Route 66 near Grand Canyon West

5 min read Updated November 2026 Compare all tours

Route 66 was officially decommissioned in 1985, and the National Park Service notes that the last segment in the country to be bypassed by the interstate was at Williams, Arizona, in 1984. In northwestern Arizona the old road survives as State Route 66, which the Arizona Department of Transportation maintains for 85 miles between Kingman and Seligman. Kingman, at its western end, is 79 miles from Grand Canyon West.

Arizona named Route 66 a Scenic Byway in 1994, and it became an All-American Road in 2009. About 350 miles of the old highway lie in the state.

Kingman and the Route 66 museum

The Arizona Route 66 Museum is in the Powerhouse at 120 W. Andy Devine Ave., a building put up between 1907 and 1911 that supplied power to Kingman and the area mines from July 1909 and later for the construction of Hoover Dam. It has been the visitor centre since 1997. Murals, photos and life-size dioramas follow the people who used the route, from Native trade paths and Army expeditions to Dust Bowl migrants and the main street of the 1950s.

The museum is open daily from 8 am to 5 pm, with last entry at 4:30 pm. Admission is $10, seniors pay $6, and children aged 12 and under go free with a paying adult (as of November 2026). The Mohave County Historical Society sells one ticket for its three museums, including the Mohave Museum and the Bonelli House, and recommends calling ahead because hours can change. West of Kingman, 42 miles of the old road towards Topock are a Bureau of Land Management Backcountry Byway.

From Kingman to Grand Canyon West

The National Park Service gives 79 miles (127 km) and about an hour and a half from Kingman to Grand Canyon West. The route leaves Route 66 behind: US-93 north for about 30 miles, then right onto Pierce Ferry Road and on through Joshua tree country. Grand Canyon West advises filling the tank in Kingman or Peach Springs, because the last 20 miles or so are remote with few services. Directions for the whole drive are on our page about getting to Grand Canyon West.

Hackberry

Hackberry lies on the old road near Kingman. The National Trust for Historic Preservation describes the Hackberry General Store as a fixture of Route 66 since it opened in the 1930s, known for its signs and memorabilia. ADOT explains the name: the town took it from the local silver mine, which was named after a hackberry tree that grew nearby.

Peach Springs and the Hualapai Reservation

Peach Springs, also on Route 66, is the tribal headquarters of the Hualapai. The tribal administration sits at 1200 Highway 66. According to ADOT, the town is named after peach trees that Spanish missionaries planted at nearby springs in the 18th century. The Hualapai Reservation, established in 1883, covers just under a million acres, and Grand Canyon West on the reservation is run by the tribe’s own company. The National Park Service has funded preservation work along this stretch, among it the Hualapai fueling station in Peach Springs and the Frontier Motel in Truxton.

Peach Springs is also where Hualapai River Runners trips on the Colorado begin. The Colorado River page explains how those one-day trips work.

Seligman

At the eastern end of State Route 66, Seligman calls itself the Birthplace of Historic Route 66, a title locals campaigned for. On 18 February 1987 the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona was founded at the Copper Cart Restaurant in Seligman by 15 people, led by Angel Delgadillo, a barber who grew up on the route.

Guided Route 66 days

The guided tours concentrate on the western part of the route, between Kingman and the Black Mountains. A nine-hour day from Las Vegas starts at the Nelson ghost town in Nevada, follows Route 66 to Oatman, where wild burros walk the streets, and ends at the Kingman museum and the steam engine in Locomotive Park. Museum entry is included, meals are not, and the tour needs at least three passengers to run.

Reviewers mention a guide who kept the group comfortable on a very hot day and gave clear meeting times. Some would have liked more time in Kingman, and one group found nothing left to eat in Oatman. From Laughlin, a separate tour of five to seven hours visits the Powerhouse in Kingman, the restored Cool Springs Station from the 1920s and Sitgreaves Pass before Oatman. Museum admission and lunch are extra on that one, and it does not leave from Las Vegas.

None of these Route 66 days goes to the canyon. If you want both on one day, a small-group sunset tour to Grand Canyon West includes a photo stop on Route 66 and at Hoover Dam on the way; other West Rim day trips are on our page about tours from Las Vegas.