In 2025, Safak and me celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. To mark this Silver Hochzeit, we decided to gift our family a dream trip—a 15-day, 3,000 km loop through the American Southwest.
It was a journey of three very different dreams. My husband wanted to finally experience a road trip through the great American highways. My daughter was ready to live her “California girl” dream. And for me? As a nature person who loves slow travel, I was searching for the silence in the national parks and the deserts.
Driving the iconic Route 66 was one part of our travel adventure. Our Route 66 feeling truly began the moment we left the rocks of Joshua Tree and headed toward Amboy. As we drove up the road, the world started to feel “ghosty” and endless. When the iconic neon sign of Roy’s Motel and Café appeared, we knew we had officially touched Route 66.
The road gave us an adventure full of mixed emotions. However, between unexpected road closures and wild donkeys, it was exactly the slow travel we expected from this road trip.
If you want to discover the side of Route 66 that postcards don’t show you—the truly authentic—this is our itinerary and our personal story.
from Joshua Tree to Williams: Our Route 66 Itinerary
After spending our first week enjoying the “California lifestyle” in Los Angeles, Palm Springs and Joshua Tree, we were ready for the second half of our trip. This part was all about the open road, the beautiful wide landscapes and the National Parks.
The stretch of Route 66 through Arizona was the longest single driving day of our trip, but it fits perfectly into our larger collection of road trip itineraries. To give you an idea of the scale: we drove approximately 600 km (350 miles). We left our hotel in Yucca Valley (near Joshua Tree) early in the morning and didn’t arrive at our hotel near Williams until late that evening.
Even without our “donkey hugging” stops and photo breaks, it was 8 hours of pure driving. It was a day of shifting landscapes—from the flat, hot desert floor to the snowy mountain passes of the Arizona highlands.
One Day, Two States, Three Seasons
What we didn’t expect was how much can change in just eight hours. This drive was a complete shock to the senses.
California vs. Arizona
Crossing the border from California into Arizona felt like entering a different country. We left behind the polished “California” lifestyle and entered a more conservative, rugged world. The look and feel changed immediately—from the style of the people to the much lower fuel prices.
⛽️ Our ‘Real over Perfect Pro Tip: The fuel prices can drop by $0.50-$0.80 per gallon the moment you cross into Arizona. The reason: California has some of the highest fuel taxes in the US to fund its massive infrastructure. So, never fill your tank in Needles, California if you can help it. Cross the bridge into Arizona first—your wallet will thank you!
From Summer to Winter WITHIN 24 HOURS
We started our morning in the warm, sunny desert heat of Joshua Tree. By the time we reached Williams in the evening, the temperature had dropped by 20 degrees Celsius and it was actually snowing. Seeing snow in April after a day in the desert felt like a glitch in the Matrix!
The Emotional Rollercoaster
In Europe we are more used to structured environments. But this day made us feel everything: the excitement of the “ghosty” abandoned roads, the fear of having no internet signal in the “dead zones” and the deep relaxation of looking at horizons that never end.
The Best Stops & Our Favorite Roadside Attractions
Driving 600 km in a single day means you have to be picky about where you stop. Because we prefer “Real over Perfect,” we looked for places that felt authentic—even if that meant they were a little dusty or abandoned.
Vintage & Iconic Icons: Where Time Stands Still
If you want that classic “postcard” feeling of the iconic Route 66, these are the spots where the 1950s never ended.
The “End of the World” Sign
Right after leaving Joshua Tree on Amboy Road, we found our first “Instagrammable” moment. Someone had placed giant letters in the sand saying “The End of the World.” It was the perfect entry point to the desert.
💡Fun Fact: This is “guerrilla art”—travelers often rearrange the letters. It marks the Sheephole Valley Wilderness, an area so quiet and desolate that NASA uses it to test Mars rover equipment.
