THERE are 191 turns in eight miles,' says the woman, who smiles as she warns of the Oatman Highway just up the road. She is a clerk in Cool Springs Station, the last roadside stop before this treacherous part of Route 66 in north-west Arizona. Just stick to the speed limit and there's nothing to worry about.' She knows the face of a concerned traveller when she sees one.
I'm right to be worried. Dangerous Roads, a website dedicated to highlighting the world's most difficult routes, describes this stretch as having 'very few guardrails giving you no leeway for error'. It is, indeed, technical, with steep drops that will put the fear in your passenger if they peer out of the window. It's also high-the summit of Sitgreaves Pass topping out at 3,595ft above sea level. Those brave enough to drive it will be rewarded with a visit to the Gold Rush town of Oatman itself located after the summit. They can also brag that they've driven one of the oldest stretches of Route 66.
The Oatman Highway is very different to much of Route 66, which once followed a broadly diagonal line of tarmac from Chicago, Illinois, all the way to Los Angeles, California. The route was intended to make cross country travel easier, as well as boosting the income of the small towns it severed. The route was decommissioned nearly 40 years ago in 1985 and celebrates its centenary in 2026, so what does 'the Main Street of America' look like today?
Denne historien er fra September 25, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra September 25, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
