Holbrook, Arizona, is a truly unique stop along Route 66. How many other towns have more shops selling petrified wood than you can count? How many have their main streets named Navajo Boulevard, Hopi Drive, and Apache Avenue? And how many have a street named—really—Bucket of Blood Street?
If you are driving I-40 west from Petrified Forest National Park, take the Holbrook exit for Business I-40. Turn right (southwest) on Navajo Boulevard, which was once Route 66. You’ll soon see a lot of vintage motels along this stretch.
We had a great lunch at Tom & Suzie's Diner at 2001 Navajo Boulevard.
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| Tom & Suzie's Diner in Holbrook |
Tom & Suzie’s has a great Route 66 vibe.
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| Interior of Tom & Suzie's Diner |
About a mile past Tom & Suzie’s, Navajo Boulevard reaches downtown Holbrook. The El Rancho Motel & Restaurant at 867 Navajo Boulevard has a mid-century vibe and great sign.
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| El Rancho Motel & Restaurant in Holbrook |
The Corral at 865 Navajo Boulevard is a 1940s saloon.
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| The Corral in Holbrook |
Just past the Corral, at 752 Navajo Boulevard, is the Pow Wow Trading Post with a terrific sign.
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| Pow Wow Trading Post in Holbrook |
About a half mile past the Pow Wow, Business I-40 (Route 66) turns right onto Hopi Drive. But keep going straight on Navajo Boulevard for some of the best sights in Holbrook! The first is just a block past Hopi Drive. It’s the Rainbow Rock Shop at 101 Navajo Boulevard.
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| Rainbow Rock Shop in Holbrook |
You may see “Dinos of Holbrook” marked on Google Maps or mentioned in Route 66 guidebooks. They’re at the Rainbow Rock Shop and, trust me, they’re everywhere!
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| Dinosaurs everywhere at the Rainbow Rock Shop! |
Just past the Rainbow Rock Shop, Navajo Boulevard crosses railroad tracks and becomes Apache Avenue. Just past the tracks, on the left, is the former Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Depot, built in 1883.
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| Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Depot in Holbrook |
Just past the railroad depot is the infamous Bucket of Blood Street, also known as Central Avenue. Obviously there’s a story here!
Holbrook was founded in 1881 and immediately became a classic Wild West town. The local cattle company hired some, um, unsavory cowboys who would come to Holbrook to blow off steam. Holbrook was a pretty violent place in its early years. It says something that no church was built in Holbrook in its first 30 years!
What’s now known as Bucket of Blood Street was Central Avenue, Holbrook’s commercial hub. Much of the area burned in a fire in 1888, and some Central Avenue buildings were rebuilt in stone. A strip of four buildings, all built between 1888 and 1890, remains across the street from the railroad depot.
On the right in the photo below, behind the tree, is the former Pioneer Saloon. On the left is the former Scorse Mercantile.
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| The former Scorse Mercantile and Pioneer Saloon on Bucket of Blood Street in Holbrook |
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| Cottage Saloon and Richardson & Co. Drug Store on Bucket of Blood Street |
The photo below shows these buildings in their heyday.
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| Early photo of Bucket of Blood Street (from PreserveArizona.org) |
To the left of Richardson & Co. Drug Store is a saloon originally named the Cottage Saloon. The photo below shows the saloon in 1890.
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| 1890 interior photo of Cottage Saloon (from TheRoadWanderer.net) |
A shootout at the Cottage Saloon in 1891 left two men dead and the floor described as slick with a bucket of blood. The saloon became known as Bucket of Blood Saloon. I’m not sure when Central Avenue became known as Bucket of Blood Street.
The saloon must have closed when Prohibition (of alcohol sales) came to Arizona in 1915. In 1923 a major flood resulted in Holbrook’s business district moving to the north side of the railroad tracks, where it remains today. I’ve read that all the buildings on Bucket of Blood Street were abandoned then. But I’ve also read that Bucket of Blood Saloon became a Route 66 tourist attraction. I'm not sure which is true.
A few other buildings survive on Bucket of Blood Street. Behind the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Depot is the Santa Fe Railway Depot, built in 1907.
