Yuma sits in the southwest corner of Arizona, a desert town on the Colorado River where the state borders both California and Mexico. It's hot — often the hottest place in the US in summer — and dusty, but there's real history here and a slower-paced feel than Phoenix or Tucson.
The Colorado River crossing made Yuma strategically important for centuries. Hernando de Alarcón passed through in 1540. From the 1850s to the 1870s, steamboats worked the river, supplying mines and army posts. The Southern Pacific Railroad bridged the river in 1870, and Yuma became the gateway to California for prospectors and settlers.
The main thing to see is the Yuma Territorial Prison, a state historic park on a bluff overlooking the river. The prison held the worst of the Arizona territory's outlaws between 1876 and 1909 and the cells, guard tower, and graveyard are still there. The adjacent Colorado River State Historic Park covers the town's river-port history as the main Army supply depot for the Southwest frontier.
Outside town, the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge protects a rugged expanse of desert mountain — hiking, bighorn sheep, and the only native palm trees in Arizona in Palm Canyon. Martinez Lake on the Colorado is popular with anglers and birdwatchers.
Winter is the time to visit. Snowbirds from Canada and the northern US pour in from November through March, more than doubling the town's population. Summer temperatures routinely exceed 110°F.