have you ever driven old rt 66 to the grand canyon? Is it a good trip?

Question

We have about 17 days of vacation in april and we want to visit my parents in Branson MO, but if we drove that distance again we could visit meteor crater and the grand canyon.

Is it really so desolate out in the texas/new mexico/arizona area? Will we run out of gas and die and be eaten by vultures? It wouldnt be such a big deal, but we'll have our 16 month old with us, and that changes things.

We're be driving all the way from NY, we're totally used to road trips, obviously, since my parents are in MO.

Answer 1

As a person that grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona along Route 66 and still spends a lot of time traveling, exploring and reseaching that area, I can say that surfjax32 above obviously knows what she is talking about and has some excellent suggestions.

I will only make a few additional suggestions and notes for the Arizona-New Mexico section that I am most familiar with:

In Winslow, be sure to stop at the recently restored La Posada Hotel (which sits right between the railroad and old Route 66). This is a beautiful historic hotel built for the railroad in 1930 by Mary Colter - a famous architect who designed many of the buildings at Grand Canyon. The hotel is a great place to stay and the restuarant is one of the best in Northern Arizona.

The longest surviving stretch of old Route 66 which you can still drive runs between Seligman and Kingman (get off I-40 at Seligman). This section winds through the little towns of Valentine and Peach Springs and in many places looks virtually untouched from when it was by-passed by I-40 in the 70s. Along this stretch you will also find Grand Canyon Caverns - a classic old Route 66 stop. It is this section of the road (combined with part near Oatman to the west) that the animated movie 'Cars' is loosely based on.

One correction to the poster above... I think that the famous old cafe in Seligman that she is referring to is the 'Snow Top' Cafe (not the Road Kill). This is a funny and wildly decorated soda shop ran by the Delgadillos (a long time local family that has led the restoration of Route 66 in Arizona).

In Flagstaff and Williams, check out the historic downtowns with many interesting building and neat shops. On the eastern edge of Flagstaff is the historic 'Museum Club' saloon (whose entrance is a giant forked log) - which was a popular stop during the classic days of Route 66.

I would second the notes that Meteor Crater is not all that interesting for the money ($15 per person) unless you are really into Astronomy. The Petrified Forest, Painted Desert and Grand Canyon are all worth a stop (and also have many buildings that give it a classic Route 66 era feel).

As far as desolation goes... as other posters have mentioned, the southwest section of old Route 66 largely follows I-40 which is a major interstate with plenty of traffic and towns along the way. There are some sections (especially between Gallup and Flagstaff and then west of Needles) where you pass through long stretches of flat open desert or high plains with little development and many wide-open vistas, but because of the interstate, you never really feel like you are alone or in the middle of nowhere.

Answer 2

I lived in AZ for 20 yrs and have made the trip many times. The trip to the Grand Canyon is pretty desolate once you get further north of Flagstaff.

But there are a few mom and pop places to stop for bathroom, drinks, etc..

Meteor Crater is really not even worth stopping at unless you're entirely excited about meteors. All it is is a crater and a gift shop-that's it.

Answer 3

lol

its fine. and its also very beautiful if I may say so myself! Me and my family went just recently and had a lot of fun. There is plenty of rest areas, and places for tourists to buy T-shirts and mugs and stuffs like that :)

I hope you and your family have a lot of fun!!!

Answer 4

It is lots of fun! Enjoy your vacation!

Answer 5

YES, YES, YES!!! I love Route 66 and Drive it all the time! There are sooo many great places to stay see. I don’t even know where to start.

