At the turn of the twentieth century, Picacho was a gold mining town with 2,500 citizens. Today the site is a State Recreation Area, popular with boaters, hikers, anglers and campers. The park offers diverse scenery, including beavertail cactus, wild burros, bighorn sheep and thousands of migratory waterfowl. Eight miles of the lower Colorado River border the park.

The park is located on the eastern border of California in a very remote area of the Colorado Desert. Access to the park is primarily through 18 miles of unpaved dirt road. The road has areas with deep sand; a high clearance, 4x4 vehicle capable of traversing soft, sandy terrain is recommended. Thunderstorms can cause flash flooding along the road, temporarily making sections of the road impassable.