🌿 RelaxedLong weekend · from Phoenix, AZ

Kingman & Route 66 — Ghost Towns, Wild Burros & the Mother Road

Three and a half hours northwest, Kingman sits at the crossroads of the old Mother Road, keeper of the longest surviving stretch of original Route 66 anywhere in America. This relaxed three-day trip is a slow cruise down that highway and its legends: day one wanders historic downtown Kingman, its Route 66 Museum, and its neon-lit main street; day two climbs the white-knuckle Sitgreaves Pass to Oatman, a gold-mining ghost town where wild burros wander the wooden sidewalks begging for carrots and staged gunfights play out in the street; day three rolls up the classic stretch of 66 to the wonderfully cluttered Hackberry General Store and on to the Grand Canyon Caverns, a vast dry cavern deep beneath the desert, before the drive home. Kingman anchors all three nights — mid-century motels, diners, and desert quiet on the great American road.

Day 1 — Historic downtown Kingman & the Route 66 MuseumDay 2 — Oatman ghost town & the Sitgreaves Pass driveDay 3 — Hackberry General Store & Grand Canyon Caverns

Day 1 — Kingman, AZ

🚗 3 hr 20 min driving📍 5 stops

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Morning

🚗

Drive

Phoenix, AZ → Kingman, AZ

3 hr 20 min8:00 AM → 11:20 AM

Historic Downtown Kingman

★ 4.8

Kingman calls itself the Heart of Historic Route 66, and its walkable downtown lives up to it — a compact grid of early-1900s brick storefronts, antique shops, murals, and vintage neon strung along Andy Devine Avenue, the town's stretch of the Mother Road. Founded as a railroad town in the 1880s, Kingman kept its character as the highway came and went, and a slow morning stroll takes in the restored Hotel Beale, the old powerhouse, and shop windows full of Route 66 memorabilia. It's an easy, unhurried introduction to the road-trip spirit that shapes the whole trip. Most shops open mid-morning.

11:20 AM📍 See location

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Lunch

🍽️ Lunch12:20 PM

Mr. D'z Route 66 Diner

A turquoise-and-pink 1950s diner right on Route 66 in downtown Kingman, Mr. D'z is a Mother Road institution serving burgers, malts, and its own homemade root beer beneath walls of neon and highway kitsch. It's the archetypal Route 66 lunch — cheerful, retro, and photogenic, with a patio for watching the traffic roll down the historic road. Come for the milkshakes and the atmosphere; it's the perfect midday anchor for the first day.

★ 4.4$$restaurant📍 Maps →

2 options · tap to switch

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Afternoon

Arizona Route 66 Museum

★ 4.6

Housed in Kingman's historic 1907 Powerhouse building, the Arizona Route 66 Museum traces the story of the highway and the paths before it — from Native trade routes and the Beale Camel Corps wagon road to the Dust Bowl migrants who crossed the desert on 66 and the postwar road-trip heyday that made it a legend. Life-size dioramas, vintage cars, and period photographs bring the whole arc to life in an hour or so. The same building holds a visitor center and a second museum on Kingman's history, making it an easy, air-conditioned afternoon anchor. A modest admission applies.

1:20 PM📍 See location

Locomotive Park & Kingman Neon Stroll

★ 4.6

Across from the Powerhouse, Locomotive Park displays old Santa Fe steam engine No. 3759, a hulking reminder of the railroad that built the town, set in a small green park good for a short stretch of the legs. As the light softens, wander back down Andy Devine Avenue to catch the vintage motel and diner neon flickering on — Kingman keeps some of the best-preserved roadside signage on the whole route. It's a low-key, free way to close the first day before dinner.

2:20 PM📍 See location

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Evening

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Kingman Route 66 Motel or Hotel

Base all three nights in Kingman, the natural hub for the Route 66 loops. For full Mother Road character, the restored El Trovatore Motel or the Hilltop Motel offer vintage mid-century neon and roadside charm, while a full range of dependable chain hotels sits along the I-40 corridor for standard comforts. Keeping one base for all three nights spares you repacking between the Oatman and Hackberry day trips. Kingman evenings are quiet and the desert sky is dark; dinner downtown and an early night set up the drives ahead.

Day 2 — Oatman & Sitgreaves Pass, AZ

🚗 2 hr driving📍 5 stops

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Morning

🚗

Drive

Kingman, AZ → Oatman, AZ (via Sitgreaves Pass)

1 hr8:00 AM → 9:00 AM

Sitgreaves Pass Scenic Drive

★ 4.8

The old alignment of Route 66 west of Kingman climbs over the Black Mountains via Sitgreaves Pass, a gloriously twisting, cliff-hugging stretch of vintage highway that terrified Dust Bowl migrants and thrills road-trippers today. The narrow two-lane switchbacks up through jagged volcanic peaks to a 3,550-foot summit with pullouts and sweeping views across three states, past the tiny near-ghost of Cool Springs and the ruins of gold-camp Goldroad. Drive it slowly, use the pullouts, and savor one of the most dramatic surviving segments of the original road. It's paved but has no guardrails in places and is not for large RVs; take your time.

