Celebrating its centennial, Route 66 delivered pure Americana across several stops in Arizona. We lunched at century-old Rock Springs Café, marveled at Sinagua cliff dwellings, and discovered that international visitors consider the Mother Road a bucket-list pilgrimage.
Williams charmed us with neon-lit diners and the greatest steak ever. We learned how one man in Seligman, inspiration for “Cars” Radiator Springs, started Historic Route 66. We explored Grand Canyon Caverns, ancient pueblos, and a meteor crater. La Posada hotel in Winslow was a desert oasis, while Motel DuBeau in Flagstaff and The Lodge in Williams charmed us with an authentic motel experience.
Day 1: Pie, Pueblos and Historic Motel
We’re not in Georgia anymore, I thought as I spotted the palm trees and saguaro cacti with their outstretched, welcoming arms shortly after we left the Phoenix airport. I had done a road trip in Arizona last year and was excited to come see a different part of this state with a landscape so foreign to the Southeast where I’d lived my entire life.
My husband, Chris, and I would spend the next several days exploring the iconic Route 66, diving into its past, staying at historic motels where travelers had rested for decades in U-shaped motels after a day of motoring and visiting quirky roadside attractions. 2026, marks the 100th year of our country’s most famous road, one that almost didn’t survive the opening of the interstate.
See our related story: Cacti, Crystals and Canyons: Perfect 5-day road trip in Arizona
• Stop 1: We had lunch at Rock Springs Café where Chris had been happily contemplating the prospect of pie and pickled items. The man has never met a pickled item he didn’t love and he does love pie.
Located right off the highway on an early Native American encampment, Rock Springs Café has been serving grub to travelers for more than 100 years.
Chris saw the first of many quirky sights we’d see along our journey – the urinals were made from beer kegs.
After a lunch of brisket sliders, chopped salad and blueberry pie for dessert, we were on our way to the first of many national parks we would visit on this trip.
• Stop 2: Montezuma Castle National Monument in Camp Verde, Arizona, is dedicated to preserving Native American culture and has the remains of what was a 20-room apartment built into a limestone cliff. The Sinagua people began building these homes around 1050 CE and lived there until 600 years ago.
About 90 percent of the original structures remain. It’s believed the Sinaqua people built homes in the cliffs for temperature control, to be high above flooding rivers and to see any visitors approaching.
• Stop 3: Next up was Flagstaff, just a short stop before a longer visit later. At an elevation of 7,000 feet, Flagstaff is a mountain town popular year-round for visitors for its cooler weather, proximity to the Grand Canyon and charming downtown.
We wandered through the lively, walkable downtown where we found our first celebration of Route 66’s 100th anniversary this year – the Route 66 Centennial Car Show and Weiner Walk. We saw classic cars parked throughout downtown and several bars and restaurants were having $6.60 specials.
• Stop 4: We stepped into Oeno Wine Lounge for a glass of wine for $6.60. I enjoyed mine so much, I asked the bartender what the wine was. To my surprise, he pulled out a big green box of Herisson Blanc wine and said he could sell me a box. We dragged that box of wine with us all around Arizona, icing it up when we were on the road and enjoying a cool glass in the evenings.
Say what you will about the elegance of a wine bottle, but nothing beats the convenience of a cardboard box when it comes to a road trip.
Brief History of Route 66
This is a good time for a brief history of Route 66. Established in 1926, Route 66 runs 2,448 miles through eight states from Chicago to Santa Monica. The first major road to be paved, it became known at “the Mother Road” after John Steinbeck wrote about it in his novel “The Grapes of Wrath” as the road refugees and migrants took to California looking to escape the hardships of the Texas and California during the Dust Bowl era.
Its reputation evolved after World War II when cars became cheaper, gas became available and vacationers hit the road. Quirky attractions, roadside diners and motels sprang up to cater to the vacationers. In 1946 Nat King Cole recorded “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” further cementing its iconic status.
However, I-40 was constructed to handle the increased traffic and Route 66 was removed from the highway system in 1985. That might have been the end of the story and the slow decline of all its attractions if it hadn’t been for one man. More on that story later.
• Stop 5: In Williams, the last town bypassed by Route 66, we checked into The Lodge on Route 66, one of the renovated historic motels that lined Route 66 for decades. Built in 1938, the Lodge was purchased by Carol and Ron Samsky bought it in 2002, renovated it and have operated it ever since.
Williams, known as the Gateway to the Grand Canyon, is popular for its stretch of gift shops, diners and hotels that harken back to the glory days of Route 66.
Yes, high-rise luxury hotels are glamorous but it was cool and convenient to drive our car right to the door of our room at The Lodge.
