Historic Route 66
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HISTORIC ROUTE 66 Plunge deep into Americana on this 2,448-mile odyssey from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif. We've highlighted the New Mexico and Arizona stretch of the Mother Road. 50 . Grand Canyon Edition 2020-21 GCJ2021_Route66_FINAL.indd 50 9/23/20 9:27 AM HISTORIC ROUTE 66 SD WI OR ID Casper IA WY NE Chicago Des Moines Lincoln Salt Lake City NV UT Springeld Reno Denver MO Bryce Kansas City IL Zion Canyon St. Louis National National CO Park CA Park KS Mesa Verde Grand National Park Baxter San Francisco Canyon Springs National KY Park Las Vegas Peach OK Tulsa Joshua Springs Williams Gallup Santa Fe Tree Kingman AR TN National Winslow Grants Amarillo Park Oatman Oklahoma Holbrook Santa Flagsta Albuquerque Tucumcari City Monica Needles Seligman Petried AZ Forest El Malpais National National NM Phoenix Monument TX MS AL Park Dallas veryone has to travel at least one section of Historic As you stop in Arizona towns like Williams, Seligman and Route 66 in their lives. Established in 1926, the Kingman, you'll realize they have accomplished the legendary road stretched 2,448 miles from Chicago, impossible. ey have frozen time, o ering the past as a EIll., to Santa Monica, Calif. present-day experience. You'll hear it at the vintage gas stations playing 1960s music. You'll taste it in your In bad times, migrants eeing the Dust Bowl in the 1930s homemade root beer and in your hamburger served in traveled on Route 66 to California, their cars weighed 1950s-style diners like Mr. D'z in Kingman, Ariz. You'll feel down by possessions and unrealized dreams. In good it as you drive the open two-lane road that cuts through times, World War II veterans saw the road as a path to some of the country's vast stretches of prairie and desert. freedom, loading their families into cars to explore the Americana of small-town Route 66, Californias sunny Beatnik writer Jack Kerouac distilled the experience best beaches and Disneyland. in his book On the Road when he wrote, ... all the golden lands ahead of you and all kinds of unforseen While it was completely decommissioned in 1985 and events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad replaced by ve interstates, you can still drive on the youre alive to see. remnants of one of the nations most iconic highways. In Chicago, you'll nd a sign marking the start of Historic What follows are the road's highlights TIP Route 66 at Adams Street and Michigan Avenue. From when your wheels traverse New Arizona does not observe daylight there, you'll pass through the quirky small towns that lined Mexico and Arizona, home to the saving time. This can the original route in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, longest uninterrupted stretch of create a one-hour time difference between it Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Historic Route 66. and surrounding states. PHOTOS: Neon signs in Williams, Ariz. (Grant Ordelheide), Historic Seligman Sundries on Route 66 (Depositphotos) MyGrandCanyonPark.com . 51 GCJ2021_Route66_FINAL.indd 51 9/23/20 3:48 PM HISTORIC ROUTE 66 GRANTS, N.M. TO ROUTE 66 ATTRACTIONS Variable miles and time GET YOUR KICKS ON 66 From Grants, N.M., ROUTE 66 ARCH EL MALPAIS ROUTE 66 VINTAGE to Winslow, Ariz., NATIONAL MONUMENT MUSEUM & DOUBLE Completed in 2016, the SIX GALLERY you’ll discover drive-under neon arch in This uncrowded national vintage Route Grants, N.M., is shaped like monument's visitor center is This museum in Grants 66-themed stops and the iconic Route 66 emblem. in Grants, N.M., making it easy features vintage Route 66 Park under it to get a great to learn about the area's postcards and a 1923 Model T uncrowded national photo of you with the neon volcanic past. Stop in the El Ford. Nearby is Western New and state park sites. arch. It’s off of I-40's exits 81 Malpais Visitor Center to watch Mexico Aviation Heritage and 85 on Route 66. It's a short a film and find out about ranger Museum. Grants trivia: Liz Here are some walk to the New Mexico programs. Hike around a cinder Taylor's third husband failed to of our favorites. Mining Museum (see page 53 cone volcano on an see the airport's beacon in By Tori Peglar for details). easy-to-moderate 3.8-mile loop 1958 and fatally crashed his in the El Calderon Area. plane into Mount Taylor. Learn more at Grants.org. 52 . Grand Canyon Edition 2020-21 GCJ2021_Route66_FINAL.indd 52 9/23/20 9:27 AM HISTORIC ROUTE 66 NEW MEXICO EL RANCHO HOTEL WIGWAM MOTEL HOMOLOVI STATE PARK MINING MUSEUM Built in 1936, this rambling hotel Have you slept in a wigwam Just three miles from Winslow, The West is known for its in Gallup, N.M., is a true Route lately? If not, pull over in Ariz., lies Homolovi State Park boom-and-bust mining cycles. 