A small community that offers plenty of convenience
Tucked between the Black Mountains and the Dead Mountains, Fort Mohave is a quiet western Arizona enclave that combines proximity to the region’s cities with access to relatively affordable housing. “It’s right in the middle of this whole valley,” says Tara McMullen, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty and a native of nearby Bullhead City. “So you’re close to Las Vegas, you’re close to Phoenix, you’re close to Kingman, you’re close to California. It’s kind of like your most central location to be able to get anywhere relatively quickly.”
This Mohave County unincorporated community of about 16,000 is carved into a still-rural landscape that’s rich with opportunities for outdoor recreation. There’s also room left for continued home construction, adding to an already eclectic inventory.
Developments like Fairway Village Estates have new construction
Options in Fort Mohave date as far back as the 1960s, including manufactured homes that can go for $30,000 to $55,000. However the majority of the community is made up of new traditional Mediterranean-style houses built from the 1990s on. That includes the new homes filling suburban-style subdivisions including Fairway Village Estates and Twin Palms Estates. These go for anywhere between $150,000 and $800,000. “There is such a vast difference of homes,” McMullen says. “So you have everything from manufactured homes that are really affordable to luxury waterfront properties.” There’s still plenty of space for more building, McMullen says. Fort Mohave’s median price is about $347,000, less than the national median. The average days on market is 82 days, almost double the national average. “We’re usually getting people that are moving here to retire or buying a vacation home here or picking up an investment property here,” McMullen says.
Valley View Hospital is among the major employers
Despite its name, Fort Mohave doesn’t have an active military installation. The community is named for an area fort that closed in the late 19th century. Today, entities like the 84-bed Valley View Medical Center are among the major employers. The Mohave Valley Elementary School District is another.
By land or water, outdoor fun is accessible across the area
The region is all about outdoor recreation, McMullen says. “This is where people come to play,” she says. “This is the land of outdoor fun.” Fort Mohave is only a dozen miles from the Big Bend of the Colorado State Recreation Area, a 2,100-acre space by the Colorado River with a boat launch and 4 miles of trails. The space has beaches, too, and is open to swimming and fishing. Bullhead City Rotary Park, 7 miles away, has three playground areas, three lighted basketball courts and multiple athletic fields. Golfers have 18-hole public courses at Los Lagos Golf Club and Huukan Golf Club at quick reach. Fun in the sun can also be as simple as a ride down one of the area’s scenic roads. “You have our people that like to be on two wheels, our motorcycle riders, that will pop out and go along Route 66 here and take the cool old roads and cruise around,” McMullen says.
The area has a warm climate, including hot summers. “The weather here is beautiful in a lot of places,” McMullen says.
Mohave Valley Highway is a magnet for retail and dining
The community’s main commercial thoroughfare is Mohave Valley Highway, also known as Arizona State Route 95. The stretch is lined with an assortment of big-box stores and both local and chain restaurants. It’s also home to the Valley View Medical Center. Nearby Laughlin, Nevada, 14 miles away, offers more of a nightlife scene, including casinos by the Colorado River.
Bullhead City, about a 10-mile trip, has multiple annual community events. Some of them are held at the 125,000-square-foot Anderson Auto Group Fieldhouse, a facility that’s part of the area’s Colorado River Union High School District. That includes a holiday festival each December with carnival rides, a petting zoo and pictures with Santa.
Route 95 is key for commuters
Route 95 is also the main artery for drives out of town. The thoroughfare connects to Bullhead Parkway for trips to places like Bullhead City and Laughlin. Commuters can continue along Bullhead Parkway, and onto Laughlin Highway and U.S. Route 95, for the 100-mile trip north to Las Vegas. Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport has direct flights to dozens of destinations. Kingman, the seat of Mohave County, is about a 45-mile trip when taking Bullhead Parkway. Phoenix is roughly 240 miles south.
High school district’s academy can provide targeted attention
Kids in Fort Mohave attend schools in the Mohave Valley Elementary School District through eighth grade, a system with a B-minus grade on Niche. Students then progress into the C-plus-rated Colorado River Union High School District, whose facilities include two traditional high schools and the CRUHSD Academy, an alternative high school that offers online and one-on-one instruction. Fort Mohave also has the Desert Star Academy, a B-plus-rated charter school. The academy features preschool, elementary school, middle school and a new high school that opened with grades 9 and 10 and is gradually expanding to include 11th grade in the fall of 2025 and 12th grade in the fall of 2026.
Crime
According to the data from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, overall crime across Monroe County fell 5% from 2023 to 2024.
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Wayne Epps Jr.