• Stop 6: We walked down Route 66 to have a fabulous dinner at Miss Kitty’s Steakhouse and Bar located in the Trailborn Grand Canyon.
Day 2 Wild West, Adventure Park, Fossilized Dino Poop and Greatest Steak Ever
We enjoyed breakfast at The Lodge where it seemed we were the only people speaking English. That was when I got the biggest surprise of our entire trip. Hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world come to Route 66, which is considered a bucket list item in many countries. They consider it a true slice of Americana – the wide-open spaces, the colorful diners, the kitschy gift shops. “It’s like all of the U.S. on one road,” one visitor exclaimed.
Many of them spend two to three weeks and explore the entire route. (Easier to do when you get six weeks+ of vacation, I note with a hint of bitterness). Renting a motorcycle in Los Angeles and riding the length of the road is apparently popular, which ranks up there with skydiving in its appeal to me. It was lovely to hear all the foreign accents and know they were appreciating this slice of our country.
• Stop 1: Williams Depot is where the action is in the morning before the departure of the uber-popular Grand Canyon Railway, which has been taking guests for a day trip to the Grand Canyon since 1901. We visited the Grand Canyon last year and had other plans for the day but wandered down to enjoy the Wild West-themed preshow, which was funny/hokey in an entertaining way.
• Stop 2: Who can resist seeing the world’s largest fossilized piece of dinosaur poop? Yes, we got to see that and other similar gems at the Poozeum. Laugh if you must, but do you have two Guinness World Records for anything?
• Stop 3: We saw a few bears in the distance during the drive-through part of Bearizona, a 160-acre wildlife park and also enjoyed the 20-acre walk-through area where we met a wandering porcupine named Turbo. Other animals at Bearizona include burros, bison, wolves, bobcat, otters, sheep and fox.
For animal lovers, another option is Grand Canyon Deer Farm
• Stop 4: “You need to go faster!” Chris yelled at me from his coaster behind me at Canyon Coaster Adventure Park. I had been the one telling him how much fun an alpine coaster is, but I was going too slow for him. I sped up and soon we had completed the twisty track. If you have a need for speed and want to enjoy beautiful views, this is a great option.
We raced down the tracks several time on inner tubes at the Summer Mountain Tubing lanes with him beating me every time. In the winter you can enjoy snow tubing here.
• Stop 5: Part of the fun of exploring Route 66 is visiting all the gift shops filled with all sizes of road trip memorabilia from signs to cars to a life-size Shoney’s boy. We took a stroll down Route 66 in Williams and popped in a few shops.
• Stop 6: “That might have been the best steak of my life,” Chris said after eating a giant steak at Rod’s Steak House. That means a lot considering he’s eaten several herds worth of cows in his life. This beloved restaurant has been cooking meat on the same grill since it opened in 1946, beckoning diners with its large neon cow. The 16-ounce K-4 Ribeye is a splurge at $75 but I had to agree it was memorable.
Our server, Abbigaile, was lovely, and we enjoyed seeing a huge group of German men in their leather, motorcycle regalia have a rollicking good time at a table at the front.
Although we had walked to dinner, I had to see the entire stretch of Route 66 in Williams at night. We drove slowly through the downtown loop, checking out the flashing neon signs for old-school diners and western-themed watering holes that looked the same as they had for travelers for decades.
Day Three: Origins of Route 66, Road Kill, Grand Canyon Caverns and Flagstaff
During our drive from Williams to Seligman, we traveled on part of the longest preserved continuous stretch of Route 66, which runs for 139 miles between Oatman and Seligman.
Here’s where I make a confession. I don’t love road trips. Primarily because they usually involve stretches of 8-lane highways, massive speeding trucks and abysmal road food. I mention this because driving on Route 66 was glorious – a two-lane road with gorgeous scenery, few cars and on a few sections, Burma Shave signs to keep us entertained. (If you don’t know what those are, ask your parents.)
Stop 1: Seligman is considered the birthplace of Historic Route 66 due largely to the efforts of one man, Angel Delgadillo. A popular barber in Seligman, he saw traffic on Route 66 go from 9,000 cars a day to 50 after I-40 opened.
Predicting the demise of his beloved town and its businesses, he gathered with other business owners and formed a group to promote the Historic Route 66. They lobbied the state legislature, got an official designation and began promoting the route. Other states followed suit, saving the bypassed route from being forgotten. Fun fact: Seligman is the inspiration for the town of Radiator Springs in the movie “Cars.”
Born in 1927, one year after the formation of Route 66, Angel is still around and owns Angel & Vilma Delgadillo’s Original Route 66 Gift Shop.
