Grand Canyon Caverns
After a great breakfast at the Calico Cafe, we loaded and headed out for the day. I decided to take a small detour through the historic downtown section of Kingman. Here classic autos were lining up with their owners nearby. Perhaps a rally, or just the morning meet-up over coffee.I spotted the Mohave County Courthouse up the hill and wheeled up to check it out.
It seems like most buildings in Kingman with a blank wall have a mural. Here seals of Kingman, Arizona, Hualapai Tribe, and Mohave County are all represented.
The El Trovatore Motel was a classic 1939 vintage motel that just barely survived the road widening, but as more modern properties came on the scene in the 50’s it devolved into low-rent weekly usage before being completely abandoned. Renovation started in 2011 and in the spring of 2012, the renovated neon sign tower lit the Kingman skyline after nearly a half century of darkness.
Land office turned Souvenir Store and Radiator Springs police cruiser in Antares Arizona.
Again today much of the Route 66 followed the old Santa Fe rail line. This bridge was just outside the next stop in Hackberry.
The restored Hackberry General Store and gas station was a favored stop on Route 66 and dates back to the mid 1930’s. Today it’s full of Route 66 memorabilia and souvenirs. There are many old vehicles on the grounds and it was an interesting stop. A tour bus pulled in while we were there. It was full of tourists from Michigan. They were on an 19 day trip from Chicago to LA and back! A couple of older guys (at least older than me) wandered over to the PacTour trailers to find out about our ride. They both were bike riders ‘back in the day.’ They said that they stopped at half of the attractions on the way west and would cover the rest on the return east.
Another failed business on Route 66. Was Bert’s Country Dancing studio a victim of the Interstate by-pass or does everyone around these parts already know how to country dance? You decide!
We had a fair amount of climbing on today’s route, but mostly it was gentle uphill grades on quite roads.
This is the Valentine Indian School. It was founded in 1901 as a boarding school for area Indian children. Valentine was a very small town, but today there are very few residents and all the businesses are closed. The only operation is The Bureau of Indian Affairs agency office nearby.
This photo was taken from the current Route 66 alignment. On the other side of the tracks we could see the roadbed of the original 1926 alignment. Part of the fun of this Route 66 ride is finding and possibly riding on one of these old sections,
Here you can see the road bed passing by the Croizer Canyon Ranch. The ranch dates back to the 1870’s and has the distinction of being the oldest continuously operated ranch in Arizona. Traffic on the National Old Trails Highway and the original Route 66 flowed right through the ranch yard.
The Frontier Motel sits in Truxton AZ. Our guidebook describes the town as one on the newest ghost towns on Route 66 with origins in the 1950s.
Van stop in Peach Springs on the Hualapai Indian Reservation. This was the turn-around point for a 300km Brevet I rode years ago. It was nice to take a short break in the shade. My criminal trespass at Croizer ranch put me in the back of the pack, so I made it a quick stop.
There were several climbs out of peach springs and I started to see the old road bed off to the right.
The cue sheet indicated old Route 66 was just south of the highway and ran for 2 miles. I found a gate that was unlocked and jumped on the old road.
The old road moved away from the highway, but my GPS indicated they would rejoin so I continued on,.
On the flat portions there was relatively new packed gravel, but on the uphill sections the gravel washed away and original Tar-Mac was exposed.
After two miles the road came together but there was no gate, but the barb-wire fence had collapsed behind a roadside pull out so I hopped over and rejoined the current alignment. Continuing on the highway I could see the old route and this bridge.
Here the old route crossed the newer Route 66 and there was a gate to get through. I probably could have continued for a total of four miles, but from this angle there is a lot more grass in the road, so I think it was good to cover just the first two miles.
Just beyond the gate, there was a culvert on the original alignment, I looked for a date or highway department stamp but couldn’t find one.
We continued to the Grand Canyon Caverns for lunch and a quick tour. It actually took longer for the food to come out at the restaurant, than the tour lasted. It was great to check it out, and I’m glad it was on the agenda, a nice roadside attraction, but certainly not a destination cavern. Today it is owned and operated by the Hualapai Tribe, although it is not on tribal land.
After lunch it was a quick 1 mile ride back to the Grand Canyon Caverns Motel. Brant, Lou, and I decided to take the ‘Motel Trail’ back instead of the road. A bit of tricky single track and two unlocked gates put us back at the motel to start the end of the day routine.
Again today much of the Route 66 followed the old Santa Fe rail line. This bridge was just outside the next stop in Hackberry.
