Arizona 2011 Official Visitor's Guide - (Page 78)

BestBets ARIZONA’S WEST COAST Route 66 Western Arizona boasts the longest continuous stretch of the legendary highway, as well as some of its most dramatic scenery. The road begins to rise and curve as you head east from the California border. By the time you reach Oatman, a former mining boomtown, you’re in the Sitgreaves Pass of the Black Mountains. You’ll pass a spiffed-up gas-station-cumart-gallery at Cool Springs Camp en m Get Route 66 route to Kingman, home to the excellent Route 66 memorabilia at the Route Museum, with displays from all eras, including the pre66 Visitors Center and pavement ones. On the flat plain east of Kingman, the Gift Shop in Seligman. Hackberry General Store proclaims its Route 66 pride with a shiny 1957 Corvette and vintage gas pumps, and Mildred’s Frontier Cafe in Truxton is still open for business. The last town on this uninterrupted portion of the road, Seligman revels in its Mother Road heritage with businesses like the Snow Cap Drive-In. Two Route 66 attractions worth exploring are Keepers of the Wild, an educational wildlife park near Valentine; and, just past Peach Springs, Grand Canyon Caverns, a cave system so dry that civil supplies for the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis were stored here. Today, visitors can stay overnight in the caverns in “the world’s deepest hotel room.” MILITARY HISTORY As the quartermaster depot for the US Army, Yuma supplied all the military forts — including Fort Yuma —in the Southwest in the 19th century. Yuma Crossing State Historic Park preserves several original buildings on the site. After the lower Colorado River was no longer navigable, western Arizona’s dry air and abundant sunshine gave the region military clout. Yuma Proving Ground, still one of the world’s largest military installations, was used to test a variety of weapons for the US Army during World War II, and General Patton established two desert training camps at Dateland, to the east. Lake Havasu Auxiliary Field 6 became an emergency landing field, and the lake was used as a soldiers’ recreation area. Exhibits at the Kingman Army Airfield Museum explore the local unit and the aircraft they used in World War II. A less exemplary chapter of the war is recalled on a plaque near Parker, on the site of the Poston War Relocation Center for Japanese internees. RICHARD MAACK ARIZONA / T HE M OTHER R OAD P OWERHOUSE R OUTE 66 M USEUM H UALAPAI M OUNTAIN P ARK (14 MI ) O ATMAN (27 MI ) G RAND C ANYON S KYWALK (72 / / / / Gateway to Grand Canyon West, Home of the Skywalk MI ) MI ) / H OOVER D AM (74 Where the land meets the water and the sky, you can have fun in every direction. Lake Havasu City, “Home of the London Bridge” is just a short drive away from Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Las Vegas and has something for everyone. Whether it’s fishing, boating, hiking, golfing, off-roading or parasailing, we have it all! Hear t o c Histori 66 Route f www.golakehavasu.com • 800-2HAVASU 78 Arizona 2011 Official State Visitor’s Guide KINGMAN P OW E R H O U S E V I S I TO R C E N T E R 866-427-7866 K I N G M A N TO U R I S M . O R G http://www.golakehavasu.com http://www.KINGMANTOURISM.ORG http://www.golakehavasu.com http://www.KINGMANTOURISM.ORG

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Arizona 2011 Official Visitor's Guide

Arizona 2011 Official Visitor's Guide

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