Okay MO. My favorite place to stay is the Munger Moss Motel. Very fun! Ted Drews of course has the best custard on the Route located in STL. There is also Route 66 state park which is new pretty nice. Who can forget about Merimac Caverns? You see sings painted on barns for this all over the Route. Very cool place. Also you get to drive through a town called HOOKER, very funny to take pictures of and who could forget a place called that. It is really funny to see the sing for Hooker Cemetery, we had a few questions when we saw this. Right by Hooker is Devils Elbow a very nice drive on the route. There is the Skyline Motel in Springfield MO still looks like it did back in the day. The people who work there are really nice. Oh Yeah and Fantastic Caverns is there, a drive through cave how cool is that. The drive through Animal Park used to be there. That was always fun you got to fee all kinds of things from your car. They sold it last Oct, now it is being turned into condos I think. Springfield MO is Route 66 crazy and there is a ton of stuff to do here. Check out their website. In Carthage there is a very cool drive in theater that is still working. Very fun to go to. The Castle Court in Joplin is also a nice place to stay at.

Moving on to OK. OK has some of the best parts of Route 66 all over you will find one lane roads, parts of the old brick road and more. I love going to the Blue Whale and the World’s Largest Totem Pole. Don’t get more touristy than that! There is also Yukon which has a Route 66 Museum, also home to Garth Brooks as the let you know when you pull into town. The Metro Diner in Tulsa is great and Elvis ate there! They have some of the best food around! The Rock Café is also a great place to eat at, I believe the girl that owns it was used as a character in the movie “Cars”. In Clinton there is a really nice Route 66 Museum try to go to it each time I drive the Route. The Lincoln motel in Chandler has been there forever and it is a great place to stay. The round bar is crazy it is located in Arcadia, across from it is some restaurant and motel called Hillbilly something. They were closed when we went so we just visited the Barn. There is also the new POPS which just opened. I have not had the chance to go, but it has the world’s largest soda bottle, windows made out of soda bottles, a diner, gift shop and more. They have a website, check them out! I would also take time to see the new Route 66 Interpretive Center in Chandler OK. Very nice place, these people worked so hard to save this site, and there is plenty to see and learn on the history of 66. El Reno has a Route 66 Museum that is connected to the town museum and it is just cool! Huge fun and we spent hours there! Elk City is home the National Route 66 Museum a must stop for all Route 66 Travelers! Love the place!

Texas has the smallest part of Route 66 so I have never stayed there but, the Shamrock Restaurant in Shamrock has a killer chicken fried steak! You also must go to Amarillo, not only is the Big Texan Steak House home of the 72 oz steak there but also Cadillac Ranch. Wow you get to spray paint on these cars, 10 caddy’s nose in the dirt sticking straight up! I have never seen anything like this, we had a great time here! One on my favorite places to eat is the Adrian Café in Adrian this is the Midpoint of the route. They have the best everything here, get some pie! They also are very nice and answered all of my questions, and told us their stories of the route. Wonderful place!!!! Glenrio was this wonderful little ghost town on the border, we got some really cool pictures here. The old buildings are very neat to see.

NM is cool because if you do your research you can drive parts of Route 66 that are still unpaved. It did not start out being a paved highway that was added latter and here you can find old pieces of the road. The other cool thing that I remember as we were driving these parts in some places you could still see marks from the wagon trains and big ruts on the side of the road that were made by them. You will find yourself alone for hours just like it used to be. Okay there are a couple cool places to stay in NM. My favorite has to be the Blue Swallow. This place is still awesome! The blue neon will knock your socks off. It has been restored and you still even have your own little garage now that is cool! I will never forget this place. There is also the El Rancho Hotel very famous the old movie stars used to stay here and all the rooms are now named after a star. Located in the heart of downtown they also have a really good restaurant in the place. Tee Pee Curios is also in NM an old store still fun to go into! Gallup has the best shopping around and is home to the Native American Nations. They are always having a Pow Wow or something here. They also have the best shopping for Native American jewelry around! I also like Gallup because the El Rancho Kitchen wonderful eats! You also get to see the Continental Divide which runs on the boarder of NM and AR, something you will never forget.

