| From RVbookstore.com Historic Highways
North and east of Kingman stretches the longest intact segment of the Mother Road in the country, about 100 miles joining such places as Hackberry, Peach Springs and Seligman. It still bears the number 66, now as a state highway. But my plan for the day was to head south and west down Oatman Highway, an original 50-odd mile section from pre-1952 alignments of Route 66. The scene south of Kingman was very reminiscent of old west movies with the highway curving through a canyon defined by blocky dark brown stone walls. It soon leveled out, then ran arrow straight across the sandy and arid Sacramento Valley. Straight horizontally anyway; vertically it rose and fell with each wash it crossed, like a mini-roller coaster. Then we headed into the Black Mountains, following the old mining road that twists through canyons and climbs several short but steep grades. This tortuous road was selected in the 1920s when they laid out the original 66 routing because Oatman gold mining was then at it’s peak. I was glad I wasn't towing my fifth wheel trailer here. After crossing Sitgreaves Pass, the road rapidly descended into the town of Oatman. Apparently this place had quite a reputation at one time. Like Tombstone and other old west mining towns, it is now a tourist attraction, though not as well known as some. Mock shootouts are staged in the main street several times daily. The Oatman Hotel is said to be haunted by the ghosts of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, who spent their honeymoon night there and returned frequently. Besides numerous souvenir shops and eateries, Oatman’s other attraction is the friendly band of burros that roam the streets looking for handouts. Many shops sell bags of carrots for burro snacks. We arrived just as the 1 p.m. shootout was taking place. With the street full of gunslingers, burros and tourists, traffic came to a standstill. We parked and joined the crowd. Back on the road a bit later, we drove several more miles of winding highway through mountain spires and canyons before the road leveled out again. The last few miles of Oatman Highway pass through the communities of Golden Shores and Topock. Their location along Topock Marsh and the Colorado River make them popular fishing and winter home locations. From there Route 66 crossed the Colorado and swung back to the northwest to Needles, but only a few original miles of that segment remain. We returned to our Bullhead City camp to get ready for New Years Eve. We'll continue with our Mother Road travels one of these days.
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