The stretch of Route 66 from Flagstaff, AZ, to Albuquerque, NM, is full of Route 66 gift shops, scenic national parks, and unique museums. These are a few of the must-see attractions. Happy travels.
LessIt's housed in the Flagstaff Station which opened in 1926 and used to be a depot for the Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Located on the famous Route 66, this Visitor Center is the go-to for info on Flagstaff and surrounding areas. There's a gift shop with souvenirs, clothing, and books as well as a penny press. The station is still functioning, used by Amtrak, so you'll see plenty of trains coming and going.
This hiking spot is remarkable for not only its prehistoric geological features but also for its cliff dwellings which the Sinagua people inhabited from approximately 500 CE to 1425 CE. Even though the Sinagua were pre-Columbian, the name was used by an archaeologist in 1939 to refer to the lack of water in the region. As the Sinagua would have had to deal with water shortages, their name means "without water" in Spanish.
The town was originally called Canyon Lodge, made prosperous by the Cundiff family in the 1920s. They made a deal with the devil who was disguised as an unscrupulous man named Harry Miller. He set up a business which included a tour of an old cave where 42 Apache warriors died in battle, even using their skulls to attract visitors. Harry Miller paid dearly for his transgressions but not before he murdered Earl Cundiff.
Formerly known as Canyon Diablo Crater and simply "Meteor Crater" (because the United States Board on Geographic Names commonly derives geographic names by use of the nearest post office's name which, in this case, is named Meteor), this crater is referred to by Scientists as Barringer Crater in honor of Daniel Barringer, who first suggested it was made by a meteor impact.
A life-sized bronze statue posing with his guitar on a street corner in front of a large trompe-l'oeil mural painted by John Pugh characterizes this tribute to the Eagles. The name of the statue (created in 1999) is taken from a line in the famous Eagles' song "Take it Easy" - "Standing on the corner of Winslow Arizona." Located in the downtown area of Winslow, this statue is near by some shops and restaurants where you can make the most out of your short stop here.
This much beloved Route 66 trading post seems to (according to some reports) have changed its name. The sign no longer reads Jack Rabbit Trading Post - the sign now identifies it as "Stop n' Go." I like Jack Rabbit better...but they do sell liquor!
Wigwam Village No.2 was opened in 1937 in Kentucky with a smaller prototype (No.1) also built in Kentucky but bulldozed in 1982. An Arizona motel owner bought the rights to that design and built four more Wigwam Villages in 1950. The hotel is one of three in different locations still surviving and operating today! The hotels are furnished with hickory log pole furniture but they have no ice machines or telephones but at least there are air conditioners to keep you cool in the Arizona heat.
The small yard of the Rainbow Rock Shop in Holbrook has visitors. Visitors in the form of dinosaur statues congregate there, as they do in the whole town which has a reputation of being a town filled with dinosaurs (statues). The Rock Shop's owner, Adam Luna, took 20 years to build his seven statues and they stand in a concrete patio enclosed within a chain link fence. There are a lot of rocks and petrified rocks for sale there, as well as specialty rocks scattered among the dinosaurs.
From the interstate you can see why Charles Stewart is doing such good business. He's populated the entrance to his modest rock shop business with a number of large handmade dinosaurs. Some of the dinosaurs have motors in them to make them move. Others are outfitted with Christmas lights and blink all night. Still others have bloody half eaten bodies n their bloody mouths! This is all visible from the interstate urging the curious to investigate what exactly they're seeing.
This United States national park is situated in Navajo and Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. It is named as such because of its large petrified wood deposits. You'll also find many fossils in the area which covers about 230 square miles (600 square kilometers). There you'll see semi-desert shrubs and beautifully colored badlands.