Katherine Landing: A Hawaiian Port Town In The Middle Of The Desert

After the burro-filled main street of Oatman, AZ and a 10-mile stint on a dirt road through the mountains, the last thing we expected to find was a harbor town, but that’s exactly what was waiting for us at Katherine Landing, located near the south end of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. There’s a Hawaiian-looking motel, enough gas pumps to fill a dozen boats at once, countless seagulls, speedboats and pontoons available to rent, houseboats big enough to be primary dwellings, a cafe, a campground, and … nobody. Not a single person on the docks.

We saw one sign stating they’d close up early Thursday afternoon. It was Friday and there wasn’t a person in sight. And the wind … gusts up to 35 MPH. There was a small-craft advisory flag up and no boats on the water.

They had 30-minute parking by the store and cafe, 3-day parking a little further up the road, and 7-day parking near the campground. This place must get packed at some point, but we didn’t see any signs of life.

We only camped a night, but I wish we could have sneaked onto one of the houseboats and squatted for a week.

Lisa got some great pictures: