Home to about 9,000 people, Fort Mohave is in and around a Mohave Indian Reservation immediately north of Mohave Valley and Lake Havasu City. This friendly family-orientated community is becoming an increasingly popular relocation choice for those seeking a quieter and more neighborly pace than that offered by nearby Bullhead City.
Close to the Colorado River, Fort Mohave has plenty of desert areas for off-roading and riverside beaches. Glorious year round sunshine gives its residents ample opportunity to enjoy the full range of water sports either on the river or on nearby Lake Havasu or Lake Mohave. Locals enjoy kayaking, boating, swimming, water skiing, jet skiing and more.
Location
Just south of Bullhead City and north of Mohave Valley, Needles, and Lake Havasu City, Fort Mohave is in Arizona’s Mohave County along the Colorado River.
Bullhead City is a few miles north of Fort Mohave and Laughlin another 5 miles on. Las Vegas is about 90 miles northwest and Kingman is about 30 miles east.
Geography
Fort Mohave is in the low desert (which is warm and sunny with low humidity and very little yearly rainfall), with the Colorado River at its foot and the Black Mountains at its flank. The majestic Lake Mead National Recreation Area (complete with lakes for boating and swimming) is about 15 miles north and the Mohave National Preserve is about 40 miles west. Even closer to home is the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, which is only 13 miles from Fort Mohave.
Jobs
Fort Mohave is a primarily restful residential town and the majority of its citizens commute the short distances to neighboring Bullhead City, Laughlin, or Lake Havasu City to work. Local casinos, education, the social sector, and community work make up the majority of town employment; many additional jobs are offered in the farms surrounding Fort Mohave.
Housing
With a lot of new development currently underway in Fort Mohave, homebuyers find they have an exciting level of choice in new homes. Here you can find anything from a trailer home to an elegant waterfront estate in gated Los Lagos. There are a wide range of single family homes, from affordable family properties to golf course homes or mini-ranches on acreage.
The average 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom single family home will range from about $220,000 to $260,000; this affordability accounts for the increasing popularity of Fort Mohave among retirees and couples with a young family. Elegant homes on the golfing estate start at about $280,000.
Recreation
Thanks to the year round sunshine that blesses these parts, locals like to spend much of their time off in and around the Colorado River (which marks the westernmost border of town), sunbathing, picnicking, swimming, water skiing, boating, sailing, kayaking, fishing and more. For a pleasant afternoon off they might choose to take a river boat cruise down to Lake Havasu City and back, or take the ATV’s out for an afternoon spin.
Leisure time on land is spent playing community sports (or at least watching the kids do it), picnicking, playing a round of golf or hiking. Dune buggies are a popular form of recreation too.
Thanks to its central location, Fort Mohave enjoys easy access to all that the Mohave Valley has to offer. Immediately west, locals have the river and further beyond, the Mohave National Preserve. Directly east lies the Black Mountain range, part of which includes the spectacular Mount Nutt Wilderness, an eight mile stretch of colorful and wild terrain. Hiking, camping, hunting (Bighorn sheep and local birds), and rock scrambling are enjoyed, and the opportunities for good photographs are endless. Going south you have the gorgeous Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, which runs from the Topcock Marsh to the mouth of Lake Havasu and is a fantastic spot to see birds and go camping and boating. About 15 miles north is the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, including Lake Mead, Lake Mohave, the Davis Dam camping ground, and the superb Grapevine Canyon.
Special Attractions/Events
Increasing numbers of people are choosing to live in Fort Mohave. Drawn by the employment boom in neighboring Bullhead City, new arrivals choose Fort Mohave over the city because of its comparatively friendly size and affordable housing. Fort Mohave is the place to live if you want a tidy family home in a safe, friendly neighborhood—not to mention a short commute to work.
Local Mohave Indians live their culture together, celebrating festivals and holding special events throughout the year; along with tribal values, art and food, these events enrich the lives of all Fort Mohave residents. The Fort Mohave Tribe Band travels around the Mohave Valley performing and celebrating the life of the tribe.
Interesting Facts/Historic Buildings and Places
Fort Mohave has an interesting history. Home to the Mohave Indians and their ancestors for thousands of years, the region was well built up by the time the first Europeans arrived in the early seventeen-hundreds. These were Spanish explorers and their early logs describe the prosperous farms and villages of Mohave. As well as being farmers, the early Mohave were also active traders with the neighboring Yuma people for food and necessities.
The Mohave were left in peace until about a hundred years later when white settlers began to arrive in search of gold. The Mohave resisted mightily and Fort Mohave was built to defend the settlers in 1859. The Mohave were sent to a nearby reservation that same year. Overlooking the spot where the Mojave Road crossed the Colorado River, the Fort was soon surrounded by a frontier town; this became Mohave City.
Towards the end of the century, gold gave out and white settlers moved on, generally further west. The fort was dismantled in 1890 and Mohave City soon became a ghost town. Many Mohave children attended the government school, set up at the fort in the early twentieth-century. They were punished for speaking their native tongue and many elderly Fort Mohave tribal members still remember the penalties they suffered at the military style facility. The school closed in 1930.
Local Indians became known as the “Fort Mojave Tribe” (after the name of their reservation) and continued to live and farm in the Fort Mohave area. Members formed a musical band in the early twentieth-century; descendants continue the tradition today, playing at community events and celebrations throughout the Mohave Valley region. The tribe managed their assets carefully and today own casinos and new subdivisions in Fort Mohave. In recent years, they fought hard to prevent a nuclear waste dump being placed near their lands in Ward Valley.
While nothing much remains of the town’s original fort or buildings, ancient Indian petrogylphs can be seen at Grapevine Canyon (near Davis Dam) and many tribal elders are revered carriers of local history.
- NUMBER1EXPERT™ 