66 classic, attracting Hollywood Holbrook, Ariz., and stay at the where you can stretch your legs, In Grants, N.M., you can learn stars like Ronald Reagan in its iconic Route 66 mainstay, tour ancient ruins and spend the how uranium transformed this early days. Rooms are named Wigwam Motel. In your night in the campground under town formerly known as the after actors, and their autographs teepee, you'll find cable TV dark night skies. It has great “Carrot Capital of the World.” fill the second-floor walls. Grab and air-conditioning, trails, sweeping views of the Navajo sheepherder Paddy a drink at the 49er Lounge, surprising modern upgrades eastern part of the state, Martinez discovered Grants' arguably the town's best-stocked in a motel village built in petroglyphs and walls of old uranium reserves in 1950, which bar. Visit Ortega’s Jewelry Store 1950 and still managed by Hopi residences. The Hopi lived led to a 30-year mining boom. in the hotel before heading to the Lewis family. in the area from 1200 to the late Explore the museum's exhibits the bigger shops in town. 1300s. and replica uranium mine. PHOTOS: Route 66 Arch (Kenneth Brown/Courtesy Grants/Cibola County Chamber of Commerce), El Malpais National Monument (Courtesy Grants/Cibola County Chamber of Commerce), Homolovi (Courtesy Arizona State Parks & Trails), Winslow, Ariz. (courtesy of Winslow Chamber of Commerce), Wigwam Motel in Holbook, Ariz. (Depositphotos) MyGrandCanyonPark.com . 53 GCJ2021_Route66_FINAL.indd 53 9/23/20 9:27 AM HISTORIC ROUTE 66 GRANTS, N.M., TO PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK 133 miles, 2 hours and 10 minutes PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK At Petri ed Forest National Park, you can bring your pet anywhere, except the park's buildings, making it one of the most animal-friendly locations in the park system. e 2-mile out-and-back Martha's Butte hike leads you to a stunning solar-marker petroglyph that gets covered exactly in half by shadow during the PHOTO: Painted Desert (Depositphotos) summer solstice. At Red Basin, you'll nd petri ed wood, petroglyphs and vibrant badlands formations. And there's the Painted Desert, a pink-hued landscape that changes colors with the sunset. PHOTOS: Standin' on the Corner Park in Winslow, Ariz. (Flickr/Nill Morrow),Meteor Crater (Courtesy Meteor Crater) 54 . Grand Canyon Edition 2020-2021 GCJ2021_Route66_FINAL.indd 54 9/23/20 9:27 AM HISTORIC ROUTE 66 PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK TO WINSLOW, ARIZ, 58 miles, 59 minutes Explore Meteor Crater It's as deep as a 60-story building and as wide as 20 football fields. More than 2 million fans could watch games from the crater rim. But to TAKE IT EASY really comprehend the vastness of Meteor Crater near Winslow, Ariz., it's worth pulling off I-40 to see it yourself. In Winslow, see the best eras of the Southwest brought back to life When the meteor hit Earth 50,000 years ago, it left a crater from Native American lore to Route 66. that remains the best preserved impact site on Earth. By Tori Peglar Today, you can join Commander Perseus and First Officer Jackie, as they fly down into the t can be argued that Winslow, Ariz., was decommissioned in 1985 and replaced by I-40 crater and then off into space to saved by a song and a boarded-up hotel that bypassed Winslow. And contrary to the intersect an asteroid that is on a slated for demolition. 1972 Eagles hit song Take It Easy that put collision course with Earth. I Winslow on the pop culture map, there was It’s part of a new 4-D experience For years, Winslow was the celebrated heart of nothing easy about these changes. that combines HD film with special effects and full-motion northern Arizona. Beginning in 1917, it was seats. You’ll find it in Meteor home to a Hubbell Trading Post warehouse, part Today, Winslow is in the midst of a renaissance, Crater Discovery Center. of a vast trading empire of Native American having revived some of its most iconic Then step outside to gaze at wares. It served as headquarters for the Santa Fe attractions. Pull over to visit Standin’ on the the crater, stopping at various Railway. It was home to the finest Harvey Hotel Corner Park featuring a bronze sculpture of a viewpoints that have scenic in the Southwest, La Posada, which opened in man standing on a corner and a vibrant trompe magnifiers. When you get too hot, bask in the air-conditioned 1929 to the tune of $40 million in today’s dollars.