Categories: Arizona, Outdoors
By Westward Vibes
Photo: APK. Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 4.0.
Route 66 in Arizona: 8 Essential Stops Between Kingman and Flagstaff
Buckle up, road warriors. The stretch of Historic Route 66 between Kingman and Flagstaff might be the single greatest-hits album in American road-tripping. In about 150 miles you get neon-lit diners, a museum built inside a 1907 power plant, a ghost-town general store that inspired a Pixar movie, a cavern 21 stories underground, and a town that refused to die when the interstate tried to kill it. This is the Mother Road at her most Arizona. Here are eight stops worth pulling over for — in driving order, west to east.
1. Powerhouse Visitor Center & Arizona Route 66 Museum — Kingman
Start where the road starts talking. Kingman calls itself the Heart of Historic Route 66, and its visitor center lives inside the old Desert Power & Water Company powerhouse, a 1907 brick behemoth on the National Register of Historic Places. Upstairs, the Arizona Route 66 Museum walks you from Native trails to 1950s chrome with murals and life-size dioramas. Out front there’s a drive-through Route 66 shield made for car selfies.
Do it: Grab the free maps inside before you roll. The staff lives for road-trip questions.
- Location: 120 W Andy Devine Ave, Kingman, AZ
- Hours: Check the official website for current hours
- Admission: Visitor center is free; the museum charges a small admission (kids 12 and under free with a paying adult) — confirm current pricing on the official website
2. Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner — Kingman
Directly across the street from the Powerhouse sits a cherry-red roadside diner pouring milkshakes since 1939. This is the real deal — chrome, vinyl booths, and a menu of burgers, fries, and floats that tastes like the 1950s never left. Fuel up here before the long, gloriously empty stretch east of town.
Order this: A burger, fries, and a root beer float. This is not the moment for a salad.
- Location: 105 E Andy Devine Ave, Kingman, AZ
- Hours: Check the official website for current hours
- Admission: Just the cost of lunch
Pro Tip: Kingman sits at the western end of the longest unbroken stretch of original Route 66 still in use — about 158 miles of it. Fill the tank here; gas gets scarce until Seligman.
Photo: Carol M. Highsmith. Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: Public domain.
3. Hackberry General Store — Hackberry
Twenty-seven miles northeast of Kingman, the highway dips into near-ghost-town country and spits you out at the most gloriously ramshackle souvenir shop in America. The Hackberry General Store opened in 1934, got rescued from abandonment by Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire in 1992, and has been the “mother lode of Mother Road memorabilia” ever since. The walls are papered in currency, stickers, and license plates; the yard is a sculpture garden of rusted cars and vintage gas pumps. Fun fact for the animation nerds: Lizzie’s Curios Shop in Pixar’s Cars was modeled on shops exactly like this one.
Do it: Pose with the red ’57 Corvette out front, then grab a root beer and a sticker for the cooler.
- Location: 11255 E Highway 66, Hackberry, AZ
- Hours: Check the official website for current hours
- Admission: Free to browse
4. Grand Canyon Caverns — near Peach Springs
About an hour east of Hackberry, the road passes one of the weirdest detours in Arizona: a massive dry cavern 21 stories beneath the desert floor. Grand Canyon Caverns (once known as the Dinosaur Caves) offers guided tours down into the cool dark, plus a vintage motel, a former Chevron station dressed up like Radiator Springs, and a small herd of fiberglass dinosaurs guarding the entrance. It was even designated a fallout shelter in the 1960s, because of course it was.
Do it: Take the guided cavern tour, then snap the dinosaur photo. Your group chat deserves it.
- Location: On Historic Route 66 near Peach Springs, AZ
- Hours: Check the official website for current tour times
- Admission: Tours are ticketed — check the official website for current pricing
5. Roadkill Cafe & O.K. Saloon — Seligman
Welcome to Seligman, the town that saved Route 66. When I-40 bypassed it in 1978, local barber Angel Delgadillo basically founded the Route 66 preservation movement from his barbershop chair — and the town has been a rolling car show ever since. For lunch, the Roadkill Cafe leans all the way into the gag: taxidermy on the walls, an old-west saloon next door, and a menu of charbroiled burgers with names like the Tire Tread Buffalo Burger. Relax — nothing on the plate actually came off the highway.
Order this: The buffalo burger and a slice of homemade coconut cream pie.
- Location: 22830 U.S. Route 66, Seligman, AZ
- Hours: Check the official website for current hours
- Admission: Just the cost of lunch
6. Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In — Seligman
Photo: Marine 69-71. Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 4.0.
Two minutes down the road, Angel Delgadillo’s brother Juan opened this drive-in in 1953 and turned ordering food into dinner theater. The Snow Cap is famous for its joke menu, hand-painted signs, and staff who lovingly heckle you while you wait for your shake. It’s equal parts lunch counter and comedy club — and an absolute must-stop.
Order this: A thick milkshake and whatever the daily “special” is. Ask for the joke menu.
- Location: 301 AZ-66, Seligman, AZ
- Hours: Check the official website for current hours
- Admission: Just the cost of lunch
Pro Tip: Walk Seligman’s main drag after eating. The Rusty Bolt gift shop, the Seligman Grocery mural wall, and a dozen hand-painted signs make this the most photogenic half-mile on the whole Mother Road.
7. Pete’s Route 66 Gas Station Museum — Williams
Williams was the last Route 66 town to be bypassed by I-40 (in 1984), and it wears its Mother Road pride like a varsity jacket. Pete’s is a lovingly restored 1949 gas station packed with vintage pumps, porcelain signs, classic cars, and a 1950s diner replica. It’s small — plan on 15 to 30 minutes — but it distills the entire gas-station era into one perfect little building.
Do it: Come at golden hour, when the neon flickers on. Then walk the block for dinner; the whole downtown is Route 66 storefronts.
- Location: 101 E Route 66, Williams, AZ
- Hours: Check the official website for current hours
- Admission: Free; donations welcome
8. Lowell Observatory — Flagstaff
End the drive looking up. Perched on Mars Hill above Flagstaff, Lowell Observatory is where Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930 — and it’s still a working research observatory with public evening programs. After a day of asphalt nostalgia, there’s something perfect about finishing at the place that mapped the outer solar system. Downtown Flagstaff’s Route 66 neon is your nightcap; the observatory is the main event.
Do it: Book an evening program and look through the historic Clark telescope. Dress warm — Flagstaff nights bite.
Photo: Christopher Amrich. Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 2.0.
- Location: 1400 W Mars Hill Rd, Flagstaff, AZ
- Hours: Generally noon–10 PM; closed Tuesdays — check lowell.edu for current hours
- Admission: Ticketed; general admission covers evening stargazing under the dark skies — check lowell.edu for current pricing
Let’s be honest: you could blast this whole route in three hours. Don’t. The magic of Route 66 was never the destination — it was the string of weird, wonderful excuses to stop. Take the slow lane, tip the pie-slingers, and get your kicks.
