Experience the best of Kingman

Kingman lies in the high desert of Mohave County between the Hualapai and Cerbat mountains, beside the railway line that created it in the 1880s. Route 66 runs through the middle of town as Andy Devine Avenue, lined with old motels, diners and neon signs, and the former powerhouse holds a museum of the road. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were married here in 1939.

West of town, the winding road to Oatman, a former gold-mining village where wild burros wander the main street, follows an old stretch of Route 66 over Sitgreaves Pass. Hualapai Mountain Park has pine woods and cabins above the desert, and Hoover Dam and Lake Mead lie a drive to the north-west, with Grand Canyon West on Hualapai land beyond.

Diners serve big breakfasts and burgers in the Route 66 tradition, with steaks and Mexican plates alongside. At about 1,000 metres, Kingman is cooler than the low desert, with hot summers and a dusting of snow in some winters.