Probably the most evocative stretch of old Route 66 runs northeast from Kingman through the high-desert Hualapai (“WALL-ah-pie”) Valley, along the Santa Fe Railroad tracks through all-but-abandoned towns bypassed by the “modern” Interstate world. Leaving Kingman on a 20-mile-long straightaway, the road (now named Hwy-66) bends back south around the Peacock Mountains through the old railroad town of Hackberry, then continues east across a small section of the Hualapai Indian Reservation, centered around the village of Valentine. Another 10 miles east brings you to the town of Truxton, where the Frontier Cafe (928/769-2238) on the south side of the highway is the one reliable place to eat in this sparsely populated region—good pie and great chat, open daily, with a few rooms as well. Grandma’s Bar across the highway gives you another chance to sample local lore and lifeways.
Another mile east is the boundary of the main Hualapai Reservation lands. The 700-strong tribe has its community center at the town of Peach Springs, which marks the halfway point of this 90-mile, old-roads loop and offers at least one reason to stop: the comfortable Hualapai Lodge ($70–115; 928/769-2230) hotel and “River Runners’” restaurant, right on Route 66. Apart from this, Peach Springs is mostly a prefab Bureau of Indian Affairs housing project with few services, though there is a photogenic old Route 66 filling station at the center of town.
