20th Century, one of the most famous people alive was Robert Ripley: creator of the Ripley's Believe It or Not! newspaper panel series, radio show and television series.

Starting in 1919, he made his fortune highlighting odd facts from around the world. Were he still alive today, we think he'd be fascinated about strange sights and oddities in the Lake Havasu City area.

Visitors to the area can explore this fascinating mix of cool, unusual and lesser-known attractions:

World War II graffiti on the London Bridge

During World War II, two U.S. servicemen left their mark on the London Bridge.

On the Island-side of the bridge, near the abutment, two names are etched into the centuries-old stone:

Aug. 1942

Sgt. Fitzwater

Pfc. Smith

The letters were carved when two American 1st Infantry Division servicemen were participating in field maneuvers with British commandos. They visited the London Bridge while on weekend leave and left their mark. Look closely at the bridge and you can also see strafing scars dating to World War II from German aircraft fire.

Some locals also swear that the bridge is haunted, due in part to Jack The Ripper and the severed heads of criminals that were displayed at the southern gateway of the "old" London Bridge between 1305 and 1660.

Napoleon's cannons on the London Bridge

When the British defeated the French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo, British forces seized the army's cannons, melted them down and cast them into the vintage lampposts lining the London Bridge.

A saint who lost his head

And speaking of heads, the granite London Bridge is not the only British relic housed in this desert town. There's a second one at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church. Sir Thomas More campaigned against Protestantism and opposed King Henry VIII's separation from the Catholic Church. When More infuriated the tyrant king, the English ruler had More beheaded in 1535.

As was the custom at the time, More's headless corpse was buried, but his head was fixed upon an iron spike for a month near the southern gatehouse of the original London Bridge constructed of timber.

A section of the wooden piling that held the lamppost on which More's head was impaled is preserved and displayed in an alcove of the local church. According to a marker affixed to the wood, the "piece of piling ...supported the lamppost from which Saint Thomas More's head hung on display." The hefty chunk of dark wood is about a foot tall and equally as deep.

Credit: Today's News Herald

The green dots mark the locations of a desert meteorite find

Money from the skies

It seems too good to be true, yet amateur meteorite hunters just 17 miles from Lake Havasu City are making money on stones falling from space. In 1912, an estimated 14,000 meteorites fell on northern Arizona alone. Other meteor showers have created a bonanza of space rocks in a dense strewn field in Franconia, off of Interstate 40 at Exit 13 and about a 20-minute drive from Lake Havasu City.

A UFO museum

Off Interstate 40 eastbound in Yucca, Arizona, about a 30-minute drive from Franconia's meteorite field, is a roadside attraction that's out of this world and impossible to miss. A former real estate office, Area 66 is a 40-foot diameter geodesic dome that's home to a UFO museum. The museum is dedicated to an alleged 1953 crash of a flying saucer in nearby Kingman.

Credit: Yelp

The world's creepiest motel room

If inner space is more your thing, our area has that as well. The Grand Canyon Caverns is a natural limestone cavern and the largest dry cavern in the U.S., located 200 to 300 feet below the earth's surface. A short drive from Lake Havasu City in Peach Springs (the town that inspired the famous Pixar movie Cars), the temperature stays at 56 degrees F. year-round.

Its Underground Cave Suite is billed as the largest, oldest, deepest, darkest, quietest motel room in the world. When you book a night underground, the loudest sound is your own heartbeat. You and a guest become the only living things inside.

A spiritual portal to the afterlife

Within walking distance from Interstate 40 near Lake Havasu City is a remnant of American Indian heritage and spiritual importance. The Topock Maze (Mystic Maze) is a 600+ year-old geoglyph consisting of intricate patterns and paths designed by the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe. The modern Mohave people believe this Maze is a part of the spiritual portal to the next life where bad souls get lost and good souls find their portal to the afterlife.

Mysterious figures in the desert

The Blythe Intaglios or Blythe Geoglyphs are a group of giant figures found in the desert, located west of the Colorado River about 15 miles north of Blythe, California. They are believed to be over 1,000 years old. The largest one is 171 feet long.

Five distinct figures are in three locations, including a human figure at each location and two animal figures. While most scientists believe the intaglios were probably created by Mojave and Quechan Indians, no one knows for sure. Was it inhabitants of Earth or something more supernatural? Spirits? Aliens? You decide.

Energy flowing from the earth

Vortexes are found at locations around the world, from Sedona in Arizona and California's Mount Shasta to the Great Pyramids of Egypt. It is believed that the energy at a vortex can enhance prayer, meditation, stress reduction, mind/body healing, creative problem solving and spiritual insights.

Lake Havasu City and the surrounding area boast five vortexes where visitors can tap into this energy for relaxation, rejuvenation, wellness and inner peace.

Credit: Brooke Bahde

Credit: Facebook @ The Shops at Lake Havasu

A really big sandal

Flip flops are an essential element of beach life in Lake Havasu City, which is why "Big Blue" makes for an Insta-worthy selfie spot at the courtyard of The Shops at Lake Havasu.

Credit: Facebook @ Lake Havasu Museum of History

A peculiar choice for a parking lot signpost

Back in the 1960s and 70s, prisoners in Lake Havasu City were confined outdoors in medieval-looking "cages" while awaiting transportation to the county seat in Kingman--over an hour's drive traveling north on Arizona Highway 95 to Interstate 40 east. This cage was repurposed into a signpost directing motorists on the highway to the Lake Havasu Museum of History.