SCENES OF UTTER DESOLATION
ARIZONA: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Arizona is the most paradoxical of the 8 Route 66 states. On the west end, over 100 miles of unadulterated old highway is preserved from Ash Fork to Golden Shores (on the Colorado River). With a few major exceptions, that portion -- shaped like a beat horseshoe -- doesn't offer much to the tourist; it's essentially a scenic loop. (The major exceptions will get their own page on this site, eventually.)
Some of the most renowned tourist attractions in America lie along the eastern segment of Arizona's Route 66, but the old highway on that side of the state has nearly disappeared, leaving I-40 as the main "alternative" for visitors to the Meteor Crater, the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest National Park, the Grand Canyon, and more modest features in that region.
However, short sections of the original Route 66 can be enjoyed from several I-40 exits in northeastern Arizona. Usually these stretches bring you back to I-40 after 4 or 5 miles of mystery -- if they are going anywhere at all, which is not always the case. Such detours are obviously inconvenient for the cross-country hauler, but for anyone with a hankering for adventure these are among the most exciting drives of the entire Route. They also offer an opportunity to get to know the region more intimately. On an experiential scale, Route 66 here is the mean between the modern interstate highway and the wagon-rutted overland trails of old.
This page describes just one noteworthy excursion, which is the least difficult of all. I leave to the reader the pleasure of further discovery.
TWO GUNS (AZ)
Exit I-40 at Two Guns (Exit 230, west of Winslow and Meteor City), turn left, cross I-40 and head towards the gas station. On your right you will see a gate blocking access to an old road. This was Route 66, and this section of the highway passed by a remarkable roadside attraction -- a gas station! A gas station with a great gimmick. The pumps and garage overlook Diablo Canyon, which lies about 50 yards to the south. Sometime during the Great Depression, the proprietor of Two Guns made his audacious bid for immortality by appending to his gas station a zoo, stocked with mountain lions, panthers, bobcats and other man-eating creatures. Their "cages" were huge kiln-like structures of brick, mortar and chicken wire, built along the rim and north wall of the canyon. Today the entire complex is in ruins.
If you'd like to rummage around in Two Guns, ask the attendant at the "new" gas station, not far from the historic one, if you may. He might respond with a prepared speech, requesting that you sign a "release for the current owner" (from "liability due to injury") and pay $2 per person for admittance.
It could be that the old "Two Guns" never really went out of business!
Note: The gas station is currently (April 2003) CLOSED - but the gate normally blocking access to the ruins is down now, so you can drive to the site & park there.
Watch out for snakes.
"Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona..."
Where else but on old Route 66? It's a line from the song "Take It Easy,"
by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey.
