Southwest Journey

Hackberry, Arizona

A photo opportunity on Route 66

If you travel east on Old Route 66 in Arizona, you’ll pass through the town of Hackberry. Located approximately 37 miles from Kingman, Hackberry is more or less a ghost town these days. In the 1880’s, Hackberry was an active ranching and mining community.

Mining began in 1874, when silver was discovered in the area. A small mining encampment started near a spring, and was named Hackberry after a tree that was growing nearby. The railroad started passing through the town in 1882, transporting cattle and silver ore from the area. During this time, a general store, a one-room schoolhouse, and a post office served the residents of the mining community. Over $3 million in silver was taken from the Hackberry Silver Mine before mining ceased in 1919.

Hackberry was again an active community during the heyday of Route 66 in the 1950s and 1960s, but became a virtual ghost town when Route 66 was bypassed by Interstate 40 in the 1980s.

Old Route 66 is still actively traveled between Seligman and Kingman. There are currently approximately 68 residents served by the Hackberry post office. The general store in Hackberry is a popular stop for tourists. The general store serves as the Hackberry Visitor Center and Route 66 Museum. Inside, you can purchase Route 66 memorabilia, peruse an old-fashioned soda fountain, or buy an ice-cold bottle of Route 66 Root Beer.

Photo opportunities abound outside the general store. There are old fashioned gas pumps, signs, the remains of old cars, and a walk-through desert garden surrounding the store. A popular photo prop is the bright red 1957 Corvette parked in front of the store.

If you are traveling Route 66 in Arizona, the Hackberry General Store is worth the stop.

Needles, California

The oldest city in San Bernardino County

My husband and I took a drive today, heading west on Interstate 40 from Kingman, Arizona to Needles, California. We wanted to check out the area as I’m looking at applying for a job there. We’ve stopped for gas and restroom breaks in Needles before on our way to San Diego, but we’d never actually checked out the town.

Getting to Needles from Kingman is easy. Just head west on Interstate 40, and after about an hour, you’re in Needles. Interstate 40 parallels old Route 66, so you can also get to Needles by going through Oatman, Topock and Golden Shores, the last Arizona towns on Route 66. Needles is also accessible using Arizona Highway 95 through Bullhead City and Mohave Valley. Needles is located just across the Colorado River from Mohave Valley. However, if you’re travelling to Needles from Kingman, Interstate 40 is the most direct, and fastest, route.

Along the way to Needles, you’ll pass Yucca, Arizona, where the Chrysler and Harley-Davidson proving grounds are located. You’ll also see remnants of motels, gas stations and cafes left over from the Route 66 heyday.

As you approach Topock and Golden Shores, an old Route 66 bridge becomes visible. The bridge is no longer used for traffic; instead it is used to carry pipeline across the Colorado River. Once you pass Topock and Golden Shores, and cross into California, the road becomes rough. Very rough. When we went through today, one lane was closed down, and the road is being resurfaced, so hopefully both lanes will be done very soon.

Just east of Needles is an inspection station. Why it is there, I haven’t got a clue. All vehicles travelling west on I-40 have to stop at this checkpoint. If you are driving a box truck such as a U-Haul, be prepared to have the contents of your vehicle inspected. I’ve also seen vans and pickups with shells, and RV’s pulled over for inspection as well.

The town of Needles was founded in 1883 as a railroad town. It was incorporated as a California city in 1913. Needles is located on the banks of the Colorado River. The BNSF railroad runs through the city, and old Route 66 passes through downtown Needles. The population of Needles is approximately 5,000 people. It is the oldest city in San Bernardino County. Needles is possibly most well-known as being the home to Spike, Snoopy’s cousin in the Peanuts comic strip.

Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-In

A Route 66 icon in Seligman, Arizona

If you get a chance to visit Seligman, Arizona, you must make it a point to stop at Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In. Seligman is located just off of Interstate 40, on Arizona’s old Route 66. It’s well worth the detour off of I-40.

My husband and I went to Seligman in the spring of last year. We had lunch at another Seligman destination, the Road Kill Café, before wandering around the town. Before we left town, we made a stop at the Snow Cap Drive-In for dessert. Before we even went inside to place our order, we spent several minutes taking in the sights outside. There is a “garden” out in back of the drive-in, where there is Route 66 memorabilia, as well as replicas from Disney/Pixar’s “Cars”.

After checking out the outside décor, we headed inside. The door leading to the counter has two handles, one on the right and one on the left. This is the first indication to visitors that there is no seriousness that goes on behind the door. Only one of the handles actually works, the other is only for laughs.

The Snow Cap was built in 1953 by Juan Delgadillo. Juan passed away in 2004, but the Snow Cap remains in the family, currently being operated by Juan’s sons, John-Michael and Robert. John-Michael and Robert have retained the family tradition of cracking jokes with the customers. I’m not sure which one was behind the counter the day we were there, but he kept up a constant patter of one liners.

My husband and I both ordered shakes. He ordered chocolate, I got chocolate chip. I watched Robert, or John-Michael, make my shake. He filled what seemed like half of the cup with hot fudge syrup, and then filled the rest with cold vanilla soft serve ice cream. The coldness of the ice cream made the syrup harden, making the chocolate chip shake. We got our treats with spoons, and John-Michael (Robert?) asked if we wanted straws as well. We said yes, and were handed two straws from a bail of hay. Ha.

After we got our drinking straws, we sat at one of the outside tables to have our shakes. Let me tell you, it was the best shake I can ever remember having. Well worth the trip to Seligman for that alone.

