The Path to California from Kingman, Arizona on Route 66

The Path To California From Kingman

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As you begin your journey on south of Kingman on the Oatman Highway you will see little more than a dozen ram-shackle houses and hundreds of yucca plants, as you wonder when the road will begin its ascent into the mountains ahead. However, before you know it, you'll take a peek behind you to see that the elevation has fallen below, as you come upon the small road side stop of Cool Springs Camp. Gleaming in its appearance today, you might be surprised to learn it wasn’t so long ago that this wonderful camp had gone completely to ruin.

Cool Springs Camp

Built in 1926, the initial camp included a café and a Mobil Oil Station. The last stop before the steep Goldroad grade, the camp was a welcome respite to check vehicles' oil, water and gas, and grab a bite to eat.

This tattered windmill speaks to some very windy days

along the first stretch of the Oatman Highway south

from Kingman, Kathy Weiser, April, 2008.

This image available for photographic prints

and downloads HERE!

In the 1930's, James Walker moved his family from Huntington, Indiana to operate the camp, improving the station and building eight tourist cabins. However, sometime later, the couple divorced, leaving Mrs. Walker and the children to run the camp.

The camp continued to flourish and Mrs. Walker remarried a man named Floyd Spidell. After World War II, when people began to travel at a pace never seen before, the chicken dinners served at Cool Camp became famous for the many travelers making their way to California.

In the early 1950's, the Yucca Bypass was developed, which took its toll on the camp, as well as nearby Oatman, effectively turning it into a ghost town.

Sometime later, the Spidell's divorced, and Floyd was left to run the camp. In 1957, he was joined by his niece, Nancy Schoenerr and her husband Chuck. Though traffic had dwindled on the steep Sitgreaves Pass, they continued to operate the camp until 1966, when the entire camp burned completed to the ground, leaving nothing but remnants of the stone foundations. For the next several decades, the site was left abandoned and neglected.

However, in 2001, the camp was purchased by Ned and Michelle Leuchtner and the delicate restoration process was begun. In 2004, the Cool Springs Camp store was fully restored and opened to a new generation of Route 66'rs, featuring a gift shop and art gallery. The Leuchtner's continue to improve the property, and as of this writing (2008), are building a structure that resembles one of the old tourist cabins.

Cool Springs Camp in 1937, vintage postcard, Burton Frasher.

Cool Springs Camp today, April, 2008, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints

and downloads HERE!

Ed's Camp today, April, 2008, Kathy Weiser.

About a mile on down the road, you will come to the remains of Ed’s Camp which have, unfortunately, not faired as well. The camp belonged to a man named Ed Edgerton, a miner who came to the area in 1917. When Route 66 came through, he decided to build a trading post upon his property and set the foundation. However, traffic increased at such a rapid pace, he simply put a roof over the foundation, saying, “The hell with the building, we will leave it open.” Ed’s open air trading post was born. Soon the Kactus Kafe, a gas station, and cabins were added to the camp. Today, it sits lonely and abandoned, piled with iron bed frames, rocks, old tires, railroad ties, and other debris.

At this point, Oatman Highway begins to live up to its reputation as the road becomes narrow and steep along Sitgreaves Pass. In the early days of Route 66, when vehicles had little power, the only way up the 3,500 foot grade was sometimes by driving backwards. Driving in the lower gear of reverse solved the problem of early gravity-fed fuel systems.

For others, wreckers who were solely in the area to solve the problem, would haul the stranded motorists over the summit, no doubt making a tidy little profit. Some flatlanders, petrified by the steep incline and winding road, simply paid a local to drive their car over the summit.

Oatman Highway in 1936, courtesy Arizona

Department of Transportation.

Continuing onto the summit, you will begin to see old mines peeking from the hills, as well as the remains of miners' cabins, just before coming to the old site of Gold Road. Just beyond Gold Road, the historic town of Oatman beckons with its Old West attitude, which guarantees a fun filled day along old Route 66.

To Goldroad

Return to Route 66

To Kingman

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From the Rocky Mountain General Store

Mother Road Emporium - Route 66 - ah, what great memories she brings. Well, at the Rocky Mountain General Store, you will find all kinds of memoriabelia to bring you more! Our Mother Road Emporium has added dozens of Route 66 Postcards, Books, Historic Signs, photographic prints and more.

Postcards of the Road