9:00 AM📍 See location

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Lunch

Oatman Ghost Town & Wild Burros

★ 4.6

Once a booming gold-mining town of 3,500, Oatman clung to life after the mines closed by turning its weathered wooden main street into a living Route 66 attraction — and its most famous residents are the wild burros, descendants of pack animals turned loose by long-gone miners, who now amble down the street and the wooden sidewalks nosing tourists for carrots (sold at every shop). Staged Old West gunfights break out in the road at midday, the historic Oatman Hotel where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard honeymooned still stands, and the whole dusty scene is gloriously, cheerfully unpolished. Wander the shops, feed a burro, and soak up one of the most genuine ghost-town-turned-tourist-stops in the West. Parking is free but tight on weekends.

10:00 AM📍 See location

🍽️ Lunch11:00 AM

Oatman Hotel Restaurant / Olive Oatman Restaurant

Lunch in Oatman is part of the experience — the historic Oatman Hotel's saloon, its walls papered with thousands of signed dollar bills left by generations of travelers, serves burgers and chili in an atmosphere thick with mining-camp history. The nearby Olive Oatman Restaurant is a good alternative for a sit-down meal on the main street. Either way, expect hearty Western fare, a burro or two peering in the door, and a genuinely one-of-a-kind setting.

★ 4.6$$bar📍 Maps →

2 options · tap to switch

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Afternoon

Cool Springs Station & Black Mountains Overlooks

★ 4.7

On the way back over the pass, stop at Cool Springs Station, a restored 1920s stone gas station and store perched dramatically against the Black Mountains that has become an iconic Route 66 photo stop and small museum. It's a wonderful place to poke through vintage road-trip memorabilia, buy a cold drink, and take in the raw desert-mountain backdrop. Pair it with a pause at one of the Sitgreaves Pass overlooks for the long view before dropping back toward Kingman in the afternoon light.

12:00 PM📍 See location

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Evening

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Drive

Oatman, AZ → Kingman, AZ

1 hr5:00 PM → 6:00 PM

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Kingman Route 66 Motel or Hotel

A second night back in Kingman, returning to the same base to avoid repacking. After the mountain drive and the dust of Oatman, an easy downtown dinner and a stroll past the neon make a relaxed evening. The vintage El Trovatore or Hilltop motels keep the Mother Road mood, while the I-40 chain hotels offer standard comfort; either sets you up for the Hackberry and Grand Canyon Caverns run in the morning.

Day 3 — Hackberry & Grand Canyon Caverns, AZ

🚗 4 hr 30 min driving📍 3 stops

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Morning

🚗

Drive

Kingman, AZ → Hackberry General Store

35 min8:00 AM → 8:35 AM

Hackberry General Store

★ 4.8

Northeast of Kingman on the great unbroken stretch of old Route 66, the Hackberry General Store is one of the most photographed spots on the entire Mother Road — a gloriously cluttered 1930s roadside store and gas station heaped with vintage signs, rusted gas pumps, a red Corvette parked out front, and every kind of highway memorabilia inside and out. It began life as a working store, faded with the interstate, and was reborn as a Route 66 shrine in the 1990s. Poke around the yard of old cars and enamel signs, buy a cold sarsaparilla, and soak up the ramshackle nostalgia. It's free to wander; the store sells drinks, snacks, and souvenirs.

8:35 AM📍 See location

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Lunch

Grand Canyon Caverns Grotto / Cavern Cafe

★ 4.3

Out on Route 66 at the Grand Canyon Caverns complex, the roadside cafe serves burgers and diner fare in a classic Mother Road pit-stop setting — a convenient lunch paired with the cavern tour. It's simple, hearty highway food in a remote, only-in-Arizona spot; there is little else out here, so it's the practical midday choice before or after going underground. Pack a few extra snacks and water for the drive home, as services thin out south of here.

9:35 AM📍 See location

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Afternoon

Grand Canyon Caverns

★ 4.3

Despite the name, the Grand Canyon Caverns are a Route 66 attraction all their own — the largest dry caverns in the United States, discovered in 1927 and reached today by an elevator dropping 21 stories into the earth. Guided walking tours wind through vast, bone-dry limestone chambers, past mummified remains of a prehistoric ground sloth, Cold War-era emergency supplies stockpiled as a fallout shelter, and eerie mineral formations, all lit for easy viewing on a paved, ramped path. The constant cool cave temperature is a welcome break from the desert heat. Tours run regularly; it's the dramatic final stop before the long drive back to Phoenix, so aim to be underground by mid-afternoon.

12:00 PM📍 See location

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Evening

🚗

Drive

Grand Canyon Caverns, AZ → Phoenix, AZ

3 hr 55 min5:00 PM → 8:55 PM

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