This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
For more than sixty years, the Road 66 was used by armed cowboys, pioneers, adventurers, hungry farmers, rebellious beatniks and idealistic hippies who wanted to reach the end of the country. She appeared in countless paintings, films, novels, comics and songs, becoming a full-fledged character in the great American dream.
Route 66 was the first paved highway network to cross the United States. For more than 3670 km, it connected Chicago to Santa Barbara, California, from 1926 until its final closure in 1985. It was then replaced by wider and more modern six or eight lane highways, which have completely supplanted.
It is still possible today to travel short segments of this legendary route, which have been saved to commemorate the famous route, the myth of which has grown steadily over the years. One of the best places to explore it is without a doubt in Arizona. Diving in this road trip as if you were there, which will make you discover the immense landscapes of the western United States and will make you penetrate into the American collective imagination.
A constant show
This trippy trip will begin in Phoenix, the state capital, where you will take, using your rented vehicle, highways 60 then 93, which you will take northwest for more than 300 kilometers. You will be able to follow in the footsteps of the rebellious characters of the cult film Easy Rider (1969), or imitate Thelma and Louise (1991), the two heroines in search of liberation from the film of the same name.
You will quickly find yourself outside the city, surrounded by large desert spaces that will be inhabited by thousands of cacti, which will give you the impression of walking through a forest of humans with outstretched arms. Vultures will circle in the sky above your head and twirls (balls of dry grass) will cross your field of vision along your advance. You will thus feel catapulted into the setting of a western by John Ford or Quentin Tarantino.
You will thread the kilometers between the rocky hills, where the ocher red of the earth, the dark green of the cactaceae and the azure blue of the pure sky will be superimposed. You’ll be amazed, then arrive where Route 66 begins, in Kingman, where you’ll stop.
Journey to the past
This small town of about 30,000 inhabitants experienced its golden age when the “ Main Street of America » passed through its city center. You will visit the Route 66 Museum, to better understand its history and the key role it played in the development of the American West.
Then, you will set off on the real real 66, which you will discover for 140 kilometers, to the small community of Seligman. This historical plot — sprinkled with references to the popular animated film Cars (Cars, 2006), which is set there — will take you on a journey back in time to the 1940s and 1950s, when anything seemed possible in this part of America. You’ll spot a string of sleepy little towns, faded signs, rundown motels and dinners authentic, which will give you an idea of the life that was led there in the last century.
A Martian Panorama
From there, you will have no choice but to drive another three hours north to reach the mythical Grand Canyon National Park. You will admire there one of the most beautiful natural splendours of the planet, which will blow your mind with its rugged beauty. The landscapes of carved rocks that sink in some places to almost 1500 meters deep and stretch for just under 500 kilometers will leave you speechless. You will have never seen anything so grandiose and will have the impression of observing mountains carved into the ground, which extend to infinity.
After doing some memorable hikes, you will hit the road again singing Get your Kicks on Route 66 of Chuck Berry, in this desert environment to which you are now accustomed. Suddenly, everything around you will change and you will find yourself surrounded by snow-capped mountains, which will drop you off in Flagstaff. This student and progressive city will surprise you. Located in the heart of this somewhat rustic Arizona, you can eat there in one of its delicious restaurants, or quench your thirst on the terrace of Mother Road, a microbrewery which adopted the nickname given by the writer John Steinbeck. to route 66, in his masterpiece Grapes of Wrath.
When you return to the starting point in Phoenix, more than 230 kilometers south of Flagstaff, after crossing a red desert populated by rattlesnakes and sacred mountains, you may feel that the magnificent landscapes that you have admired in recent days were part of a splendid waking dream that you are not about to forget.
Our reporter was a guest of the Arizona Office of Tourism.