Route 66 runs from Kingman to Oatman, Arizona. The first few miles are through a valley dotted with mobile homes, cactus, and scrub. Then there’s Cool Springs which sits at the foot of the Black Mountains. Historically, the springs were used by Mohave and Hualapai people. In the 1850’s Lieutenant Ned Beale surveyed a route from Fort Smith, Akansas to the Colorado River that ran through the springs. He used camels as pack animals and his team became known as the Camel Brigade.
A gas station was opened on the road in 1927. It burned in 1966 but has since been restored.
Cool Springs marks the beginning of Arizona Sidewinder, an eight mile section of Route 66 through the Black Mountains that includes 191 curves and switchbacks. From the highpoint at Sitgreaves Pass (elevation 3,586 feet), one can see Arizona, California, and Nevada.
We weren’t very far along the road before we ran into (figuratively, thank goodness) a couple of wild burros, descendants of pack animals used by miners. The burros are quite an attraction and expect handouts. [We disappointed them.]Gold was discovered at the Gold Road Mine in 1900. The mine has been intermittently active and appears to be working in 2021.Memorial Point seems to be an area (maybe 250 feet by 50 feet) where mostly hand-made memorial markers are placed–we think to honor people who loved the highway. Information on the internet suggests cremains may be scattered here but that no burials have taken place here.Jane retrieved the geocache and was relieved to find the tin she chose to open was indeed the geocache and not someone’s cremains.Wrecked cars are a sobering reminder of the dangers of the highway.
Oatman was a small settlement before gold was discovered nearby in 1915. Its largest population was about 3,500. Today about 200 people live there.
The Oatman Hotel was built in 1902 of adobe.This interesting safe hosted a geocache.We made a loop out of our trip to Oatman by continuing on Route 66 to Topoc, Arizona and then back to Kingman on Interstate 40.
August 4, 2022 Vermont’s oldest geocache was closer to our campground near Albany, New York than our campground near Montpelier, Vermont so we treated it separately from other Vermont geocaches. Besides, it was harder to Read more…
2 Comments
Susan · December 2, 2021 at 3:35 pm
Looks like an interesting town and the road looks good for a motorcycle ride.
Jane Appel · December 2, 2021 at 10:52 pm
Yes! I texted Jay when we were here three(?) years ago that he might like to bike this section of Route 66.