Laughlin
Casino Resort Town On The Colorado River, Founded By Don Laughlin In 1966; Riverwalk And River Water Taxis · Laughlin, Nevada
Laughlin is a small casino resort town at the southern tip of Nevada, strung along the west bank of the Colorado River about 90 miles south of Las Vegas. It began in 1966, when Don Laughlin opened a small motel and casino on the river that grew into the Riverside Resort, and the town that took his name now lines Casino Drive with a row of high-rise casino hotels facing Bullhead City, Arizona, across the water. The appeal is simple: it is cheaper and calmer than Las Vegas, with lower room rates, lower table minimums, mostly free parking, buffets and a paved Riverwalk joining the resorts, water taxis crossing the river, and boats, jet skis and tubes on it in summer. Most visitors drive in from Arizona and Southern California, and in winter the town fills with snowbirds escaping colder states. In summer it is one of the hottest places in the United States, and Nevada's record of 125 F was set here. Around the town lie Lake Mohave, the Grapevine Canyon petroglyphs, the wild burros of Oatman in Arizona and, every spring, the Laughlin River Run motorcycle rally.
Casino Drive, Laughlin, Nevada, 89029, United States
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: casinos are open 24 hours, while resort restaurants, buffets and showrooms keep their own hours, and some buffets close on certain weekdays or have closed for good since 2020. Water taxis and river tours run by day into the evening, with reduced service in summer heat or winter. The traps that ruin a day are forgetting that Arizona is one hour ahead of Laughlin in winter, arriving on River Run weekend without a room, planning outdoor walks in the summer midday heat, assuming a buffet is open because it once was, and finding the Colorado Belle closed. Confirm current times before relying on them.