La Paz County, Arizona

LA PAZ COUNTY , AR I ZONA “But if you don’t hit the fairway, you’re up in one of the canyons,” Drake quips. “It’s hard to find good points about the COVID problem, but with California being closed down due to the COVID restrictions, Emerald Canyon has been busier than ever,” admits Wilson. “We also have a number of parks,” Wilson adds. “The premier park is La Paz County Park. It has about a mile of frontage on the Colorado River.” An organized campground operated by the County Parks Department, the La Paz County Park is situated in the popular Parker strip area. There are 114 tent and RV campsites, each offering a fire ring, picnic table, access to drinking water, and bathrooms with pay showers. For those interested in off highway experiences, the Arizona Peace Trail—a proposed 750-mile off-highway vehicle trail loop system still in development—offers another great way to enjoy the outdoors. “The Trail encompasses three counties: Yuma, La Paz, and Mohave,” Drake explains. “At over 700 miles, we figure it’ll take five days to get around it on an OHV. We’re not just talking trails. They’ll have amenities accessible from the trail and eventually incorporate businesses into it—a motel at certain places, rest areas, RV parks—to really make it a destination for people around the U.S. Around the world, actually.” Although La Paz County only counts 21,000 full-time residents, its population can swell up to 300,000 during the winter months. “It does put a strain on our services at the County—our health departments, even our retail, everything’s packed,” Drake admits. “We aren’t built for that many. But we welcome them because there’s such an infusion of revenues into our economy.” “The stretch of river north of Parker is known as the waterski capital of the world, the jet-ski and air chair were invented here” adds Wilson. “It’s a title we claim. The Quartzsite area in the southern half of the County attracts huge numbers of winter visitors from the northern states and Canada. They spend the winter