East of Flagstaff, following old Route 66 can be a frustrating task, since much of the roadway is blocked or torn up or both. Unlike the long stretches found in the western half of the state, here the old road exists only as short segments running through towns, and most of the way you’re forced to follow the freeway, stopping at exit after exit to get on and off the old road. Among the places worth considering is the one town mentioned out of sequence in the Route 66 song: “Flagstaff, Arizona, don’t forget Winona,” which, alas, is now little more than a name on the sign at I-40 exit 211.
East of Winona, the route drops swiftly from the cool pines onto the hot red desert, but old-road fanatics will want to take the time to explore what remains of two old-time tourist traps lining the next 20 miles of highway.
First of these is Twin Arrows, where a pair of giant but decaying red arrows point toward a long-closed café, right off the freeway at exit 219. Continuing east, approaching exit 230, the freeway crosses deep Diablo Canyon, where an old Route 66 bridge still spans the dry wash, and the walls of a half-dozen bleached buildings are all that’s left of the Two Guns Trading Post, just south of exit 230. A roadside attraction par excellence, Two Guns had a zoo full of roadrunners, Gila monsters, and coyotes, and one building still has a sign saying Mountain Lions—all for the entertainment of passing travelers. According to various reports down the Route 66 grapevine, Two Guns has been on the verge of reopening in recent years, but most of the time the old road is blocked by a sign reading No Trespassing by Order of Two Guns Sheriff Department. Probably a good thing, since the old buildings are all dangerously close to collapse. It’s an evocative site, nonetheless, and photogenic in the right light.