Roy’s Motel and Café
The ultimate icon of the Mojave. With its slanted neon sign and abandoned houses, walking around felt ghosty, romantic and lonely all at once. It’s a “Googie” architecture masterpiece—designed to look like the Space Age, promising a future that this town never quite reached.
You might recognize Roy’s from the movie Kalifornia starring Brad Pitt or various music videos. The sign was finally relit in 2019 after decades of darkness! It costs thousands of dollars a month though – just to keep the neon light on in the middle of the desert.
💡Our ‘Real over Perfect’ Tip: When you are at Roy’s, don’t just look at the sign. Look at the ground. You will see the original 1940s pavement and the ‘Route 66’ shields painted on the asphalt. It is one of the few places where the history is literally under your feet.
Mr D’z Route 66 Diner
This diner in Kingman is known for its typical Art Deco architecture. It’s exactly where you should go for a milkshake and a dose of nostalgia.
This diner is so famous that even Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King made a point to stop here during their famous cross-country road trip.
🍺 Our ‘Real over Perfect’ Tip: Beyond the shakes, they are famous for their homemade Root Beer. They still use a secret recipe that many say is the best on the entire Mother Road.
Prettiest Towns on Route 66 in Arizona (and the ones abandoned or “Ugly”)
Every town on Route 66 has a different “mood.” As we moved East, we saw the landscape and the people change from California cool to Arizona rugged. But as a geography enthusiast and urban planner, I noticed something deeper: the survival of these towns depended entirely on how the highway was built.
How The Ghost TownS Became Ghosty
Why is Williams thriving while Amboy is a ghost? It comes down to The Bypass. When the massive I-40 Interstate was built, it was designed for speed, not scenery.
Places like Amboy or the settlements in the Hualapai Reservation were simply cut off. When the exit ramps disappeared, the families moved away and the desert began to take the buildings back.
Towns like Williams and Seligman however fought hard to stay connected or reinvented themselves as “vintage” destinations.
Towns We Passed On That Route
The “Needless” Needles
I have to be honest: Needles was one of the ugliest cities on our trip. Unlike the “romantic” ghost towns, Needles feels like a place struggling with the harsh reality of the desert. We found it “needless”—except for the cheap fuel just across the bridge!
Oatman
Oatman is the perfect example of a town that survived through pure character. It’s an old cowboy town with western saloons and wooden sidewalks. It felt like a movie set, especially with the “bikers and rockers” drinking outside the bars. It was exactly the “Old West” we expected.
🎬 Did you know? Hollywood legends Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon at the Oatman Hotel in 1939. They loved the solitude of the desert so much that they returned often. You can still see their honeymoon suite today—it’s supposedly one of the most haunted rooms in the West!
Kingman
Kingman is a fascinating study in urban survival. Once a major hub for the railway and the power industry, it feels like the most “authentic” Route 66 city. It’s a living city that wears its neon and Art Deco history with pride.
🏭 Did you know? The Powerhouse building (which now houses the Route 66 Museum) originally supplied power to the mines and even helped during the construction of the Hoover Dam!
Seligman
If it weren’t for Seligman , Route 66 might have been forgotten. When the I-40 opened in 1978, the town “died” overnight. But a local barber named Angel Delgadillo refused to let it go. He organized the community and petitioned to name Route 66 a “Historic Highway.”
In Seligman, you learn that survival isn’t just about economics—it’s about people. It only took one barber to turn a ghost town into a world-famous destination.
🚗 A Real-Life Movie Set: Are you a fan of the movie Cars? The town of Radiator Springs was heavily inspired by Seligman and Angel’s fight to keep his town on the map!
Williams
Our final stop on Route 66. Williams is a beautiful mountain town with a pine-scented breeze—though for us, it was filled with snow! It feels different because it stayed “connected” longer than anywhere else.
🚧 The Final Bypass: Williams holds a special place in history: it was the very last town on the entire Route 66 to be bypassed by the Interstate (in 1984). Because they held on so long, their historic charm stayed perfectly intact.
