Lake Havasu Lighthouses – Lake Havasu City, Arizona - Atlas Obscura

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Lake Havasu Lighthouses

More than 25 fully functional scale replicas of famous lighthouses dot the shores of Lake Havasu. 

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Located on the Colorado River in the Mojave Desert, Lake Havasu City is home to more lighthouses than any other city in the United States. There are 28 fully-functional scale replicas of famous lighthouses, built and maintained by the Lake Havasu Lighthouse Club.

Originally conceived as a way to improve safety for the many boaters on Lake Havasu, the lighthouses became an attraction of their own and a labor of love for the Lake Havasu Lighthouse Club. The first lighthouse was dedicated in the year 2000 and the newest as recently as 2020.

The lighthouses, while both cute and impressive, are working lighthouses and have become important aids to navigation.  Local emergency services have come to rely on them in certain situations – first responders can ask people in trouble to describe nearby lighthouses and are able to locate victims based on their descriptions.

Replica lighthouses on the Arizona side of the river are models of lighthouses from the East Coast of the United States, while those on the California side of the river replicate lighthouses on the U.S. West Coast. Lighthouses on the city’s island, accessed via the London Bridge, are replicas of lighthouses on the Great Lakes.

In accordance with Coast Guard regulations, lighthouses on the west side feature a green beacon while east side lighthouses use red. The lighthouse club maintains a website with descriptions of each lighthouse, including GPS location, historical data, and sponsoring organizations or families.

Know Before You Go

Most lighthouses can be hiked to, some may be accessed by car, and some only by boat.  Use common sense!  Some are on private property, or Native American land.


Local tour companies offer sunset boat tours to visit the lighthouses.

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