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CyberTrips - Golf, fishing, more available near Yuma
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Published: December 21, 2008
Let other people freeze their earlobes off during their winter break. You could be soaking up desert sunshine, seasoned with a little sightseeing, maybe golf or fishing, and a shot of little Wild West history. Head for the lower end of the Colorado River and the city of Yuma, Ariz. -- www.visityuma.com -- where they claim 95 percent of their days are sunny, and the average high temperature in January is 68 degrees and rises to 74 in February. Dig through the pages of the online guide and, once you are finally past the advertisements, learn that Spanish explorer Hernando de Alarcon crossed the Colorado here in 1540, and the place has been a crossroads ever since, from ferry boats to today's Interstate 8.
Then click into "Things to Do" and look up brief descriptions of the area's golf courses, tennis, camping, and fishing and boating on the Colorado. That section also has important tips in case you want to cross the border into Mexico. And up at the top of the main page, click on "Tours/Day Trips" to collect more ideas for filling your leisure time.
One of the entries in "Things to Do" is an all-too-brief description of Yuma Territorial Prison State Park -- http://tinyurl.com/664p6x -- one of the starker relics of the Old West. Make your travel arrangements for the second weekend in January and you can take in the annual Gathering of the Gunfighters. Despite its notorious reputation, the prison is described as being something of a model for its time.
Pick up a few more ideas for things to do from Yahoo Travel -- http://tinyurl.com/66trlm -- where the entries include the Saihati Camel Farm. You might also take a few minutes to browse through "Reviews," where one visitor notes that the summers are very hot but "the winters make up for it."
Collect a few other opinions from the forum at TripAdvisor -- http://tinyur.com/5zpl37 -- and then hit "Traveler Photos" to see how your fellow amateur photographers remember the area. And in this economy, take time to scan "Yuma Deals" to see if any of the entries have anything you can use to stretch your travel dollar.
There's that river next to the town, so maybe you'll want to wet a hook. The fishing information page at Yuma Zone -- http://yumazone.com -- has a link to the Arizona Game and Fish Department and brief directions to possible fishing spots. The state even provides a blog -- http://tinyurl.com/6psw6e -- for fishing in the region.
Those riverside wildlife areas are great bird habitat. The 2009 Yuma Birding & Nature Festival -- www.yumabirding.com -- is coming up in April.
RVers and campers looking for a spot to park can visit the Yuma section of Go-Arizona -- www.go-arizona.com/Yuma -- for a directory of no less than 28 resorts and parks. And if the motel listings at Visit Yuma didn't inspire you, a Web site called "I need a hotel" -- www.ineedahotel.com/hotels/us/az/yuma.html -- has its own lengthy directory.
■ Comments and tips can be sent by e-mail to cybertrip@ap.org.
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