The restored Hackberry General Store and gas station was a favored stop on Route 66 and dates back to the mid 1930’s. Today it’s full of Route 66 memorabilia and souvenirs. There are many old vehicles on the grounds and it was an interesting stop. A tour bus pulled in while we were there. It was full of tourists from Michigan. They were on an 19 day trip from Chicago to LA and back! A couple of older guys (at least older than me) wandered over to the PacTour trailers to find out about our ride. They both were bike riders ‘back in the day.’ They said that they stopped at half of the attractions on the way west and would cover the rest on the return east.
Another failed business on Route 66. Was Bert’s Country Dancing studio a victim of the Interstate by-pass or does everyone around these parts already know how to country dance? You decide!
We had a fair amount of climbing on today’s route, but mostly it was gentle uphill grades on quite roads.
This is the Valentine Indian School. It was founded in 1901 as a boarding school for area Indian children. Valentine was a very small town, but today there are very few residents and all the businesses are closed. The only operation is The Bureau of Indian Affairs agency office nearby.
This photo was taken from the current Route 66 alignment. On the other side of the tracks we could see the roadbed of the original 1926 alignment. Part of the fun of this Route 66 ride is finding and possibly riding on one of these old sections,
Here you can see the road bed passing by the Croizer Canyon Ranch. The ranch dates back to the 1870’s and has the distinction of being the oldest continuously operated ranch in Arizona. Traffic on the National Old Trails Highway and the original Route 66 flowed right through the ranch yard.
Continuing along the highway I spotted an old bridge and a gravel road connected to the current highway. So I slipped past a No Trespassing sign and back tracked to the bridge.
There was no date on the bridge that I could find but it looked like 1950’s vintage construction.
Back outside the gate, I rejoined the main highway. Across the road you could see the alignment continuing on the Crozier Ranch, that side of the road also said ‘No Trespassing’ but that driving through was allowed. I couldn’t tell where that road headed so I continued on the current Route 66.The Frontier Motel sits in Truxton AZ. Our guidebook describes the town as one on the newest ghost towns on Route 66 with origins in the 1950s.
Van stop in Peach Springs on the Hualapai Indian Reservation. This was the turn-around point for a 300km Brevet I rode years ago. It was nice to take a short break in the shade. My criminal trespass at Croizer ranch put me in the back of the pack, so I made it a quick stop.
There were several climbs out of peach springs and I started to see the old road bed off to the right.
The cue sheet indicated old Route 66 was just south of the highway and ran for 2 miles. I found a gate that was unlocked and jumped on the old road.
The old road moved away from the highway, but my GPS indicated they would rejoin so I continued on,.
On the flat portions there was relatively new packed gravel, but on the uphill sections the gravel washed away and original Tar-Mac was exposed.
After two miles the road came together but there was no gate, but the barb-wire fence had collapsed behind a roadside pull out so I hopped over and rejoined the current alignment. Continuing on the highway I could see the old route and this bridge.
Here the old route crossed the newer Route 66 and there was a gate to get through. I probably could have continued for a total of four miles, but from this angle there is a lot more grass in the road, so I think it was good to cover just the first two miles.
Just beyond the gate, there was a culvert on the original alignment, I looked for a date or highway department stamp but couldn’t find one.
We continued to the Grand Canyon Caverns for lunch and a quick tour. It actually took longer for the food to come out at the restaurant, than the tour lasted. It was great to check it out, and I’m glad it was on the agenda, a nice roadside attraction, but certainly not a destination cavern. Today it is owned and operated by the Hualapai Tribe, although it is not on tribal land.
After lunch it was a quick 1 mile ride back to the Grand Canyon Caverns Motel. Brant, Lou, and I decided to take the ‘Motel Trail’ back instead of the road. A bit of tricky single track and two unlocked gates put us back at the motel to start the end of the day routine.
We returned (via van) back to the Restaurant for dinner. We clocked the wait from order to food delivery at 55 minutes. A full 5 minutes faster than lunch! I had a great chicken salad and a cold beer, so who’s complaining?
The Grand Canyon Caverns Motel, my room is the very last one on the end, almost at the Kingman City Limits! Not everyone made the trip for dinner, I am glad I did. Rich took this great photo while we were waiting for our dinner.
The Grand Canyon Caverns Motel, my room is the very last one on the end, almost at the Kingman City Limits! Not everyone made the trip for dinner, I am glad I did. Rich took this great photo while we were waiting for our dinner.
More fence hopping and heavy cross-winds are predicted for tomorrow’s run to Williams. 6:30am breakfast and 7:45am load and go!
Debby will be joining me Williams for Mass St. Joseph’s church and dinner with Fr. Ramirez. The next update may be delayed!
Steve




















