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| Santa Fe Railway Depot on right (from Google Maps) |
Past the depots is Young T Company Warehouse, built in 1900.
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| Young T Company Warehouse on Bucket of Blood Street |
There are also a couple of stone houses that look like they have tales to tell.
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| Two buildings on the southeast edge of Bucket of Blood Street |
After walking around Bucket of Blood Street, we drove back to the intersection of Navajo Boulevard and Hopi Drive, turning left (west) on Hopi Drive (Route 66/Business I-40). There are more vintage motels and restaurants along Hopi Drive, including a Route 66 icon: Wigwam Village Motel #6. It was built in 1950.
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| Evening view of Wigwam Village in Holbrook |
Many Route 66 attractions have been restored or rehabilitated over the years. This Wigwam Motel has always been owned by the same family, and it has been preserved rather than restored or rehabilitated. The only alterations over the years have been the addition of televisions, air conditioning units, and wifi. Guest registration is still handled by phone and with paper forms.
We spend a night in Wigwam 2.
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| Wigwam #2 on the left (no, that truck is not what we drove!) |
Vintage vehicles scattered around the property really add to the retro vibe.
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| Daytime view of Wigwam Village in Holbrook |
The wigwams still have the original furniture. Our wigwam was very clean and comfortable.
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| Wigwam interior |
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| Wigwam bathroom (You have to tilt your head back to look in the mirror!) |
We left Holbrook by continuing on Hopi Drive (Business I-40/Route 66) a little over a mile to I-40 west. In about 3 miles, we exited at Geronimo Road to see the Geronimo Trading Post, which has been here since the 1940s.
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| Geronimo Trading Post west of Holbrook |
We continued on Geronimo Road for about a quarter mile. We then turned left on Main Street to cross I-40. Main Street bends right to become a frontage road along the south side of I-40. This stretch is also known as “Old Highway 66.” In about 3 miles, we turned right (north) on Main Street to cross I-40 and go through Joseph City. In another 3 miles, we reached the next I-40 interchange on the west side of Joseph City. We wanted to cross I-40 and take Old US 66 on the south side of I-40. But the road was closed when we visited in 2022, so we got back on I-40 west to the next exit, Jackrabbit Road. We turned right to cross I-40, then right again on Old US 66. Here is another Route 66 icon, the Jack Rabbit Trading Post.
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| Jack Rabbit Trading Post in Joseph City, Arizona |
Even more famous than the trading post is its iconic sign. There used to be billboards like this from here to Springfield, Missouri.
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| Jack Rabbit Trading Post sign |
There’s also a fiberglass rabbit that children are welcome to climb on.
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| Fiberglass rabbit at Jack Rabbit Trading Post |
Jack Rabbit Trading Post is an example of a Route 66 attraction that has struggled over the years because so many people stop to take photos but don’t buy anything. Please take time to stop and buy something. We bought water, snacks, and a coffee mug that I treasure.
We rejoined I-40, driving another 20 miles to our next stop: Winslow, Arizona.
As you can probably tell, we really enjoyed our visit to Holbrook and the region around it. Holbrook is a town with enormous potential to become a major Route 66 destination.
We had a somewhat unusual itinerary through this area that you might want to consider. We really wanted to spend nights at two iconic spots in this region: the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook and La Posada in Winslow. But they’re only about 30 miles apart! We decided to spend one day driving from Albuquerque to Holbrook, without stopping at Petrified Forest National Park. The next morning, we backtracked to Petrified Forest and spent the morning seeing it. We drove back to Holbrook for lunch, then toured Holbrook in the afternoon before driving the 30 miles to Winslow for the night. We then toured Winslow the following morning. Normally we avoid backtracking on Route 66, but this worked perfectly for us.
Note that, if you're driving to Holbrook from the southern end of Petrified Forest National Park, you'll enter Holbrook from the south rather than the north as described in this post. You'll come in on US 180. When it deadends, turn right (north) on Apache Avenue. In about 3/4 of a mile, Bucket of Blood Street will be on your right. Cross the railroad tracks, and the Rainbow Rock Shop will be on your left.
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