Needles, California - Gateway to the Colorado River

Needles, California

By the 1940's, the American public was discontinuing their use of the railway in favor of the automobile and in the fall of 1949, the Harvey House in the El Garces closed. The building was then partitioned and used as Santa Fe Railway offices.

In the 1950s dams were built along the Colorado River, which ended a long history of flooding in the region and made the land around Needles suitable for agriculture. This, as well as new recreation opportunities for boating and fishing, gave a boost to the Needles economy.

When I-40 threatened to bypass Needles, local citizens worked hard to keep the freeway from missing the town and condemning it to a slow death. Their efforts prevailed, which contributed greatly to the town’s promising future.

The El Garces Hotel today, April, 2008, Kathy Weiser.

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In 1988, the Santa Fe Railroad moved their offices out of the El Garces to another facility and the building was closed. Sitting abandoned, the historic building was threatened with destruction until the Friends of El Garces was formed in 1993. Through their efforts, the City of Needles was petitioned to purchase the station, which occurred in 1999. Tours can now be taken through this historic building on the 2nd Saturday of each month from October through May. Recent plans for the El Garces is to redevelop the building into an upscale hotel and restaurant, much like the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona.

As of this writing, the La Posada is the only historic Fred Harvey Hotel that continues to cater to weary and hungry travelers today.

The City of Needles plans to make the El Garces the second Harvey Hotel to be redeveloped for its original purpose with plans for at least part of the project to be completed by 2007. However, when Legends of America traveled through in April, 2008, it was still under renovation.

Though extremely hot in the summer, with temperatures often exceeding 100 degrees, Needles beckons snowbirds to its mild winters. Visitors to Needles enjoy water skiing, boating, fishing, and nearby attractions, including the Mojave National Preserve, the Mystic Maze, nearby Topock Gorge, and more.

For those traveling the Mother Road, approximately ten miles of Route 66 is located in Needles where a number of vintage icons can still be seen today, including the Route 66 Motel, the Palm Motel, and the former El Garces Fred Harvey Hotel/Santa Fe Depot, the Historic Needles Theatre, and several other old motels.

Enjoy the beautiful desert surroundings and the scenic Colorado River before continuing your journey along the Mother Road. A word of caution – you have more than one hundred fifty miles of barren desert ahead with not a single service stop if you take original Route 66, and only a few stops if you take I-40, where you will pay outrageous prices at the gas pumps. Fill up your tank in Needles – better yet, fill it up in Arizona before crossing to California to save a few bucks for a much needed ice cream sundae after crossing the long hot Mojave Desert.

An old alignment of Route 66 presents itself just after passing through Needles. At the Moabi Road Exit, the old 1947-1966 winds around past a campground, under a railroad bridge to dead end at the Colorado River. After making this short detour, return to the Moabi Road exit and join I-40 westbound to continue your trip along Route 66.

Historic Route 66 then veers away from I-40 to the north. Take the US-95 exit off I-40 a few miles outside of Needles. The road continues for about six miles before turning westward on Goffs Road to pass through the old towns of Goffs and Fenner.

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