Kingman to Flagstaff, Arizona - Route 66 - Movie Locations

kingman

The next part of the journey from Kingman to Flagstaff on Route 66 is 162 miles, and there is still so much to see. Now you can split this journey and decide to stay at Seligman, Williams or Flagstaff. It depends on how much time you have and the side trips you want to see. We have done this journey several times each time staying at a different location.

But let’s continue on our Kingman to Flagstaff Route 66 road trip.

antares point

Antares Point is home of Giganticus Headicus, a 14-foot tall Tiki head on Route 66. You can’t miss it. For one month of the year it is painted pink supporting breast cancer awareness, the rest of the time it is an insipid shade of green. This is a new landmark for Route 66 and was only created in 2004.

Steep A-frame building with giant Easter Island type head sitting in front on this section of Kingman to Flagstaff Route 66 — Antares Point – Giganticus Deadicus

Five miles further along, we saw this really neat sign on the left-hand side of the road. Beat up and weathered, it looked like it had been there for eons, advertising Hackberry General Store.

A quarter of a mile up the road we pulled in and what a fab place it is.

HACKBerRY GENERAL STORE

The town of Hackberry started as a mining community in the late 1800s when silver was discovered. It almost became a ghost town in 1919 after the silver mine was closed, however, with the construction and popularity of Route 66 it has managed to remain alive.

The exterior of store with lots of Route 66 memorabilia and old gas pumps and signs cover the outside and the property on Kingman to Flagstaff Route 66 — The General Store

The general store was a lifeline to the residence and the workers as it was the only place one could buy groceries and gas, the nearest other town was Kingman nearly 25 miles away along old Route 66.

Black and white checkerboard flooring with small tables and chairs with a bar with stools looks like the inside of an old 1950s diner with memorabilia from that era all around on Kingman to Flagstaff Route 66 — Mock-up 1950s café

The Northside Grocery, later known as Hackberry General Store, is still buzzing with tourists and Route 66 enthusiasts, although no longer supplying gas.

Very old car sits outside next to a garage like building with street signs hanging on the walls in Kingman to Flagstaff Route 66 — One of the old relics

We spent about an hour looking around the grounds which have reminders of the “good old days.” There are artefacts, cars, curiosities, old signs and the shop sells every sort of Route 66 memorabilia anyone could ever wish to purchase.

Cylindrical brick building with a cone shaped roof on the desert like landscape in the background of Kingman to Flagstaff Route 66 — Salt house maybe?

Old building with open wall showing the inside that says dance hall across the top in between trees on Kingman to Flagstaff Route 66 — An old music hall

The Hackberry General Store
Address: 11255 E Route 66 Hackberry
Hours: 9 am to 5 pm Daily

This is one place we were really pleased to stop at.

Truxton

Driving through the town of Valentine, which was totally non-eventful, we did see a sign for Keepers of the Wild Animal Sanctuary. We gave this a miss due to time restraints.

Old Frontier Motel Sign stands in a lot with a dilapidated building on the side of the road on Kingman to Flagstaff Route 66 — Frontier Motel neon sign

As we continued we saw the Frontier Motel and Restaurant sign in Truxton, plus a part of the very old Route 66 alignment.

Old Route 66 alignment in Truxton that is now fenced off along side the new road on Kingman to Flagstaff Route 66 — Old R66 alignment Truxton

Our next destination was the Grand Canyon Caverns, a Route 66 attraction since 1927.

Grand Canyon caverns

I had been to the caverns before on one of my trips from England, but Steven hadn’t, and the last time we came this way, Harvey was with us. This time we decided to stop and see the third-largest dry cavern in the world.

Click the box below to find out more.

GRAND CANYON CAVERNS – BLOG

seligman

Seligman could have very well become another ghost town when the I-40 bypassed it in 1978. The townsfolk were determined not to let that happen, and Main Street has kept its character and charm. I almost felt like I had stepped onto a Disney set as we walked along, mesmerized by the architecture, the oddities and the eccentricity the place has to offer.

To read more about Seligman, click the box below.

