Cost: Free

From U.S. 89 in Page, follow the road through town and at the second roundabout head toward the Glen Canyon Bridge. Continue across the bridge and park at the Carl Hayden Visitor Center.

From there, visitors can walk back out across the bridge for expansive views of the Colorado River and the canyon below.

Completed in 1959, the Glen Canyon Bridge was constructed to carry U.S. 89 across the river during the building of Glen Canyon Dam, replacing a ferry crossing and establishing a permanent route through the canyon.

Together with the dam, the bridge represents a defining moment in the development of Page, reflecting an era of mid-century engineering, infrastructure, and expansion that reshaped how people moved through this region.

Cost: Free

From U.S. 89 in Page, a short, well-marked turn leads to the Glen Canyon Dam Overlook, where visitors can walk a short path to a viewpoint above the Colorado River.

From here, the scale of Glen Canyon Dam becomes fully visible. Completed in the early 1960s, the dam transformed the canyon and led directly to the creation of Lake Powell, as well as the founding and growth of Page itself.

Just downstream, the Glen Canyon Bridge—completed in 1959—was built to carry U.S. 89 across the canyon during dam construction, replacing a ferry crossing and establishing a reliable route through the region.

Together, the dam and bridge represent a defining moment in the modern development of the Southwest, where engineering, infrastructure, and landscape intersect on a massive scale.

Cost: $10 (City of Page parking fee per vehicle)

Just outside Page along U.S. 89, a clearly marked turn leads to the Horseshoe Bend parking area. From there, a well-defined trail of approximately 1.5 miles round trip crosses open desert terrain to one of the most iconic viewpoints in the Southwest.

At the overlook, the Colorado River makes a dramatic 270-degree curve nearly 1,000 feet below the rim, carving through the sandstone to create the formation that gives Horseshoe Bend its name. The scale of the landscape becomes fully apparent at the edge, where the canyon opens in a sweeping, uninterrupted view.

This area lies within the traditional lands of the Diné people. Visitors are encouraged to remain on designated trails and viewing areas, respect the landscape, and follow posted safety guidelines, as the cliffs are steep and largely unguarded.

Horseshoe Bend serves as a defining arrival point into Page, where the surrounding canyon country reveals itself in one of its most recognizable forms.

Cost: Free

Back on U.S. 89, the road begins a noticeable climb, with the mountain rising close on one side and a steep drop on the other. Before reaching Page, a designated pullout at Antelope Pass Vista offers travelers a chance to stop and take in expansive views toward the Vermilion Cliffs.

Beyond the vista, the drive continues into Antelope Pass itself, where the highway narrows and enters a deep cut through the Echo Cliffs, with sandstone walls rising sharply on both sides.

Just beyond the pass, the route crosses the Waterhole Canyon Bridge, a striking mid-century structure built in the 1950s with a futuristic, space-age design. It reflects an era when Page was first established during the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, a time when the city embraced bold, atomic-era optimism in its identity and design.

Together, the overlook, the pass, and the bridge create a memorable gateway into Page, marking the transition from open highway to the more defined and engineered landscape of a town born from one of the Southwest’s most ambitious projects.

Cost: Free

A short detour off U.S. 89 leads to Navajo Bridge at Marble Canyon, one of the most significant historic river crossings in northern Arizona. The original steel arch bridge opened in 1929, replacing a remote ferry system and creating a reliable route across the Colorado River.

This stretch of road, now designated as U.S. 89A, was once the original alignment of U.S. 89 before the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and the establishment of Page in 1957 shifted the primary route east.

In 1995, a second bridge was constructed to carry modern vehicle traffic, leaving the original bridge open to pedestrians. Today, visitors can walk across the historic span and look directly down into Marble Canyon, where the Colorado River flows far below. The bridge is also one of the best places in the region to spot California condors, often seen gliding through the canyon beneath the structure.

Cost: $ (Low admission fee; subject to change, seasonal hours vary)

Located in Tuba City, the Explore Navajo Interactive Museum offers a structured and immersive introduction to Diné history, culture, and worldview. Designed as a journey through life, the museum is organized around the four sacred directions, guiding visitors through themes of land, language, history, and tradition.

Exhibits include cultural artifacts, interpretive displays, and a full-scale traditional hogan, offering insight into ways of life that continue today. Visitors typically move through the museum in a clockwise path, reflecting the natural order and cultural framework central to Diné philosophy.

As an official Navajo Nation cultural site, this stop provides important context for the landscapes and communities encountered along U.S. 89, offering a deeper understanding of the region beyond what can be seen from the road.

Cost: Free to visit (shopping and dining available)

Located along U.S. 89 at the crossing of the Little Colorado River, Cameron Trading Post has been in continuous operation since 1916, making it one of the most enduring and recognizable trading posts in northern Arizona.

For more than a century, it has served as a key stop for both travelers and Navajo families, offering food, lodging, and a marketplace for authentic Native American rugs, jewelry, and crafts. The historic complex reflects the role trading posts played as centers of exchange, connection, and daily life across the region.

Adjacent to the property is the original Cameron Bridge, constructed in 1911 and recognized as the oldest suspension bridge in Arizona. Once a critical crossing over the Little Colorado River, it represents an important piece of early transportation infrastructure that helped establish this route long before modern highways.

Together, the trading post and bridge form a single, cohesive stop that blends living culture with the physical history of travel along this corridor.

Cost: $ (Food purchase; cash recommended, hours may vary)

Located along U.S. 89 near Cameron, HWY 89 Yummy Shack is a small, family-run roadside stand known for its frybread and Navajo tacos. It’s an informal stop where travelers pull off the highway, order at the window, and enjoy their food outdoors.