The day of our visit was a day-long party to celebrate the centennial of Route 66, so it was packed with tourists visiting the gift shops, standing in line for a burger and a shake at the Snow Cap, and taking photos of all the colorful, classic cars that were on display or slowly cruising down the road.
See our related story: Colorful, classic cars of Route 66 in Arizona
Stop 2: We walked down the stretch of the commercial area to the end to eat lunch at the Roadkill Café (You Kill It, We Grill It). How could we resist that name? After a lunch of fajita soup, chicken wrap and a huge slice of homemade coconut cake, we walked out back to see the replica of the Old West town, including an original Arizona Territorial Jail.
Stop 3: About 30 minutes away, we pulled off the dusty highway to take a tour of the Grand Canyon Caverns. I practically squealed when I saw my first tumbleweed in the parking lot. After taking an elevator 200 feet down, we were guided on a 45-minute tour through the 65-million-year-old caverns where we saw the remains of a prehistoric sloth, a bobcat and the Crystal Restaurant where you can have lunch or dinner inside the cave.
During our drive back to Flagstaff, we started listening to various artists singing “Kick Your Kicks on Route 66” and I was shocked to see how many versions there are. Find out how many and read the lyrics with our story: Travel Trivia: How many artists have recorded ‘(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66’?
Stop 4: After about 1.25 hours, we were back in Flagstaff, and checked into the charming, historic Motel DuBeau for a two-night stay. Other than the addition of Wi-Fi and a flat-screen TV, our hotel room looked like it may have when the motel opened its doors in 1929 when the room rate was $2.50. It looked like the only change to the exterior was that it no longer had the steam heated garages cars.
It was one of the first motels designed for people traveling by car. The Motel DuBeau was friendly to all travelers, even during the Jim Crow years. It was listed in The Travel Guide, a version of the Green Book, as a place where African American travelers could find “vacation and recreation without humiliation.”
The hotel included a breakfast of granola bars, yogurt and juice and had a full kitchen open for guests to use.
Stop 5: Big fans of Indian food, we dined at Delhi Palace and had one of the best meals of the trip. The lamb tikka masala and chicken korma were fantastic and we had enough left over to heat up in the kitchen of the motel for lunch the next day. And we did not regret getting two orders of the warm garlic naan.
Day Four: Monuments, Museum, Margaritas and Mexican Food
Our first two stops were on the 34-mile scenic loop from Highway 89 less than an hour from Flagstaff. Our landscape changed dramatically as we passed through pine forests to grasslands to the Painted Desert. At times it seemed we were the only car on the road for miles.
Stop 1: Chris checked off a bucket list item and finally saw pueblos at Wupatki National Monument. A community thrived here up until the 1100s after living in the area for over 13,000 years where they hunted, fished and traded with other tribes. We walked along what remains of several pueblos, including Wupatki, which gives the park its name, and had 104 rooms and a ballcourt.
Stop 2: Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument is named for Sunset Crater, formed 900 years ago. We toured the area by hiking on the one-mile Lava Flow Trail where spring flowers poked through cracks in the craggy black rocks.
Because of its likeness to the surface of the moon, Apollo astronauts trained here, studying geology and driving the moon buggy over the spiky surfaces.
Stop 3: The Museum of Northern Arizona has nine galleries that explore Native-American culture. I loved the gorgeous displays of turquoise jewelry and learned more about the history of Route 66 at the exhibition “Wagon Road to Mother Road,” which focuses on how the iconic road changed the area.
In addition to a replica of a diner, it has more serious displays about the number of car wrecks and the hardships people faced when traveling on the road during the Dust Bowl days. Artifacts include a 1931 Ford Model A pickup, gas pump and a hand-painted map. (On display through January 31, 2027)
Stop 4: We saw more pueblos after a deep descent into Walnut Canyon at Walnut Canyon National Monument where the Sinagua people lived from about 1100 to 1250 AD. A one-mile trail took us past 25 of these cliff dwellings, remarkably preserved.
After a rest back at our hotel, and a glass of our refreshing boxed wine, we headed out to dinner.
Stop 5: Just a few blocks away from downtown Flagstaff, we could walk to a delicious Mexican dinner at MartAnne’s Burrito Palace. It was just a few days before Cinco de Mayo, so what better way to celebrate than with a margarita and Mexican dinner?
Stop 6: It was a cloudy evening, but we enjoyed a presentation at Lowell Observatory at the world’s only outdoor planetarium. The temperature had dropped and the option of a heated seat was welcome. We also visited Pluto Discovery Dome, yes, the very place where Pluto was discovered in February 1930.
