Route 66 turns 100 this fall. The highway was established on November 11, 1926, and Arizona has been throwing a year-long birthday party ever since, with the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona folding centennial events into town festivals from Oatman to Holbrook. The road itself is the headliner, but the real reason to drive it is the people who kept their doors open after Interstate 40 pulled the traffic away.
We listed these west to east, so you can drive them in order. Here are seven worth the trip.
1. Oatman Hotel and the Oatman Burros (Oatman)
Come for: Wild burros in the street and a saloon wallpapered in cash.
Oatman was a gold town of roughly 10,000 people in the 1920s and 30s, and Route 66 ran right down its main street from 1926 until the highway was rerouted in the early 1950s. The burros that wander between the storefronts descend from the pack animals miners turned loose when the mines closed around World War II, says the local chamber.
The Oatman Hotel, first built in 1902 and rebuilt in 1924 after a fire, is the town’s anchor. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard honeymooned here after their 1939 wedding in Kingman. It no longer rents rooms, and hours for its restaurant and bar can vary, so check before you make it your lunch stop.
Do: Stop by the hotel, sign a dollar for the Dollar Bill Bar walls, and catch the staged afternoon shootout on Main Street, which raises money for local charities.
Tip: Admire the burros, but the chamber notes the Bureau of Land Management discourages feeding them, and you can be fined.
Where: Main Street (Route 66), Oatman
Since: 1902 (hotel)
Hours: oatmangoldroad.org
2. Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner (Kingman)
Come for: Homemade root beer in a pink and turquoise time machine.
The building started life in 1939 as the Kimo Cafe and a Shell station, with “Ki” for Kingman and “Mo” for Mohave County, according to Route 66 News. In 1991, Roy Dunton and his son Scott, who ran the car dealership next door, bought it and turned it into a 1950s-style diner. Around the turn of the millennium, the Duntons leased it to Armando and Michelle Jimenez.
The house root beer is the legend. Oprah Winfrey liked it so much on a road trip stop that she bought cases of it for her studio audience.
Order: A root beer float with a burger, or all-day breakfast. Big appetites can try the four-pound Monster Burger challenge.
Where: 105 E. Andy Devine Ave., Kingman
Since: 1991 (building from 1939)
Hours: mrdzrt66diner.com
3. Hackberry General Store (Hackberry)
Come for: Rusting cars, old gas pumps and the most photographed shade on the road.
Built in the early 1930s as the Northside Grocery, this lonely store between Kingman and Seligman faded after the interstate arrived. In the 1990s, Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire took it over and turned it into a roadside attraction. He sold it to John Pritchard in 1998, and Amy Franklin has owned it since 2016, keeping the gloriously cluttered look intact.
Do: Pick up a cold root beer or ice cream, browse the souvenirs, and photograph the vintage Mobilgas pumps out front.
Where: 11255 E. Highway 66, Hackberry
Since: 1930s
Hours: hackberrygeneralstore.com
4. Angel and Vilma Delgadillo’s Original Route 66 Gift Shop (Seligman)
Come for: The barbershop where the Route 66 revival began.
Angel Delgadillo was born along Route 66 in 1927 and opened his Seligman barbershop in 1950. When I-40 bypassed town in the late 1970s, he and his wife, Vilma, started selling a few pieces of Route 66 memorabilia, which local reporting calls the first Route 66 gift shop. In 1987, Angel and his brother Juan helped found the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona, and the state designated the Seligman to Kingman stretch as Historic Route 66.
Seligman threw its own centennial party on April 30, 2026, with Angel, then 99, as guest of honor.
Do: Peek into the old barbershop, then pick up a centennial postcard or a signed copy of Angel’s memoir, The Road to Happiness.
Where: 22265 Historic Route 66, Seligman
Since: 1950 (barbershop)
Hours: route66giftshop.com
5. Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In (Seligman)
Come for: Burgers served with a side of practical jokes.
Juan Delgadillo, Angel’s brother, built the Snow Cap in 1953 out of scrap lumber from the Santa Fe rail yard, then chopped the top off a 1936 Chevy and decorated it with horns and a Christmas tree to lure drivers in. Juan died in 2004, and his children John and Cecilia run it today with other family members. In 2023, the National Trust for Historic Preservation awarded the drive-in a $40,000 grant, the only Arizona business in that year’s group.
Expect the gags: a door with two knobs where only one works, a “Sorry, we’re open” sign, and counter staff asking if you want cheese on your cheeseburger.
Order: The “cheeseburger with cheese,” a “dead chicken” sandwich, and a malt. The family set a Guinness World Record in 2022 for most milkshake flavors on display.
Tip: The Snow Cap has closed for part of the winter in past years, so call ahead in the off season.
Where: 22235 Old Highway 66, Seligman
Since: 1953
Hours: Call 928-422-3291
6. Rod’s Steak House (Williams)
Come for: A 1946 steakhouse back from the brink.
Rod Graves opened Rod’s in 1946, and later owners included Jim Pickens and then Lawrence and Stella Sanchez. It went dark during the pandemic. On August 23, 2025, the restaurant’s 79th anniversary, it reopened under Kennelly Concepts with a remodeled dining room, according to Route 66 News.
Order: Prime rib or a fresh-cut steak, and come early for happy hour in the lounge.
Where: 301 E. Route 66, Williams
Since: 1946
Hours: rodssteakhouse.com
7. Wigwam Motel (Holbrook)
Come for: A night inside a 30-foot concrete teepee.
Chester Lewis began building Wigwam Village #6 in 1946, and it opened in 1950, his son Clifton Lewis told reporters this fall. The motel struggled after I-40 bypassed Route 66 in the late 1970s, closed for a stretch, and was reopened by the family in the 1980s. The Lewis family still runs all 15 wigwams, with vintage cars parked around the lot.
Do: Book a wigwam for the night and wander the lot to see the vintage cars up close.
Where: 811 W. Hopi Dr., Holbrook
Since: 1950
Hours: sleepinawigwam.com
Tips for driving Arizona’s Route 66
- Take the long loop. The old road from Seligman through Hackberry to Kingman is often called the longest surviving stretch of Route 66, so skip I-40 there.
- Mind the pass. The drive over Sitgreaves Pass to Oatman is narrow and twisty, with big desert views. Take it slow and in daylight.
- Check the calendar. Centennial events are scattered through the year, so look at the Route 66 association’s event list before you pick dates.
- Talk to the owners. These are small family businesses, and the stories behind the counter are half the fun.
A hundred years in, Route 66 in Arizona survives because a handful of families refused to let it go. Find more roundups in our Best Of guides. And if you run a local business with a story worth telling, apply to be featured. It’s always free.
Details in this guide draw on each business’s own website and public reporting. Hours and seasons change, so confirm before you go. Photos are illustrative unless noted. Top photo: Mdnicholson42, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.