Park

The park and Visitor Center are closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.

Attention history lovers!! Several other historic state parks are located throughout Arizona and tell a colorful story of the Grand Canyon State's varied and interesting past. 

 
Restrooms

This park has modern, handicapped-accessible restrooms.

 
Gift Shop

The park gift shop offers a wide variety of souvenirs and books for sale. Popular souvenirs include T-shirts, magnets, mugs, and postcards. The large assortment of books includes both fictional children's literature and nonfiction adults' literature covering the cultural and natural history of the Southwest.

 
Museum

Colorado River State Historic Park is the site of an old Army supply depot that operated between 1864 and 1883. The purpose of the depot was to store six months' worth of supplies for all the forts in Arizona Territory and several forts outside of the territory. After abandonment by the military, various federal government agencies moved into the buildings. These agencies included the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Customs Service, and the U.S. Weather Service. Five of the original depot buildings remain on the park grounds, and four of these buildings contain exhibits. Exhibits cover both the military history of the site and the history of the Bureau of Reclamation's construction of major irrigation works in the Yuma area during the early 1900s.

The Visitor Center features exhibits that introduce visitors to the military history of the Yuma Quartermaster Depot, and includes a model of how the depot appeared in 1872.

Storehouse exhibits include an Army Escort Wagon, a section of the original plank road with a Model T car, a Steamboat Room displaying the history of steamboats along the Colorado River, and a display of antique wagons and farm vehicles.

The 1870s Office of the Depot Quartermaster contains a period room display of the quartermaster's personal workspace and telegraph office operated by the U.S. Signal Corps. One room within the Quartermaster's Office also features a display on the history of the Yuma Proving Ground, an active Army test center just north of Yuma.

The Commanding Officers Quarters is a historic house museum furnished to the period of when officers and their families resided there in the 1870s.

The Corral House features exhibits on the Bureau of Reclamation’s Yuma Irrigation Project. Historic photos and displays chronicle the construction of Laguna Dam, the Yuma Main Canal, and the Colorado River Siphon.

Outside exhibits include a steamboat paddle axle, most likely from the Searchlight, a steam boiler similar to the boiler that would have been found in the pump house below the Water Reservoir, and a shade ramada with interpretive panels on the early irrigation history of Yuma.

 
Group: Day Use Areas

The park has two, group-use areas with picnic tables under a shade ramada. Reservations are required for use of the ramadas. Please call (928) 373-5196 for pricing details and to make your reservation.

 
Picnic Areas/Shelters

Picnic tables are placed throughout the park for visitor use.  The park has two Group: Day Use picnic shelters. (Please see Group: Day Use Areas above for more information.)

Park Rules

• No pets allowed within the park.
• No open drinks or food allowed within the park buildings.
• No smoking inside the buildings or within 20 feet of any building entrance.
• No damaging or removing artifacts, rocks, vegetation, or any public property.
• No bicycles, skateboards, or recreational scooters allowed within the park.
• No touching or sitting on any of the park exhibits without permission from park staff.
• Place all trash within the trash receptacles.

Travelers...Looking for RV campgrounds? Head north to Parker, AZ for the best options in western AZ!

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