Yuma Travel Guide

Yuma is even hotter than Phoenix and often records summer temperatures in excess of 120°F (49°C). The flip side of furnacelike summer heat is the warmest and sunniest winter climate in the nation. This has made Yuma the winter destination of tens of thousands of snowbirds (retired winter visitors), who drive their RVs to Yuma from as far away as Canada.Long before RVers discovered Yuma, it was one of the most important towns in the region, known as the Rome of the Southwest because all roads led to Yuma Crossing -- the shallow spot along the Colorado River where Yuma was founded. Quechan Indians, Spanish missionaries and explorers, Kit Carson and his mountain men, '49ers heading for the gold fields of California, pioneers, and soldiers all passed through this narrow spot on the lower Colorado River. Despite its location in the middle of the desert, Yuma became a busy port town during the 1850s as shallow-draft steamboats traveled up the Colorado River from the Gulf of California. From here, during the Apache wars of the 1870s and 1880s, military supplies were transported overland to the many forts and camps throughout the Southwest. When the railroad pushed westward into California in the 1870s, it passed through Yuma. Even today, I-8, which connects San Diego with Tucson and Phoenix, crosses the Colorado at Yuma.However, despite having more than a dozen golf courses and two important historic sites, Yuma has had to struggle to attract visitors. For whatever reason, many people just don't take this city seriously as a winter vacation destination. In the hopes of luring more travelers off the interstate, Yuma has in the past few years been working hard to restore its downtown historic buildings, expand its historic sites, and preserve its natural setting on the Colorado River.