SELIGMAN – ROUTE 66

Ash Fork

We stayed at the Ash Fork Inn on our first trip from Kingman to Flagstaff. It is cheap and cheerful and has a rustic, rundown, historic look to it which adds to the charm.

The rooms were clean, and the reception area is decorated with 50s and 60s memorabilia. The lady at the front desk was charming as we took a few photos in the lobby.

This time, however, we were here to see the museum next door. It had been closed on our last few visits.

ash fork Route 66 museum

The main attraction for Ash Fork is the Route 66 museum.

Sign that says free maps museum Tourist Info Dead End info Route 66 in Ashfork on Kingman to Flagstaff Route 66

Ash Fork Museum
Address: 901 Old Rte 66, Ash Fork
Open hours 8 am – 4 pm Monday to Friday
Closed Saturday and Sunday.

The building is relatively small, so you won’t need much time to walk through it. We spent about 15 to 20 mins.

An old relic convertible vehicle with small white bear behind the steering wheel on display inside of a building with lots of historic memorabilia all around

Inside you will find some vehicles and of course t-shirts, keychains and the usual novelty stuff. The replica of the old Harvey Hotel that was subsequently torn down in the 1960s is well done.

Model of an old Harvey house near the railway tracks that has since been torn down due to neglect — Model of Railway and Harvey House

When we saw the model, we found ourselves getting quite irritated that something so beautiful and grand was left to rot, decay and eventually erased from time altogether!

An old boarded up and dilapidated building on the side of the road with a tall tree growing right next to it

The rest of the town does have a few spots photo-worthy. The road is a one-way system which is odd for such a tiny town that sits eerily silent but does make stopping for pictures easy.

Very neat little building that has been remodelled and painted with a replica car sitting on its roof

Leaving the small town of Ash Fork we had to join the I-40 for about 21 miles to Williams, the next main stop on Route 66.

williams

Williams was established in 1881 and is known as the gateway to the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon Railway carried its first passengers to the south rim in 1901.

You could spend days here, especially if you plan on going to the Grand Canyon. We, however, were just going to have a mooch around, re-visiting sites we’d previously seen, and to see some new ones.

Williams 1881 Gateway to the Grand Canyon sign that spans across the roadway of Route 66 at the beginning of town — Welcome to Williams

What Williams has to offer

I bloody love Williams. Main Street is most definitely touristy without being over-the-top, in my opinion. Here you’ll find shops dating as far back as the very early 1900s.

Route 66 goes right through the town in a one-way system. What we like to do is drive up Main west to east, do a U-turn at the end, and drive back on the other side of Route 66 from east to west.

It does mean that you need to drive up Main Street again to exit the town if you are heading to Flagstaff.

Entering Williams from the west, the first stop is an old garage on the right–hand side of the street. Now obviously another gift shop!

Old gas station that has been remodelled with two old vehicles outside — Pete’s Gas Station c1949 – 101 E Rte 66

We thought at first this was the famous Pete’s Gas Station which was built in 1949 until we discovered Pete’s further down the road.

Statue of the King of Rock'n'Roll Elvis playing his guitar in the doorway of a building — And of course…Elvis

Parking the van, we pounded the pavement clicking the camera at just about everything. Elvis (my heart throb) bars and cafes, and finally we came to Wild West Junction. Touristy? Most definitely! Neat? Absolutely!

Blonde woman wearing sunglasses poses next to the statue of a cowboy — Wild West Junction

Giant carved Indian head sits on a rock base outside of a tall wooden fence and two story house that can be seen in the background — Indian head carving at Wild West Junction

We also discovered later that the original Old R66 which had been decommissioned in 1932 is now a bike path called Devil’s Dog Loop. Unfortunately, we didn’t have push bikes with us, but it may be something you’d like to check out.

the small hamlet of parks

After driving down the early part of Route 66, on a red dirt road towards Parks, we came to the Parks in the Pines General Store.

