In Laughlin, a river town 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas, I found the experience I’d been expecting when I moved to Nevada from Wisconsin almost 30 years ago. Back then, the Strip had a reputation for cheap steaks and luxury service. Not anymore.
But Laughlin is still affordable — from slots and tables to gas and food. Water, in the form of the Colorado River, is a few feet away from almost everywhere in town. And a slower pace permeates the entire Laughlin/Bullhead City, Arizona, area, infusing a welcoming calm in the people there. That sense of ease stuck with me months after I made the short, 90-minute drive for a much-needed getaway from Las Vegas.
The day before I left, I’d easily booked a room at a resort with rates vastly cheaper than Las Vegas. Adding to the convenience, as of last year, two bridges now cross the river into Bullhead City: one to the north and one to the south.
“We’re safe, we’re outdoors, we’re less expensive,” says Jackie Wallin, executive director of the Laughlin Tourism Commission, when I asked her about the town’s draw. “Value, value, value.”
She’s got the receipts. Post-pandemic, the town has averaged about 1 million visitors a year, but saw a 3.3-percent increase in visitors in the first 11 months of 2024, compared with a year earlier. In November, the increase was 6 percent.
When you’re there, you can soak in the relaxation and just veg out. Or if you want to exercise something beyond your elbow lifting a drink, there are options for that, too.
WHERE TO STAY
Laughlin is, first and foremost, a casino town. Don Laughlin bought an eight-room riverfront motel, and the resort industry there was born. Today, there are well over 5,000 rooms in hotel-casino resorts. Numerous rooms and homes are also available for short-term rentals. visitlaughlin.com
WHAT TO DO
Hiking there isn’t the same as anywhere around Las Vegas. Avi Kwa Ame is the newly designated national monument north of Laughlin and sacred to the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe. Its rock formations are both eerie and entrancing. If you’ve been to Sedona and never got that sense of energy and awe visitors frequently talk about, there’s a good chance you’ll get it here. blm.gov/avi-kwa-ame-national-monument
Wallin also points out the nine Laughlin Labyrinths — short hikes just behind the Tropicana Laughlin — as another major attraction. visitlaughlin.com
For golfers, Laughlin Ranch Golf Club is right across the river in Bullhead City. It’s a public course ranked by Golf Pass Golfers’ Choice 2025 as the second-best in Arizona with the 10th best public course conditions in the country. laughlinranch.com
Water sports abound. Water taxis cruise the Colorado River from riverside resort to resort. There are also jet skis, river boat tours, and more. “We have the cleanest water this side of the Mississippi,” Wallins says. “It’s a fact, it’s science. You can see the bottom.”
She recommends a six-hour boat tour that goes to Lake Havasu, taking passengers by big horn sheep and ancient petroglyphs. visitlaughlin.com
WHERE TO EAT
My dad owned a bar, and people drove from miles around for his hamburgers. Or, at least I thought so as a kid. To find a great hamburger, you need the mind of an explorer, and the ability to separate tall tales of burger masterpieces from fiction. This is no fiction: Just over the bridge in Bullhead City is the Shangri-La of hamburgers: Culver’s. The place attracts burger aficionados who drive 90 minutes from Las Vegas for a famous Culver’s butter burger (I recommend adding cheese curds). That’s how good it is. culvers.com
For fast and friendly service with a standard casino-diner menu, try the Feathers Café at Avi Resort & Casino. For a higher-end experience, Wallins suggests The Range Steakhouse at Harrah’s Laughlin and The Gourmet Room at the Riverside Resort and Casino. avicasino.com/dining, caesars.com/harrahs-laughlin/restaurants/the-range-steakhouse, riversideresort.com/dining-riverside-resort
