Yuma AZ to Mesa AZ road trip: Drive time, distance & best stops

The best road trip stops on a Yuma AZ to Mesa AZ road trip itinerary are the Telegraph Pass Trail, Dateland and Casa Grande. The distance from Yuma to Mesa by car is 190 miles, with a 3h2m driving time.

Planning a Yuma to Mesa road trip itinerary

The Yuma to Mesa AZ drive takes you across the deserts of southern Arizona to the Greater Phoenix area.

Rubbing up against the borders of both California and Mexico, Yuma is a Colorado River city in the far southwest of Arizona. The top attraction here is the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park, which houses the atmospheric ruins of a true Wild West Prison.

Also worth a look is the Colorado River State Historic Park, which preserves historic buildings and explains Yuma’s 19^th century history as a supply depot. Steamships came up the Colorado River to Yuma, from where supplies were sent to military bases across the West.

The Yuma accommodation options best rated by guests are the TownePlace Suites and the La Quinta.

Mesa is the third-biggest city in Arizona. You’ll find the Arizona Museum of Natural History here, as well as the Mesa Arts Center.

For fun in the sun, you can always take to the slides of the Golfland Sunsplash water park. Or, for hiking and outdoor activities in the Sonoran Desert, head for Usery Mountain Regional Park.

Top Mesa accommodation options with a pool include the Azure and the Delta.

Yuma to Mesa distance and driving time

By car, the distance from Yuma AZ to Mesa AZ is 190 miles. You can expect a driving time of around three hours and 2 minutes. The quickest route is along the I-8, AZ-238, AZ-347 and I-10.

The best stops on the Yuma to Mesa drive are the Telegraph Pass Trail, Dateland and Casa Grande.

Yuma to Mesa drive: Telegraph Pass Trail

Near Wellton AZ, the Telegraph Pass Trail loops for 5.7 miles through the Fortuna Foothills. What starts off as a relatively easy walk soon gets steep, as the trail climbs steeply towards the top of the pass. The desert mountain scenery is starkly spectacular, and the views are worth the effort. Budget two-and-a-half to three hours for the walk.

Best stops between Yuma AZ and Mesa AZ: Dateland AZ

Dateland has a long history of being used for military training, but itgets its name form the date palms that grow there. Stop by at the Dateland Travel Centre, and you can buy packets of home-grown dates, or slurp down a date shake. More intrepid visitors can also head out to see the ruins of the former ranch house. There’s a fabulous desert backdrop for photographers.

Yuma to Mesa road trip attractions

In Casa Grande, you can learn about local history at the Museum of Casa Grande. However, the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument provides a far more evocative history lesson. Here, the remains of a great house and farming sites belonging to the Ancestral Sonoran People are preserved.

For something more quirky, head to the Casa Grande Neon Sign Park, where unwanted neon signs spend their retirement.

Track down Casa Grande accommodation deals here.