2026 Western Route 66 - Day 7

 Williams AZ

We checked out of the Caverns Inn just as it was about to be overrun by dinosaurs! It was only 8 am and the winds were really gusting. 

Barb, Don, Dan, and I formed up a nice pace line and we each took one mile pulls at the front of the group, before rotating to the back. In this shot, we were probably going 10 mph into a strong cross headwind gusting to 30 mph! We organized quickly and just put our noses into the wind for and covered the 25 miles to Seligman in about 2 hours.

These are the new Welcome to Seligman signs that commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Route 66. Seligman organized the first Route 66 historical society (so they say) and claim the moniker of Birthplace of Historic Route 66! 

Always a favorite, the Road Kill Cafe. Too early for a meal so we rolled on through,

The Snow Cap Ice Cream shop was also a no-go as the temperatures were in the low 50s and felt much colder with the strong winds.

Rolling out of town on Route 66 we crossed this bridge. I was able to find an ADOT medallion dated 1931.

Our little pace line got together again for a few miles outside of Seligman. I stopped here to catch a photo of this old bridge that was replaced by the one I took the photo from.

At mile 36 there was an option to ride old gravel on a bypassed segment of Route 66. Some original tarmac was visible in places, and this detour rejoined the newer Route 66 about a mile later.

Not as many photos today, too busy holding onto the bars and tucking into the wind!

Most of the day looked like this, gentle climbing, low traffic, and good pavement. Of course, its hard to see the wind.

We just completed this segment and there was a van stop here. The smaller sign is a place holder for stickers so the real sign doesn’t get covered up with sticker ‘art.’ We’ll see where they end up with the smaller sign gets filled up!

Another explorer excursion along some original Route 66 pavement. This is now a dead-end frontage road along I-40.

It started smooth and wide, probably not original pavement.

Soon we were on pinkish red pavement (the color of local volcanic cinder cones) that was original pavement. It was so broken up that along here, a grader had scraped it off and piled it on the side.

Another historic bridge was on the route. I looked for a date or medallion but could not fine one, it looks like 50’s vintage to me.

The route ended in a dead-end and we needed to slip under this fence, climb up the embankment and hop on the I-40 for a couple of miles. We rolled through the town of Ashfork and one more I-40 section took us to Monte Carlo Road.

Monte Carlo road dumped us out into a dirt lot with a BLM gate in the northeast corner. That led to today’s last section of old Route 66 pavement that is now a Forest Service road. It was a long climb and we had a van stop at Welch Road. The weather was starting to deteriorate and we even felt a few drops of rain.

After adding some layers at the van stop, it was once again back on the I-40 for some more climbing before cresting for the last 6 miles into Williams.

Cruisers is one of many Route 66 establishments on Main Street. We rolled into the Star Motel to call this one a day!

We are one week into the ride and each day our progress is shown on the ride map. Debby arrived shortly after I finished cleaning my bike and kit. We were able to attend Mass at St. Joseph’s church. Even better after we had dinner with our friend Fr. Rameriz who is the pastor there.

That was a day!

Tomorrow is a rest day, we catch the train to the Grand Canyon. It’s really cold and windy here, bring a jacket!

Steve

Click here for GPS data 

2026 Western Route 66 - Day 6

 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. 

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.

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

Click here for GPS data

Click here for the 1 mile trail ride back to the motel