Long dirt road with tall trees lining on either side leaving shadows across the roadway travels through the forest — Early alignment of Route 66 to Parks

Established in 1921 and surrounded by pine trees hence the name I would imagine, it is the only shop for miles around and is open from 8 am to 7 pm daily.

close up picture of a sign that reads Parks and Pines since 1906 General Store on historic Route 66 elevation 7051 feet — Parks in the Pines store sign

Outside shot of a store with a large 76 sign hanging just beside the doorway showing they used to sell gasoline — Originally facing the opposite way

This quaint old store, (which also operated as the main post office,) gave itself a complete facelift in 1931. After the new alignment of Route 66, they moved the gas pumps, windows and doors to face the new road. The original route ran at the back of the shop.

Inside the old building is modern convenience store merchandise with an old wood burning stove in the middle of the room — Inside Parks store

bellemont

Continuing onto Bellemont, we stopped at the “Pine Breeze Inn” which was a filming location of Easy Rider. This motion picture starred Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson and Karen Black and was released in 1969.

Here’s a short clip of the movie I found on YouTube showing the Pine Breeze Inn (albeit the last 30 seconds of the clip.) It does show them riding from Flagstaff to Kingman on old Route 66.

It’s a white building on the left side of the road with the word Richfield on it. We pulled over to have a look around.

Old wooden building with large sign along the roof that says Richfield with boulders arranged along the space in front — Old Pine Breeze Motel – Easy Rider

There are some chairs and some old vending machines along with posters and signs hanging on the wall of this small building — Relics from the movie

There are a couple of cabins around the side; none are in use and are slowly deteriorating. At the back is an RV park which is now home to residence, so please respect their privacy.

An old car sits on rocks in front of a rustic wooden cabin in woodlands parts of more cabins can be seen next to and behind this one — Once used for travellers

Blonde woman wearing sunglasses and a smile has an outreached arm in front of a wall of license plates that are attached to the side of a building — Number plates from throughout the US

The road dead-ends a couple of miles ahead, so we turned around to continue onto Flagstaff.

FLAGSTAFF

On arriving in Historic downtown Flagstaff, we paid $2.00 for parking and walked a short distance to the visitors’ centre, which is the old rail terminal.

Visitors’ Centre
Address: 1 E Rt 66
Hours: 8 am – 5 pm Mon-Sat 9 am-4 pm Sun

Here we received a free map of the self-guided walking tour, which takes you up close and personal to some fab historic buildings and motels.

Large four storey brick building with large sign on roof that reads Hotel Monte Vista — Hotel Monte Vista c1927

In all actuality, we would have loved to book a stay in the haunted Weatherford Hotel for a few days. Take in more of the downtown atmosphere and dine at the trendy eateries, before retiring back to the room tipsy on Merlot to capture some ghosts. Next time!

Large three story brick building with white pillars around the front and a wrap around porch along the third floor — Weatherford Hotel

The tour continues along Mike’s Pike, the original Route 66, and Milton, passing relics like B&M Auto Camp and Granny’s Closet.

Tall muffler man statue setting up against a post with his hands propped on an axe that rests next to his feet — Muffler Man

Old restaurant that looks to be permanantly closed with a small painting of a car driving on Route 66 with words that say lets eat — Granny’s Closet

Flagstaff is a destination in itself. We could have spent much longer here but decided to continue our road trip. There were more relics and a ghost town that we wanted to explore before retiring for the night.

Route 66 from Kingman to Flagstaff

Our Takeaway on Kingman to Flagstaff Route 66

The Kingman to Flagstaff section would be one of our favourites of Route 66.

Hackberry General Store is a ‘must’ stop. It has a lot to look at. Check out the area at the back and be prepared to spend at least 30 minutes here.

If you are doing the whole of Route 66, then there are other caves to visit. I would read up on each of them and choose which one(s) most interest you. If you are short on time, then maybe skip the Grand Canyon Caverns.

Seligman, Williams and Flagstaff have so much to offer. You could spend days at these locations and not have scratched the surface. Any of these three places would be a great place to spend the night. That choice would be yours.

Seligman has real “66” charm. Williams is touristy, but if you plan on a visit to the Grand Canyon, then think about staying the night here. And lastly, Flagstaff. If we were to live in Arizona, then this city would be one we would seriously consider.

NEXT INSTALLMENT:

FLAGSTAFF TO LUPTON- ROUTE 66

PREVIOUSLY ON Route 66 :

TOPOCK TO KINGMAN – ROUTE 66