It's tempting to stop everywhere on Route 66. And if you have time, you certainly should try.
The historic route offers vacationers a myriad of opportunities to bask in vintage Americana, explore roadside attractions, meet unique characters and take in natural wonders. For a greater appreciation of Route 66 ahead of its 100th anniversary, I drove the entire length of Arizona’s stretch of the route from east to west, starting in Lupton near the New Mexico border and ending in Topock near the California border. My journey took me five days, but not everyone has the luxury of time.
After driving the entire stretch, I have some advice. If you only have a day or two to hit the highlights of the Mother Road, these are the destinations worth building
your road trip around, from east to west. Depending on your plans, you could hit a couple of these places in a short weekend, or all of them in a long weekend.
Petrified Forest National Park
Forget the survey that labeled Petrified Forest one of America’s most disappointing national parks. Landscapes of orange, red and pink badlands along the Painted Desert, the rich deposits of petrified wood and the history contained within the remains of ancestral pueblos and petroglyphs make this well worth the drive.
Petrified Forest is also the only national park that preserves a section of Route 66. Visitors can see a rusty, abandoned 1932 Studebaker next to the road near the park's Painted Desert entrance, just outside Holbrook. A historical marker inside the park titles this exhibit "Highway of Dreams."
Highlight of the trip: The Painted Desert landscapes, visible from drivable overlooks and walkable trails. These rolling hills and badlands, which get their color from a type of altered volcanic ash called bentonite, gives the surrounding landscape an otherworldly feel unlike any other place in the country.
Details: Exit 311, Interstate 40, Petrified Forest. 928-524-6822, nps.gov.
Jack Rabbit Trading Post
This souvenir shop between Winslow and Joseph City first opened in 1949 and it became a landmark along Route 66 for mysterious jack rabbit billboards with mileage countdowns that led up to the destination — sort of like the midcentury version of Buc-ee’s, but with a rabbit instead of a beaver. Few of the billboards leading up to Jack Rabbit still exist today, but the iconic “HERE IT IS” still stands outside the trading post.
The "HERE IT IS" billboard survived a heavy monsoon storm in July that knocked one side of the sign to the ground and blew off chunks of the other side. Store owners Tony and Cindy Jaquez stabilized the sign to prevent further damage, but they said planned repairs to the sign were delayed because of continued inclement weather.
Highlight of the trip: You have to see the "HERE IT IS" sign and the oversized jack rabbit in front of the store. Even after the monsoon damage, the sign still wows. Don't skip the jackrabbit-themed souvenirs or Route 66 sodas, either.
Details: 3386 Route 66, Joseph City. 928-288-3230, jackrabbittradingpost.com.
La Posada Hotel
Famed architect Mary Colter, also notable for her work on eight buildings in Grand Canyon National Park, deviated from her typical style when she designed La Posada Inn, the last of the Fred Harvey Company's railroad hotels. The Mission Revival hotel was inspired by 19th century Spanish ranchos.
Initially unsuccessful because of its opening during the Great Depression, a restoration that began in the 1990s breathed new life into this landmark lodging spot. The restoration was spearheaded by a collective of artists whose work is displayed throughout the hotel and the adjacent Affeldt Mion Museum.
The work of Tina Mion, who co-owns La Posada with her husband, Allan Affeldt, is prominent throughout the hotel; postcard-sized reproductions of her surrealist work are available as souvenirs in the gift shop along with typical Route 66 souvenirs and Native American crafts. One print is a portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy holding a king of hearts card with John F. Kennedy's face on it as a bullet tears through the card.
Highlight of the trip: I came to see the lush sunken gardens and dine at the hotel's Turquoise Room, then stayed for the surreal art. Mion's work stood out to me because of how jarring her contemporary oil paintings looked in a space preserving the heritage of Route 66 and the Fred Harvey Company. Even more jarring was the sculpture art of Daniel Lutzick, whose work displayed at the Affeldt Mion Museum looked like furniture modified to have human features. It reminded me of something out of Adam Jones' stop-motion videos for his band Tool, led by Arizona's own Maynard James Keenan.