Frybread holds an important place in Diné history, originating during the 1860s when Navajo people were forcibly displaced and given government rations such as flour, sugar, and lard. Over time, it became both a food of survival and a symbol of resilience, still made and shared today in many forms.

This stop offers a chance to support a local family business while experiencing a food deeply tied to the history and culture of the region. Hours can vary, so it’s best approached as an opportunistic stop along the route.

Cost: $ (Included with Navajo Tribal Park entry; subject to change)

Continuing west along Highway 64 from the Little Colorado River Gorge Overlook, Shadow Mountain Viewpoint offers an additional perspective into the canyon, just a few miles further down the road.

Here, short walking paths lead from the parking area to blue-railed viewing platforms that extend out over the edge, offering elevated views more than 3,000 feet above the riverbed. Interpretive panels provide insight into both the geology of the canyon and the cultural significance of the land to the Diné people.

With fewer visitors and a slightly different angle into the gorge, Shadow Mountain provides a quieter, more contemplative stop, complementing the main overlook nearby.

Amenities include waterless restrooms, picnic tables, ramadas, and local vendors offering handmade Navajo jewelry and crafts. Visitors are encouraged to explore respectfully and follow posted guidelines while on Navajo Nation land.

Cost: $ (Approx. $8 per person, Navajo Tribal Park fee; subject to change)

Just before reaching Cameron, a left turn onto Highway 64 leads to a short detour toward the Little Colorado River Gorge. Within minutes, the landscape opens to one of the most dramatic and accessible canyon views in northern Arizona.

Here, the Little Colorado River has carved a deep, narrow gorge through layers of limestone and sandstone, creating sheer cliffs that drop thousands of feet below the rim. Designated viewpoints allow visitors to step out and take in expansive views of the canyon, often without the crowds found at Grand Canyon overlooks.

This area is part of a Navajo Tribal Park. Visitors may encounter local vendors offering handmade jewelry and crafts, and are encouraged to explore respectfully, support local artisans, and follow posted guidelines while on Navajo Nation land.

Cost: $25 Per Car

Continuing north, the landscape opens into a wide, high desert where the terrain feels quieter and more expansive. Within this setting, Wupatki Pueblo rises from the red earth, its stone walls standing in sharp contrast to the surrounding landscape.

Built over 800 years ago, Wupatki was once part of a network of communities that thrived in this region through trade, agriculture, and careful adaptation to a challenging environment. The site includes multi-story masonry structures and a rare prehistoric ballcourt, all accessible by a short, well-defined walking path.

Wupatki remains culturally significant to multiple Indigenous communities, including the Hopi, Zuni, and Diné. Visitors are asked to remain on designated paths and experience the site with respect, recognizing that this is not only a place of history, but one that continues to hold meaning today.

Cost: Free (view from roadside; do not enter private or unsafe structures)

As U.S. 89 continues north, it becomes one of the primary corridors into the Navajo Nation, where the roadside begins to reflect a different kind of history. This stretch is dotted with trading posts, both active and abandoned, along with unusual roadside artifacts that hint at earlier eras of travel.

Trading posts played an important role across the Navajo Nation, serving as places of exchange, communication, and connection between local communities and travelers moving through the region. Many of these stops developed along early routes that existed before U.S. 89 was formally designated in the late 1920s, helping shape the corridor long before it became a numbered highway.

Along this stretch, Sacred Mountain Trading Post stands as one of the most recognizable remnants, a roadside stop dating back to the late 1930s that once served as a gas station, store, and outlet for Native American crafts. It became a familiar landmark on a remote section of highway and later appeared briefly in the 1969 film Easy Rider. Nearby, Hank’s Trading Post remains in operation, while Wauneta Trading Post has long since closed, its weathered structure offering a glimpse into the region’s mid-century travel era. You may also notice roadside curiosities like the Wupatki Spirit Totem, whose origins remain unclear but have become part of the local landscape.

These locations are best experienced as brief, observational stops where safe, offering a glimpse into the layered history of travel, commerce, and community along this route.

Check-in anywhere within a 5-mile radius of of Sacred Mountain Trading Post to receive your points.

Cost: $25 Per Vehicle

Just north of Flagstaff, the landscape begins to shift as the dense pine forest thins slightly along U.S. 89, opening the way toward higher desert terrain. A short turn off the highway leads into Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, where the environment changes more dramatically.

Formed less than a thousand years ago, Sunset Crater is one of the youngest volcanic features in the Southwest. The Lava Flow Trail offers a short, mostly level loop that winds through hardened lava fields, spatter cones, and seasonal bursts of wildflowers that somehow thrive in the volcanic soil. The contrast between the surrounding forest and the volcanic landscape is immediate once you step onto the trail.

This stop offers a clear and accessible way to experience the forces that shaped this region, providing a brief but memorable look at a landscape still marked by relatively recent geological activity.

Leaving Route 66, Flagstaff’s historic alignment quietly transitions into U.S. 89 at Country Club Drive. From here, the journey begins to shift. What was once a main corridor of American road travel gives way to a quieter, less recognized highway that still carries the same spirit of movement, distance, and discovery.

Mary’s Cafe sits just north of this transition, where generations of travelers have turned off the road for something simple and lasting. Family-owned since 1961 and still run by the descendants of its founder, Mary Lund, the wood-paneled, cash-only café serves classic American comfort food using recipes passed down by memory rather than written menus.

Locals, truckers, and road-trippers share space here in a setting that feels unchanged by time. It’s the kind of place that doesn’t recreate nostalgia — it simply never left it. For those leaving Route 66 and heading north, Mary’s marks the beginning of a different kind of road, one that feels less defined but just as deeply rooted in the history of travel across the Southwest.