Beyond Kingman, Route 66 follows alongside the Santa Fe railway across the rather barren landscape of the Hualapai Valley, a very wide flat plain that stretches northwest for over 50 miles towards
Lake Mead. There is a long sandy side-track (Antares Road), fine for normal vehicles, that passes many scattered ramshackle dwellings typical of the Arizona desert, all surrounded by rusty machinery, abandoned outbuildings and old cars. Other features of interest include Red Lake, a colorful dry lake bed, and large forests of Joshua Trees around the north end of the road, near the junction with the main route to Pearce Ferry.
The Old Road: East of the Hualapai Valley, the road is still designated Route 66 but it does not quite follow the original route, as it has been rebuilt a short distance to one side to reduce gradients and straighten curves - this road was one of the last sections of Route 66 to be replaced by the interstate. Often, the earlier road can still be seen at one side (usually south) of the current highway, always a narrow track, sometimes asphalt with weeds, other times just overgrown stones, but still recognisably a road.
Peach Springs: For 20 miles past the nice old town of Truxton, Route 66 runs through the south edge of the Hualapai Indian Reservation, which occupies a large area of virtually roadless land south of the Colorado River. Peach Springs is the tribal headquarters for the reservation - a small settlement but with houses quite widely dispersed over a flat valley. The area is dusty and often very hot in summer. A 23 mile unpaved track leaves from the north edge of town and descends along Peach Springs Canyon
- an extremely scenic drive that ends at a beach next to the Colorado, within the Grand Canyon National Park. Just out of town, another (paved) turn-off leads across a uninhabited, forested landscape of rolling hills to Havasu Canyon, just one of the countless branches of the Grand Canyon.
Caverns: The Grand Canyon Caverns are a short distance south of the road, east of Peach Springs, however they have no real connection with the canyon. The caves have an underground trail, reached by an elevator, that has close-up views of various formations. As with much of this part of the old route, the land at either side is fenced off, but there are occasional stopping places suitable for camping.
Seligman: Continuing east, the distinctive, straight line of the Aubrey Cliffs gradually approach Route 66 from the north, coming closest near Seligman; an atmospheric town of a few hundred inhabitants, with old cars rusting at the side of the street, small ponies tethered to railings, Harley motorcycles, and only a few gift shops. The cliffs are over 1,000 feet high and extend for 65 miles towards the Colorado River.
Williams: There is another straight, empty 20 mile stretch until a few miles before Ash Fork,
where Route 66 merges with I-40 (exit 139), but it reappears in Williams.
Most people who visit this town are just stopping briefly en route to or from the Grand Canyon, 56 miles away on AZ 64, and today Williams has a rather faded air due to inevitable decline after being bypassed by I-40 in 1984, the final part of the route to be replaced. The only other main road to leave town is FR 173, which allows access to a wide expanse of wooded country to the south including the remote, colorful Sycamore Canyon.
Route 66 runs through the center of Williams, orientated east-west. In the town center, the road splits into 2 parallel one-way streets that have several interesting curio shops and other old stores. Many of the buildings are typical of such towns, with style and decor dating from the 50s and 60s, when traffic along the route was at its peak.
Flagstaff: The original road peters out at either side; Flagstaff has the next surviving section, about 16 miles that form the main street through the north of town, next to the railway. For the next 200 miles east across Arizona, only small parts remain through several small towns such as Winslow, Joseph City and Holbrook; no significant longer sections are found until Gallup in New Mexico.
Hotels: The main towns with hotels in this part of Route 66 are Williams and Flagstaff.
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