Oatman, Arizona

A living ghost town on Route 66

Located in the Black Mountains on old Route 66 is the living ghost town of Oatman, Arizona. Oatman is west of Kingman, and is one of the last towns in Arizona before crossing into California on Route 66. My husband and I have visited there several times since we moved to Kingman in 2008. I love visiting Oatman. It was originally a mining town, and once the mines ran dry, it was virtually abandoned. When the miners moved out, they left their burros behind. Today, descendants of these burros roam the streets of Oatman daily. It's kind of fun to see the animals wandering the streets. Just don't hold your dog while driving through Oatman. We went camping a few months ago and came back through Oatman. I had my dog in my lap when he saw the burros. He either got excited or scared, and I had to change clothes.

Someone told me that one of the burros is Oatman's mayor. I haven't been able to verify that though. Most of the stores sell burro food, and it’s generally a good idea to have some on hand if the burros are present. They are so used to being fed by Oatman’s visitors, some of them can get a little testy if you don’t have food for them. Don’t feed the babies though. They have stickers on their heads asking you not to feed them because they will choke on the solid foods.

Several original buildings line the main street of Oatman, including the Oatman Hotel. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon here after being wed in Kingman. Rumor has it that the Oatman Hotel is haunted. I encountered one of its ghosts on one of our last visits there. I’ll save that story for another post if anyone is interested.

The Oatman Hotel is no longer a hotel. The lobby area has a bar/restaurant, a small snack bar and a gift shop. The restaurant/bar serves typical bar food – burgers and sandwiches mostly. It’s been a year or so since we’ve been there so I can’t remember exactly what’s on the menu. I do know they have buffalo burgers, which are very good. They also have huge homemade potato chips called burro ears. When we were there last, they had entertainment, a couple of singing cowboys who were also part of the gunfights that the town puts on daily.

The walls of the restaurant are covered with dollar bills that have been initialed and signed by visitors. According to legend, dollar bills on the walls of bars originated back in the old mining/cowboy days. The miner or cowboy would give the bar a dollar with his initials on it, the barkeep would put it up on the wall, and that miner/cowboy could drink until his dollar was spent.

The walls of the hotel lobby are covered with framed pictures and newspaper articles of the hotel. A wide staircase goes to the upper floor of former guest rooms, which is now a museum. Visitors can view the guest rooms, including the room that Gable and Lombard stayed in, as well as one used by John Wayne. They were doing some repairs/renovations to the upper floor, so it was closed the last time we were there a few months ago. I’m not sure if it’s open yet or not.

If you are traveling across Arizona on Route 66 and stop in Kingman, I recommend a short detour to Oatman. It’s well worth the stop.

Route 66 in Arizona

The longest continuous stretch of the Mother Road crosses the Southwestern state

Route 66 runs from Chicago to Los Angeles, crossing through eight states and three time zones. The total length of the highway in its heyday was 2448 miles. The highway was commissioned as US Highway 66 in 1926. It was the primary road used by families escaping the drought of the Midwest, and heading to California to explore new opportunities.

The demise of Route 66 began in the mid 1950s when President Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, allowing the building of a national highway system. Much of Route 66 was bypassed by this new Interstate system.

Travel along Route 66 suffered, because people could get to vacation destinations faster on the Interstate highways instead of the two-lane Route 66. Route 66 was officially decommissioned in 1984 and much of the road was abandoned. Portions of Route 66 still exist today however. The longest continuous stretch runs 165 miles through Arizona. Travelers along Interstate 40 can join Route 66 just east of Ashfork, Arizona and continue along the famous road west to the California border. Other portions of Route 66 still exist in eastern Arizona, and travelers can get on and off of Interstate 40 to travel these shorter sections.

Towns, and trivia, along Route 66 in Arizona:

Winslow is immortalized in the Eagles’ 1972 hit, “Take It Easy”, with the words standin’ on the corner in Winslow, Arizona. Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona is a popular touristy thing to do, and there is a park in Winslow called, of all things, Standin’ on the Corner Park.

Flagstaff was the first Arizona town on Route 66 to be bypassed by Interstate 40. It was bypassed in 1968. Flagstaff is the highest spot on all 2448 miles of Route 66, at 7000 feet elevation.

Williams is the Gateway to the Grand Canyon. It was the last Arizona town to be bypassed by Interstate 40, in 1984.

The Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona was founded in Seligman in 1987. Seligman would be a ghost town today if the 165 mile stretch of Route 66 did not pass through the town. Travelers through Seligman should stop for ice cream at the Snowcap Drive In, owned by the Delgadillo family. Angel Delgadillo, the town barber created the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona.

Route 66 passes through two Native American Indian Reservations; the Navajo reservation in eastern Arizona, and the Hualapai reservation in western Arizona.

Several of Arizona’s natural and historic wonders are easily accessible from Route 66, making the Arizona road one of the most picturesque portions of Route 66. These sites include the Petrified Forest, Sunset Crater Volcano, Meteor Crater, Grand Canyon Caverns and the Grand Canyon.

Small towns flourished along Route 66 in its heyday. Now, most of these towns do not exist. However, a handful exist today as “living ghost towns”. These towns include White Hills, Truxton, Valentine, Hackberry and Oatman.

The largest town along the 165 miles continuous stretch of Route 66 is Kingman, which is where I call home these days.

The original stretch of Route 66 from Kingman to Oatman was the most dangerous portion of Route 66. It passes through the Black Mountains and is a series of narrow, hairpin turns. This section of Route 66 was bypassed in 1951 when Route 66 was realigned.