Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Beyond Ludlow, Route 66 veers away from the freeway and bumps along past haunting
ruins spliced into the majestic landscape. Only a few landmarks interrupt the limitless ho-
rizon, most famously the sign of the well-preserved but defunct, 1950s
Roy's Motel &
Cafe
(there's a working gas station and small shop). It's east of
Amboy Crater
, an almost
perfectly symmetrical volcanic cinder cone that went dormant 600 years ago. You can
scramble up its west side (don't attempt it in high winds or summer heat).
Past Essex the Mother Road leaves National Trails Hwy and heads north on Goffs Rd
through Fenner, where it once more crosses I-40. In Goffs the one-room, 1914 Mission-
Rd; donations welcome; usually 9am-4pm Sat & Sun)
remains part of the best-preserved his-
toric settlement in the Mojave Desert.
Continue on Goffs Rd (US Hwy 95) to I-40 East and follow it to
Needles
. Named after
nearby mountain spires, it's the last Route 66 stop before the Arizona border, where the
Old Trails Arch Bridge carried the Joad family across the Colorado River in
The Grapes of
Wrath
.
Exit at J St and turn left, follow J St to W Broadway, turn right and then left on F St,
which runs into Front St, paralleling the railway track. Go past the old mule-train wagon
and 1920s Palm Motel to
El Garces
, a 1908 Harvey House that's been undergoing restora-
tions for years.
