Colorado River

It's about twenty five miles from Oatman to the Colorado River. From Golden Shores Route 66 crosses under the Santa Fe Railroad Bridge and rejoins the Interstate. At this point I-40 crosses the Colorado River and enters California. In the distance the Old Trails Arch Bridge can be seen. This was the bridge that had carried the dust bowl immigrants to the promise of a new life in California. The Old Trails Arch Bridge carried traffic across the river from 1916 until the newer Red Rock Bridge was opened in 1947. The Red Rock Bridge was dismantled in 1967 when the Interstate replaced it. The older original Route 66 bridge, the Old Trails Arch, was converted to support a gas line across the Colorado River. It is still used for this purpose today.