About 120 miles east of Yuma was Gila Bend. Gila Bend was mile 388 of the Seven State Tour.
According to Wikipedida, Gila Bend, Arizona was founded in 1872 and is named for an approximately 90-degree bend in the Gila River, which is close to but not precisely at the community’s current location.
And to be perfectly honest Gila Bend is pretty much just that – A bend in the road.
It was hot when I arrived, 101 to be exact. I took a quick tour of the town and found some interesting architecture. I snapped a few pictures and shot a quick video.
Gila Bend Stout's Hotel
The Stout’s Hotel which is the image on the right here was pretty cool looking. I couldn’t tell if it was open and operational or not. There were cars in the parking lot but it was just too damn hot to cross the street and check it out.
This link will take you to a much better picture of the Stout’s Hotel taken by a gentleman named Dave Blake.
The video below from The OC Rider YouTube Channel is pretty much a complete tour of the town.
I suggest hitting the pause when the movie comes to the World Famous Famous Space Age Lodge & Restaurant. It was built back in the 60′s and I’m sure was quite hip back then. I must say there was some activity there which is more than I can say for the rest of the town.
Gila Bend Video Tour
The World Famous Gila Bend Visitor’s Center
Gila Bend Vistor's Center
I’m not sure how the Gila Bend Visitor’s Center became world famous but the sign said it was so I believed them. I not ragging on Gila Bend but I parked and went into the World Famous Gila Bend Visitor’s Center and very much like the rest of the town it was pretty sparse.
From Gila Bend I still had about 200 more miles to go to get to Sierra Vista. Tucson was about another 125 miles up the road. And about 30 miles west of Tucson was Picacho Peak State Park which turned out to be an unexpected surprise along the route.