Details: 303 E. Second St., Route 66, Winslow. 928-289-4366, laposada.org.
Lowell Observatory
Percival Lowell extensively studied the surface of Mars, but the Flagstaff observatory bearing his name would become more famous for a different celestial body. In February 1930, less than four years after Route 66 was commissioned, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto at the observatory using a three-lens, 13-inch astrograph.
For decades, Pluto was recognized as the ninth planet in our solar system, though the International Astronomical Union downgraded it to dwarf planet in 2006. Today, Lowell Observatory visitors can see the astrograph used to discover Pluto, plus the Clark Telescope that Lowell used to map Mars' surface.
Readers of The Arizona Republic overwhelmingly voted Lowell Observatory the best Route 66 destination in Arizona. Lowell is popular for its interactive and immersive Astronomy Discovery Center, first opened in 2024, and an open-air planetarium for night sky viewing.
Highlight of the trip: For now, it's the Pluto astrograph and the Clark Telescope — both are well worth seeing because of their significance in the history of our planets. That could change. On a return visit I plan to experience stargazing from the observatory.
Details: 1400 W. Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff. 928-774-3358, lowell.edu.
Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-In
Route 66 risked getting lost to history after it was bypassed by interstate highways and decommissioned by the federal government. Seligman is where the effort to save and preserve Route 66 began, and where the brother of the founder of an iconic drive-in became the historic route's leading advocate.
Built from scrap lumber in 1953 by founder Juan Delgadillo and his wife, Mary, people come to Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-In for the burgers, hot dogs, chicken, tacos and milkshakes and stayed for the nostalgic Americana, including the decorated 1936 Chevrolet parked in front of the restaurant.
The Snow Cap is famous for embodying Juan's sense of humor. Wait staff pull pranks on unsuspecting customers, the menu includes a “cheeseburger with cheese” and “dead chicken,” signs at the restaurant advertise "slightly used napkins" and the doors to get in and get out feature two knobs, with the one that doesn't open the door labeled "Pull" or "Push".
A block away from the Snow Cap is Angel and Vilma Delgadillo's Original Route 66 Gift Shop, the first Route 66 souvenir shop, recognizable for the vintage Texaco sign out front. It was once the barber shop where Juan's brother Angel Delgadillo worked and later the headquarters of Angel's efforts to save Route 66 and the towns along the route. His work led to the founding of the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona and the route's historic designation from state leaders.
Highlight of the trip: The cheeseburger with cheese is one of the best meals you can get from an old-school diner or drive-in along Route 66 in Arizona. (I got mine with bacon, which they call the oink burger.) But the Oreo shake I got to pair with the burger might be even better. The Snow Cap is just as famous for the shakes as it is for the burgers; it holds the Guiness World Record for the largest display of milkshake varieties, serving 266 unique flavors in 1 hour and 35 minutes on Sept. 10, 2022.
Details: 301 Route 66, Seligman. 928-422-3291, facebook.com.
Grand Canyon Caverns
On the way to or from the Snow Cap, if you stay on 66 and decide not to bypass it via Interstate 40, you can find the largest dry caverns in the United States. At Grand Canyon Caverns, located between Seligman and Peach Springs, you can take an elevator 200 feet underground and see a 345 million-year-old dry cave that includes rare forms of selenite, mummified remains including a bobcat, split-twig figurines used by ancient cultures and a prehistoric ground sloth.
Guests can have a meal underground in the Crystal Restaurant, where food is cooked in an above-ground kitchen and transported down to the cave. Time Out named it one of the best secret restaurants in 2023. But you can’t sleep in the cave anymore; the Cavern Suite, a hotel room constructed in the cave that was considered the deepest, darkest and quietest hotel room in the world, permanently closed because of environmental preservation concerns.
Highlight of the trip: My visit was the first time I visited a cave, so the overall experience to me was the highlight. The pearly white masses of selenite and the remains of the bobcat and prehistoric ground sloth had to be seen to be believed.
Details: 115 Route 66, Peach Springs. 928-422-3223, gccaverns.com.
