Planning a trip to the Midwest this summer to do some of the national park stuff with the wife and kids. I am going to add in Bonneville and the salt flats, and also want to hit route 66 between Flagstaff and Kingman. I'm curious where to go and what to look for from a nostalgia point of view for these places?
The Kingman to Flagstaff stretch of 66 is one of the best. Do not know which direction you plan on traveling, but the drive up the Sitgreaves pass to Oatman from Kingman, which is the old alignment of 66, is a must. All of 66 towns in Arizona have something interesting to see, and are easily accessible from the 40. lot of info on the internet... https://www.route66roadtrip.com/
For most unless it is speed week or one of the other events Bonneville is a 30 minute photo opp side trip off the highway. Take the exit, drive down past the gas station to the first sign, take a photo of the sign with the car in the photo, drive on down to the bend in the road, turn right and drive the couple of miles out to the end of the paved road and park and get your photos with the sign, walk out on the salt and take more photos, explain to the kids how cool it is because cars race out there and get into the car and head on down the road. As this maps shows. The first step is writing down everything you plan to see on that trip and then connect the dots to come up with a route that includes as many as you can without making time and mile wasting side trips. That day between Wendover and Vegas is a long ride of looking at sage brush, seeing next gas 100+ miles signs and hoping that you find a place to eat or a restroom. If the gas gauge hits 1/2 figure on stopping at the next station as there may not be another one for another hundred miles past that one. One of my cousins lived on a cattle ranch in Nevada and the driveway to the ranch house was 30 miles long and it was 60 miles from the end of the driveway to the closest market where you could get gas, beer, milk or bread.
Reported yesterday on the book of faces that the sign at Boneville wasn't there. I imagine stolen, hopefully to be replaced. Happened before iirc. Chris
As @Mr48chev was so kind to post, Route 66 and Bonneville has a big hole in the ground (a great place to visit) between, which means for most trips one or the other. The eastern route is even more sparse, traveling through Indian reservations. There are a lot of travel guides online, from the wacky https://www.roadsideamerica.com/ to natural wonders https://the-adventure-travel-network.com/adventure/american-southwest-destinations https://www.offthebeatentravel.com/travel/southwest-places-to-visit to an hour plus on just Route 66 and a lot more.
If you travel on old route 66 between Kingman and the river please be aware that several portions are the first alignment of 66 and are still only 8ft lanes, makes driving very different from our modern 12ft lanes! Very intersting scenery though.
Flagstaff to Kingman via old US 66....you have Ashfork on I-40 that is a nice sidebar has lots of flagstone quarrying in the area and the museum there is small but good. Williams is the jumping off point for the Grand Canyon but an old Rt66 town and has lots of railroad iron from the spur that runs to the Grand Canyon plus the old Fred Harvey, Frey Marcos Hotel. Then there is Seligman...and a stretch of old Rt66 that will take you all the way to Kingman. The Snow Cap Cafe in Seligman has the best homemade onion rings ever plus hand scooped shakes and malts. The wait staff is a hoot and there is touristy things to do...(think shops) Rt66 takes you thru Yampi, Peach Springs (Radiator Springs in some movie) Truxton, Hackberry and others.... a very well maintained highway...
Buy Jerry McClanahan's book and you'll want to do the whole 2000 miles! https://national66.org/products/ez66-guide
It's a '39 Dodge pick-up but the owner grafted '39 Plymouth passenger car front sheet metal to it. It was/is a cool truck...powered by an Australian Mopar 6 in a row hemi.
That is so cool! I knew the PUs didn't share sheetmetal, so it was throwing me off. Is he on here? Do you have more pics? EDIT: Thanks!
There is a set of maps called "Here It Is" available from Ghost Town Press, that I would highly recommend for any one planing on visiting Route 66. It's a series of 8 maps covering every state that 66 passes thru. All the maps tell you where 66 is passable and where it isn't any longer. They also detail all the interesting points along Rt.66 thru each state. I used them on a cross-country trip and found the maps very helpful.
Great Maps. FWIW, the phrase "Here it Is" is from a billboard for the iconic Jackrabbit Trading Post. Well worth visiting
At the Jackrabbit, you can ride this life-sized statue of the store's namesake. Cute grandmother not included.
The Jalopy Journal
