Legendary Drives: The Soul of Route 66

Is it fair to pick one particular stretch of Route 66—an iconic roadway that rolls across the varied contours of our nation? Not really. But the Arizona section sure is pretty. “Big vistas and bold colors: ruddy sandstone, dusky green junipers, cerulean sky,” writes Flagstaff-based Wildsam contributor Peter Friederici. The route takes you through Petrified Forest National Park, up San Francisco Peaks at Flagstaff and skirts the Grand Canyon before opening into desert environs toward California.

In 1902, Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter took her first job with the Fred Harvey Company, best known for its Harvey Houses, which revolutionized dining and hotel accommodations for travelers in the West. One of few American woman architects of her time, she became the company’s chief architect and interior decorator from 1910 to 1948. Colter considered the hacienda-style La Posada hotel, opened in 1930, to be her masterpiece. It has been restored by entrepreneur Allan Affeldt and artist Tina Mion. Elsewhere along this stretch, Colter designed the Painted Desert Inn and eight structures still in use at the Grand Canyon.

You can’t miss the splash of bright color in quaint Seligman at Snow Cap Drive-In, a place to pull over for burgers, fries and shakes. The place has history too. Juan Delgadillo founded the restaurant, as well as the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona, with his brother Angel, a former barber. It led to associations in all eight states on the route that help preserve 66 culture.

Meteor Crater RV Park: Because where else can you camp near a mile-long depression from a 50,000-year-old meteor crash that hurtled into Earth at 26,000 miles per hour?