Historic stays along Route 66
To get in the spirit of the centennial, I booked hotels and motels along the route that represented its history and culture. It gives you a taste of how people road tripped during Route 66's early times, with motels offering more personality than a standard Hilton or Marriott.
There are plenty of quirky options, but these are the Arizona Route 66 hotels where I stayed and would book again.
Brad's Desert Inn, Holbrook
First opened in the 1960s, Brad's Desert Inn is a quaint Route 66-themed motel with rooms that have one king bed or two queen beds. Each room features a different theme like flamingoes, farms and Arizona. The room I stayed in was America-themed. The motel also has a barbecue grill; if you plan to grill, there’s a Safeway grocery store close by.
Be aware that Brad’s Desert Inn is near the train tracks. Consider using white noise, like I did, to drown out the roar of the trains so you can rest easier.
Details: 301 W. Hopi Drive, Holbrook. 928-882-8353, bradsdesertinnaz.com.
Hotel Monte Vista, Flagstaff
Opened on New Year's Day in 1927, Monte Vista, along with the nearby Weatherford, are among Flagstaff's oldest hotels still in operation. It was Arizona's longest publicly held commercial property until a private investor bought the hotel in the 1960s.
The hotel was famous for housing a speakeasy during Prohibition and was also the base for Flagstaff's first radio station, KFXY. But Monte Vista is most famous for its haunted history. I stayed in Room 207, a few doors down from the Zane Grey Room at Room 210. The Zane Grey Room is believed to be haunted by a phantom bellboy, who can be heard knocking at the door and saying, "room service." One of Room 210's most famous guests, the Western actor John Wayne, reported encountering the ghost; according to hotel staff, Wayne said that "the ghost seemed friendly and that he did not feel threatened by its presence."
While no ghosts haunted my stay, the scariest part of staying at the Monte Vista was having no private bathroom; I had to use a shared bathroom across the hall. Next time I’ll book a room that has its own bathroom.
Details: 100 N. San Francisco St., Flagstaff. 928-779-6971, hotelmontevista.com.
Historic Grand Canyon Hotel, Williams
Believed to be Arizona's oldest continuously operating hotel, first opened in 1891, the Historic Grand Canyon Hotel has single queen and single king rooms, multi-room suites and loft rooms with bunk beds. Room 13, a two-room suite with two king beds and views of Route 66 and the surrounding mountains, is believed to be haunted.
The hotel underwent a renovation in 2024, which was noticeable in my stay; the cozy room seemed to have a modern aesthetic and felt very clean. Its website stated that all the mattresses and linens are all new and the bathrooms were updated.
A free pastry breakfast is offered every morning in the hotel’s ballroom.
Details: 145 W. Route 66, Williams. 928-635-1419, thegrandcanyonhotel.com.
El Trovatore Motel, Kingman
El Trovatore opened as a service station in 1937 with a tourist court added in 1939, making it one of the few pre-World War II hotels remaining in Kingman. Its first owner, John F. Miller, built and owned the first hotel in Las Vegas, first known as the Hotel Nevada and today called the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino.
The neon sign at the entrance seemed to have the glitz of Vegas in its inspiration, though once I arrived at the motel, the place struck me as distinctly Route 66 in its kitsch. The main motel building has a mural depicting Looney Tunes characters in a Western landscape; the pink building next to the motel edges a 100-foot tower sign that includes a pink Route 66 shield.
Rooms have one king or two queen beds. Super deluxe king rooms are also available. Each room is themed around a classic movie star; my stay was in the Clark Gable room. Expect a comfortable stay, but not the glitz of Old Hollywood.
Details: 1440 E. Andy Devine Ave., Kingman. 928-753-6520, eltrovatoremotel.com.
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Michael Salerno is an award-winning journalist who’s covered travel and tourism since 2014. His work as The Arizona Republic’s consumer travel reporter aims to help readers navigate the stresses of traveling and get the best value for their money on their vacations. He can be reached at Michael.Salerno@usatodayco.com.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: The perfect Arizona Route 66 weekend itinerary includes these 6 stops
