Best Stops on Route 66 from Arizona to California
Who hasn’t heard of the famous Route 66? In this post, you can find some of the best stops on Route 66 from Arizona to California.
U.S. Route 66, the iconic American road, is also known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road. It was one of the original highways in the U.S. Highway System, established in 1926. The highway originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California, covering a total of 3,940 km.
Route 66 was officially removed from the United States Highway System in 1985 after it had been replaced by segments of the Interstate Highway System. Most of the original US 66 runs parallel with the highway. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been communally designated a National Scenic Byway of the name “Historic Route 66“. Most businesses along the road are now closed, but there are some tourist attractions you can see along the way.
ROUTE 66 IN ARIZONA & CALIFORNIA
We have seen different sections of Route 66 on our road trip. Between two days in Grand Canyon, we were driving through Williams and Ash Fork in Arizona and later between Barstow and Victorville in California. We were quite in a rush so we didn’t have time to see everything. I would definitely want to go on a road trip dedicated just for Route 66. Someday. Maybe.
Route 66 covered 645 km in Arizona and 507 km in California. You can easily stop on the way and explore wherever you find something interesting, but to get the most of it, it requires some planning. And quite some time to see everything you want. You can find some great tips in those guidebooks.
Best Stops on Route 66 from Arizona to California
There are so many things to see and do along the road, you can easily spend a few days around. So I’ll just write a not-so-short list of some of the best things you can see on the road and near Route 66 in Arizona and California.
- PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK
- HOLBROOK (WIGWAM MOTEL, NAVAJO COUNTY MUSEUM, Worlds Largest Petrified Tree at Geronimo Trading Post)
- WINSLOW (JACK RABBIT TRADING POST, STANDIN’ ON A CORNER PARK, METEOR CRATER)
- WALNUT CANYON BRIDGE, Old Route 66 Bridge, Flagstaff AZ (not accessible by vehicles like a long part of the Route 66 itself)
- WALNUT CANYON NATIONAL MONUMENT
- FLAGSTAFF
- WILLIAMS (BEARIZONA WILDLIFE PARK, there was also FLINTSTONES BEDROCK CITY which is closing in 2019, but they are opening something new)
- KINGMAN (ROUTE 66 MUSEUM, Mohave Museum of History and Arts, Hackberry General Store…)
- OATMAN (WILD WEST TOWN…)
- BARSTOW (Harvey House, Route 66 Mother Road Museum…)
- CALICO GHOST TOWN
- ELMER’S BOTTLE TREE RANCH
- MOHAWK GAS STATION
- VICTORVILLE (Route 66 Museum…)
- …
- SANTA MONICA PIER (a sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the end of the legendary American highway)