Why the “Ghost Sections” of Route 66 Were Our Favorites
While many tourists stick to the crowded gift shops, we found the true soul of our slow travel in the “Ghost Sections” of Route 66. These are the sections where the internet dies, the road is cracky and it’s so silent, that you feel the time stands still. For us, these weren’t just “empty” miles—they were the highlight of our trip.
The Mojave “Eye Relaxation”
Because of the road closure after Amboy, we were forced onto Kelbaker Road through the Mojave National Preserve. As someone who spends all day in front of a laptop, this was a physical gift. In the city, your eyes are always hitting a wall, a building or a screen. Here, the horizon is endless. I felt my “eye organs” finally relax as I looked miles into the distance.
🌋 Lava & Sand: You aren’t just looking at dirt here. The Mojave Preserve is home to the Kelso Dunes (which actually “sing” when the sand slides) and a massive field of ancient volcanic Cinder Cones. It’s a prehistoric landscape that makes you feel small in the best way.
The Wild Wildlife: Our “Donkey Hugging” Stop
One of our favorite “Ghost” moments happened on the Oatman Highway. The road was blocked, but not by traffic—by a family of wild burros. We spent time with them, but they are cheeky! One stuck its head right into our car and tried to steal our trash bag.
🫏 The Miner’s Legacy: These donkeys are the descendants of pack animals used by gold miners in the 1800s. When the mines closed, the miners turned them loose. Today, they are protected by the law and have officially “taken over” the region.
Sitgreaves Pass: The “Sidewinder” Road
Leaving the flat desert for the mountains, we hit Sitgreaves Pass. This curvy mountain road is a favorite for bikers and for good reason. Watching the motorbikes lean into the sharp “hairpin” turns against the desert backdrop was spectacular. It felt adventurous and wild.
Our First Indian Reservation Experience
Our “Ghost Ride” also took us through the Fort Mojave and Hualapai Reservations. This was our first time seeing reservation land in person. It was a unique experience to see the contrast in infrastructure. These areas felt poor and dilapidated—a “real” side of the American story that is often missing from the glossy travel brochures, but essential to see if you want to understand the country.
Kingman to Seligman: 1.5 Hours of Pure Silence
This 1.5-hour stretch was the loneliest part of our 3,000 km trip. We had no internet, no GPS and for over an hour, we were almost the only car on the road. It was a mix of boredom and constant excitement.
Even a single small wind turbine in the distance became a point of fascination for us. This is exactly what we expected from a slow adventure—the deep thankfulness that comes from being alone with the landscape.
🌵 Our Pro Tip: Do not rely on digital maps here! Download your Google Maps for “offline use” before you leave Kingman. If you are in this “dead zone,” you’ll be waiting a long time for a signal.
FAQ: Planning Your Route 66 Arizona Adventure
Historic Route 66 runs across northern Arizona, roughly parallel to Interstate 40. It enters from California at Topock, winds through the mountains to Oatman, continues through Kingman and Seligman, and heads east toward Williams and Flagstaff.
The town is named after Olive Oatman, a young pioneer girl who was famously kidnapped by a local tribe in the 1850s and later traded to the Mohave people. She lived with them for several years—and even received a traditional chin tattoo—before being released near the site of the town.
Oatman began as a booming gold mining camp in the early 1900s. When the mines closed and the new I-40 bypass diverted traffic away in the 1950s, the population plummeted. Today, it’s a “living ghost town”—preserved for its history rather than its industry.
You can buy “burro chow” (specially formulated food cubes) at local shops, but you should never feed them human food or snacks from your car. They are wild animals and can get aggressive—as we found out when one tried to “help itself” to our trash bag!
It’s not dangerous if you drive slowly, but it is very narrow and “twisty” with no guardrails in many spots. It’s a spectacular mountain pass between Kingman and Oatman that offers some of the best views on the entire route.
