Weird Arizona - By Joe Parzanese

Giant Desert Tortoise (Arizona)

1251 Highway 95, Bullhead City, Arizona 86429

Arizona's Giant Tortoise in Bullhead City

In Bullhead City, the town across the Colorado River from Laughlin, there is a giant two ton desert tortoise. It's named Poki and was originally commissioned by a man named Bill Hayes. Hayes had noticed the tortoise sculpture at a highway interchange in Las Vegas, and thought they would look cool at his winter home in Bullhead City. He evantually was able to purchase one from the manufacturer who made the giant tortoise in Tucson, Arizona.

Giant Tortoise

Hayes was a winter visitor to Bullhead City every year, but when, for health reasons, he stopped driving south for the winter from his home in Montana, he donated Poki to the city and it was moved to its current location, outside the Bullhead Area Chamber of Commerce on Highway 95, in January 2014.