Looking for a quieter, smaller-scale alternative to Las Vegas during your winter trip to the sunny Southwest? Fire up your Web browser and take a look at Laughlin, Nev., where you can gamble with fewer distractions, take in a show, rent a boat on the Colorado River and head off on side trips to ghost towns.

www.visitlaughlin.com

It isn’t as old as Reno or as sprawling as Las Vegas, but Laughlin has hotels, casinos and restaurants, with its own distinct personality. Looking for some desert excitement? The Laughlin Desert Challenge off-road race is coming up in late January and there’s a rodeo in March. Looking for something a little goofier for fun while your neighbors back home are shoveling snow? Try Winter Break 2008 in late January, a festival for the “50+ age group” rather than Spring Break for college kids.

Take a glance at “About Laughlin” for a profile of this curious riverside community, including the sunny weather with temps ranging from the 60s in January to more than 100 in summer. Indoors, the “Shows &Events” calendar includes the Oak Ridge Boys in February and lots of poker tournaments.

Getting there by car is easy. It’s 80 miles south of Las Vegas. From Los Angeles, instead of heading up Interstate 15 to Vegas, go east at Barstow on I-40 and hang a left at Needles. From the east, take I-40 across northern Arizona to Needles, or get off the four-lane at Kingman and take the scenic, direct route over the mountains.

www.bullheadchamber.com

www.bullheadcity.com

reservations.laughlin-­discounthotels.com

You might want to make room reservations well in advance, since Laughlin has less than a dozen big hotels (plus an RV park with more than 700 spaces). If they’re full, try the motels in Bullhead City, Ariz., a short ferry ride across the Colorado River. And you might try one of the Web reservation sites, such as Laughlin Discount Hotels.

tinyurl.com/e4bk2

When you need a break from the casinos, get in your car and hit the road. But first, you could just stroll over to the Riverside Resort and Don Laughlin’s Classic Car Collection and admire a collection of dazzling automobiles.

www.oatmangoldroad.com

tinyurl.com/2vxnkd

Cross the river to Arizona, head south a few miles and look for the signs to Oatman, a one-time gold mining boom town sitting up in the hills that now is better known for shops and semiwild burros descended from miners’ pack animals. Its main building is the Oatman Hotel, where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their wedding night. Some say the hotel is haunted.

www.golakehavasu.com/­visitors.html

Farther south on the Arizona side, Lake Havasu City is a winter resort and retirement area on the Lake Havasu section of the Colorado that also boasts a transplanted London Bridge (not THE London Bridge). Hit “Attractions &Recreation” to collect information on fishing, water sports, lake tours and golf courses.

kingmantourism.org

East of Laughlin, Kingman, Ariz., celebrates its location on the longest surviving stretch of Route 66. It also serves as a jumping-off point for Grand Canyon Caverns and Grand Canyon National Park to the east, and for Hoover Dam to the north. Browse “To Do and See” for local attractions such as the walking tour of the historic downtown district. And if you couldn’t find a room in Laughlin, Kingman has more places to stay.

Roger Petterson, Associated Press