NM Border to Holbrook
Arizona-New Mexico Border: Trading Posts
Right along the New Mexico border, Arizona welcomes westbound travelers with an overwhelming display of trading-post tackiness—huge concrete tepees stand at the foot of brilliant red-rock mesas, while gift shops hawk their souvenirs to passing travelers. The gift shops themselves may not be all that attractive, but the old Route 66 frontage road along here, a.k.a. Hwy-118 between exit 8 in New Mexico and exit 357 in Arizona, is truly spectacular, running at the foot of red-rock cliffs. If you like rocks, gems, and petrified wood, a fine collection is for sale at the endearingly strange Stewart’s Petrified Wood Trading Post, marked by a family of animated dinosaurs at I-40 exit 303.
A great introduction to the Four Corners region, the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site (928/755-3254, free entry, tours $5), 38 mi (61 km) north of I-40 from exit 333 and 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the town of Ganado, is a frontier store preserved as it was in the 1870s, when trader John Hubbell began buying the beautiful rugs made by local Navajo weavers.
Petrified Forest National Park
The easternmost 60-mi (97-km) stretch of I-40 across Arizona is little more than one long speedway, since almost any sign of the old road has been lost beneath the four-lane interstate. One place that’s worth a stop here is Petrified Forest National Park (928/524-6228, 8am-5pm daily, $25 per car). The polished petrified wood on display in the visitors center is gorgeous to look at, but seeing 221,390 ac (89,600 ha) of the stuff in its raw natural state is not, to be honest, particularly thrilling. The story of how the wood got petrified is interesting, though: About 225 million years ago, a forest was buried in volcanic ash, then slowly embalmed with silica and effectively turned to stone. Alongside the visitors center at the entrance to the park, there’s a handy restaurant and a gas station.
Painted Desert Inn
While the park contains a vast array of prehistoric fossils and pictographs as well as the petrified wood, one of the more interesting sights is the old Painted Desert Inn, a Route 66 landmark during the 1920s and 1930s that was converted into a museum and bookstore after the National Park Service took it over in the 1960s. The pueblo-style building, now restored to its 1920s splendor with lovely murals, Navajo rugs and sand paintings, and handcrafted furnishings, is perched on a plateau overlooking the spectacularly colored Painted Desert that stretches off toward the northern horizon.
Holbrook: Wigwam Village
Holding a concentrated dose of old Route 66 character, Holbrook (pop. 5,093) is definitely worth a quick detour off the I-40 freeway. More than the other Route 66 towns in the eastern half of Arizona, it still feels like a real place, with lively cafés and some endearing roadside attractions around the center of town, where Route 66 alternates between Hopi Drive and Navajo Boulevard. Along with the many rock shops—be sure to check out the huge dinosaur collection outside the Rainbow Rock Shop, a block south on Navajo Boulevard near the railroad tracks—and trading post tourist traps, another worthwhile place to stop is the Navajo County Historical Museum (daily, free) in the old Navajo County Courthouse, about a quarter-mile (0.4 km) south of I-40 at the corner of Navajo Boulevard (old Route 66) and Arizona Street. The collections are wide-ranging and include a walk downstairs to the old county jail, in use from 1898 until 1976 (the graffiti is great).
Best of all, stop for the night at the marvelous Wigwam Motel (811 W. Hopi Dr., 928/524-3048, around $80) at the western edge of town and sleep in a concrete tepee. Based on the original circa-1936 Wigwam Village motor court built in Cave City, Kentucky, Holbrook’s was one of seven franchises across the country; this one opened in 1950 but closed down when the interstate came through in 1974. The family of original owner Chester Lewis fully renovated the buildings and reopened the place after his death in 1988. Original bentwood hickory furniture, a small curio shop, and a handful of historic American cars parked outside help complete the ambience of classic roadside Americana. Especially if you want to introduce the younger generations to the joys of old-road travel, you should stay here at least once in your life.
After you’ve checked in to the Wigwam, be sure to wander down the road for a friendly, filling Route 66 meal at Joe and Aggie’s Café (120 W. Hopi Dr., 928/524-6540).
Travel Maps of Route 66 in Arizona
