Riverside is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in northeastern Clark County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, United States. It is located on the

Virgin River The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about long.Calculated with Google Maps and Google Earth It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the ...

near Bunkerville and

Mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus '' Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under gr ...

; the town is accessible via Nevada State Route 170, which connects all three towns. Riverside is the site of the highway bridge over the river.

History

Riverside is located on the route of the Old Spanish Trail, that entered the Virgin River Valley after crossing the Beaver Dam Mountains, reaching the river at what is now Littlefield and passed down river past the site of Riverside to the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

where it turned west. After 1847, avoid quicksands and marshes along the Virgin River that bogged down wagons, the wagon road called the

Mormon Road Mormon Road, also known to the 49ers as the Southern Route, of the California Trail in the Western United States, was a seasonal wagon road pioneered by a Mormon party from Salt Lake City, Utah led by Jefferson Hunt, that followed the route of ...

that followed the Old Spanish Trail in many places, passed through the site of Riverside where it turned north, away from the old route, climbing toward Virgin Hill where it turned west to ascend a steep narrow ridge to the top of

Mormon Mesa Mormon Mesa is a mesa between the Virgin River and the Muddy River in Clark County, southern Nevada. In the south above the confluence of the Muddy and Virgin Rivers, it rises to a height of 1893 feet (577 meters). It extends northward to the f ...

. The road then crossed Mormon Mesa to the Muddy River crossing it opposite the mouth of

California Wash California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, west of modern

Glendale, Nevada Glendale is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The community is at an elevation of . Glendale was settled in 1855. The community was named for the valley in which it is situated. It was formally established as ...

and continued up that wash to

Las Vegas Springs The Las Vegas Springs or Big Springs is the site of a natural oasis, known traditionally as a cienega. For more than 15,000 years, springs broke through the desert floor, creating grassy meadows (called ''las vegas'' by Spanish New-Mexican explo ...

.Edward Leo Lyman, Overland Journey from Utah to California: Wagon Travel from the City of Saints to the City of Angels, University of Nevada Press, 2008.

Notes

External links

View of Virgin Valley from Riverside, looking towards Mesquite
Populated places in the Mojave Desert Unincorporated communities in Clark County, Nevada Unincorporated communities in Nevada Old Spanish Trail (trade route) Mormon Road {{ClarkCountyNV-geo-stub