Named for the Yuma Indians who inhabited the area before Europeans arrived. The sand dunes west of Yuma are probably the most photographed in the world; Hollywood shoots desert scenes here. The dunes may be seen from your train just across the Colorado River, in California. Francisco Garces, who founded two missions in Yuma, was massacred along with the colonists during the last Yuma Indian uprising in 1781. His statue stands in the gardens of the Catholic Indian Mission, erected on the site of the massacre. Fort Yuma Indian Reservation is on the west bank of the Colorado River. The All-American Canal near Yuma irrigates much of the California's Imperial and Coachella Valleys. Today, the city is a popular winter resort with fishing and boating on the Colorado River, which serves as the border between Arizona and California.

Amtrak's unstaffed Yuma facility, providing a small waiting room with restrooms, is located in the former Southern Pacific station. A lighted tunnel provides access from the station to the train loading platform. Pay telephones are located outside the station and at the tunnel entrance.