Day Five: Truck Stop, Crater, Famous Corner, Historic Luxury Hotel
As we drove away from Flagstaff, we marveled that although we had stayed steps away from the Amtrak station in Flagstaff, the noise of the trains hadn’t bothered us at all. Fun fact about Flagstaff: About 80-100 trains a day pass through Flagstaff.
Stop 1: Our lunch was a lamb sandwich we bought at Navajo Blue Travel Plaza along with a bottle of the delicious fizzy soft drink they bottle there, Navajo Fizz, the only Navajo craft business. In addition to food, gas and beverages, this truck stop/convenience center sells Navajo art and gifts and has 27 slot machines.
Stop 2: I definitely felt like we were on a dusty path to nowhere when we finally spotted Meteor Crater, an attraction centered around a giant crater created about 50,000 years ago. We took a guided tour of the mile-wide rim of the crater then wandered through some of the 24 exhibits.
During a 15-minute 4D-theater immersive experience, we flew through space on a mission to save Earth with a bunny captain. I don’t think it’s based on a real-life experience.
Stop 3: Of course, we stood on the corner of Winslow, Arizona, and it was a sight to see. This spot, popularized by the Eagles song “Take It Easy,” released in 1972, is now known as Standin’ on a Corner Park and it remains popular with visitors.
We visited a few gift shops, and uncharacteristically for me as I don’t wear T-shirts, I bought a read one that reads “Get Your Kicks on Route 66.” We took a quick stop to see the World’s Smallest Church, aka the Tiny Church of the Mother Road. Measuring just 7’ x 4.5’, it can hold a minister and two people.
Stop 4: Rising like an oasis from the desert landscape, La Posada welcomed us with a plant-filled garden at its entrance. I adored everything about this hotel: its history, museum, artwork, restaurants and our room.
Please see our full story on La Posada: Camel sculptures, death spoons and a legendary hotel
Day 6: National Parks to Phoenix’s Art District
We got breakfast sandwiches at a take-out window at La Posada, which caters to hotel guests and train passengers getting on the Amtrak station just outside the hotel. The hotel was built to cater to those passengers and still fulfills that function today. Rather than board a train, we sat in the lovely gardens out front to enjoy a peaceful start to the day.
We had a busy schedule so sadly, we had to leave La Posada and hit the road for more adventure.
Stop 1: The landscape at Petrified Forest National Park was like nothing I’d seen before – colorful badlands made of layers of sediment interspersed with vast swaths of grassland and petrified logs. There are also fossilized animal bones from 250 million years ago.
After a stop at the Painted Desert Visitors Center to pick up a Trip Planner and get information from a friendly park ranger, we headed on a self-guided auto tour on the 28-mile road.
There is plenty to do here for a full day but our time was limited, so we hit the road with a few stops at Crystal Forest to see the petrified logs, Jasper Forest for the petrified wood and a rusted-out 1932 Studebaker that sits on the spot where Route 66 used to cut through the park.
Stop 2: After a 2.5-hour drive, we came to Tonto Natural Bridge State Park where we took a steep trail down to see the 183-foot-high travertine bridge. A park volunteer pointed out a rattlesnake she was keeping an eye on but it seemed to be curled up and peacefully sleeping. I walked quickly by it anyway.
I took the wheel for the two-hour drive from Tonto Bridge to Phoenix, which took us down Highway 87, also known as Beeline Highway. We drove through Tonto National Forest and some of the most beautiful scenery of our trip. Commercial establishments are rare, so I’m glad we had gas and some snacks with us. Then it was back to the big city for our last night before flying back home the next day.
Stop 3: The Hampton Inn and Suites Phoenix Downtown was a good choice for our stay– it was comfortable, included a hot breakfast and was within walking distance of restaurants and the museum.
Stop 4: After checking in, we took a walk down to Roosevelt Row Arts District, enjoying the colorful murals, lively bars, shops, galleries and people watching. After pondering a few options for dinner, we settled on some delicious dumplings for dinner at Lovebite Dumplings.
Day 7: Heard Museum and Home
Stop 1: With an afternoon flight, we had time to squeeze in one more stop and walked to the Heard Museum to view exhibits on Native American art and culture. The most heartbreaking exhibition was “Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories.” Starting in the 1870s, children were taken from their homes in an attempt to assimilate them.
For more information on Route 66 in Arizona, go to Visit Arizona.
Watch the Route 66 TV show for free on Amazon Prime and YouTube and find books on Route 66.
– Jan Schroder, Editor-in-chief. All photos by Jan unless otherwise noted.