AZ is also a great state for 66 they really have done their best to preserve it and the coolest part of driving Route 66 can be found here. I love the drive to Oatman which was a ghost town but they are bringing it back to life. The drive is very twisty and turny and there is nothing to keep you from falling off the side of the mountain this part of the road is one of the most photographed on Route 66 and is not for the faint of heart. With that said I just love to drive this part! My favorite place to Stay in AZ has got to be at the Wigwams, now how cool is that to sleep in a Tee Pee okay so they are not really but, you do get your own little wigwam made of concrete. Been here forever and still family owned, old and young love to stay here. I make it a must each trip! There is also the Museum club in Flagstaff been on the route forever, nice bar good music. The Petrified Forest, Painted Desert and The Meteor Crater are all breath taking however I would recommend the Petrified Forest and Painted desert over the meteor Crater. The crater is nice and you take a walking trip around the edge (provided you have closed toed shoes on) and they do have a nice museum but, there is more to see in the forest/desert. Seligman this whole small town is Route 66 Crazy! I love going to the Snow Cap, great food and a ton of stuff showing the pride of Route 66. This place is just hard to describe, they have old cars, signs and all kinds of things! The Route 66 motel is also a very nice place to stay here. Now the funniest part of Seligman has got to be the Roadkill Café, um yep that is what it is called and that is why I remember it! Oh yeah I almost forgot that I stood on the Corner of Winslow AR just like the song! Um it is a nice site to see, don’t know if I would call it lovely. There are also several other places like Flagstaff and Williams which have worked really hard to keep 66 alive. Both are really nice towns with plenty of things to do!

CA you get to drive through the Joshua Trees and that is really cool. You don’t even have to go to the park they are right outside of your window. Barstow is one of my favorite stops, sorry not because Route 66 runs through it but, this is the first In-N-Out Burger on the Route. If you have never had it I cannot even tell you how wonderful In-N-Out is! A California must the best fast food around, fresh really no freezers or microwaves, made to order simple yummy goodness! Victorville also has another good Route 66 Museum. I really liked it. The Santa Monica Pier is where Route 66 ends, although this was not true back in the day. Still the pier is fun and there is some great food, games and fun. Love ending the trip there. There really is just a ton of cool things to see on the CA drive, you go through LA, and Hollywood. There are a ton of old builds and wonderful restaurants.

Every time I drive Route 66 I see something new, and every time I make a new memory. There is just too much that I could list here! I have already gone on enough. In fact I will be driving parts of it this weekend. Route 66 is always fun and is a huge part of my favorite travel memories. Take time, do your research, contact the chamber of commerce for the towns along the way tell them you are driving 66 they will give you suggestions on places to see. I spent a while researching it, some things you just stumble upon. There are a ton of roadside attractions along the way; they will just jump out at you!

Here are some of the websites that I use for my searches:

Best directions, very good, lets you choose what alignment you want to drive! I use them every time they even have the modern day street names!!!!!
www.historic66.com

www.national66.com
www.route66.org
www.oklahomaroute66.com
www.missouri66.org
www.bygonebyways.com
www.route66university.com
www.theroadwanderer.net/route66.htm
www.azrt66.com
http://www.theroadwanderer.net/route66.h...

I hope this helps you, there really are some wonderful things to see and the people of 66 are just the best! I always meet friendly, wonderful people when I drive 66. Doesn't matter what age you are, if you tell them you are traveling 66, they will help you on your trip. I also recommend contact the chamber of commerce/visitors center for each town/city along the way. It takes time but, they send you the best stuff and really help you find unique things on 66. I made a huge Route 66 book to help us on our travels. You might also want to check out the Route 66 Pulse. You can find it online, it is a newspaper all about Route 66. Wonderful they are always listing new things!

Almost forgot you will see brown Route 66 signs along they way, these will help mark your path!

You will have no problem finding gas stations places to stop, and places to eat and rest. You will find a lot of mom and pop places but hey they are great. We did not stay at a major hotel chain for our whole trip and I can tell you that most of the motels were better than the Hampton. You will not believe the food, people and places you will see on this trip. The people on Route 66 are just the best, nice, friendly and very helpful. They will give you directions and suggestions if you just ask!

Hope this helps! Happy travels!