Blythe – Travel Guide At Wikivoyage

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[edit] '"`UNIQ--maplink-00000002-QINU`"'Map of Blythe

Blythe is the center of the southwest desert. From here, you can travel north for 4 hours to Las Vegas, west 2 hours to Palm Springs (4 to Los Angeles), south 2 hours to the Imperial Valley or Yuma (or 4 to San Diego) and 2 hours east to Phoenix.

Note: Between the areas indicated above, there is little if any service! Over 100 miles in over 110°F temperatures can be dangerous. Carry fresh drinking water during every cross-desert travel. Make sure your vehicle is in good, non-overheating condition, with a cool A/C, and also make sure the vehicle has a full tank of gas.

Interstate 10 (I-10)/Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Fwy passes through Blythe in an east/west direction. It is the main stopping area when traveling from Phoenix through to any major city in California. When heading west on I-10, you will pass directly over the Colorado River. Be prepared to stop and possibly have your vehicle inspected by the State of California Department of Agriculture as you enter the state. California is one of the few states in the United States that has natural barriers against "outside" contamination (i.e. fruit-fly, fire-ants, etc.) that could potentially harm California's delicate environment, and the Blythe inspection station is the first and best at stopping them.

Hobsonsway serves as local road access into downtown Blythe as a local (business) street and as the old US Routes 60 & 70 that used to go (concurrently) through town before the freeway was built to bypass the town. Going west it is the first exit (Exit 242) past the agricultural inspection station and parallels north of I-10, through downtown, towards Mesa Dr (Exit 232 of I-10) as Hobsonway. Eastbound access are at Mesa Dr (#232) and Riviera Dr (#243).

Intake Blvd is locally called "the California side" because the south-bound lanes travel through Arizona. US-95 starts from the intersection of Intake Blvd and I-10 (Exit 240) and heads north on Intake Blvd (at eastern edge of town) to Needles and I-40 (approximately a 2-hour drive), Laughlin (2½ hr-drive), and Las Vegas (approximately a 4-hour drive). This road is very windy, curvy, and hilly! It is only a 2-lane highway. Going south on US-95, it goes concurrently on I-10 to Quartzsite, AZ (at Exit 17) and through Quartzsite on W Main St to Central Blvd (AZ/US 95). Going north on Central Blvd the road becomes AZ-95 towards Parker and south as US-95 towards Yuma.

Neighbours Blvd starts on I-10 (at Exit 236) and travels south. Careful: this road is windy, curvy, hilly and is only a 2-lane highway. During your drive, you will run into the world-famous Glamis (approx 1 hr south of Blythe). 78 will take you to the Imperial Valley (including Brawley, El Centro, Imperial and Calexico).