Winslow, Arizona: Destination Guide
Winslow spent decades as a lyric — the Eagles' "Take It Easy" corner — and treating it as a photo stop sells it short. This was a Santa Fe Railway division point, home to a Mary Colter-designed hotel that hosted presidents and film stars, and the gateway to some of the Southwest's best-preserved archaeology. Give it a full day, or a weekend, and Winslow becomes one of the most rewarding detours on Route 66.
Standin' on the Corner and La Posada
Standin' on the Corner Park (corner of Kinsley and Second, 1999) puts the song on the map: a bronze figure, the "Take It Easy" mural, and a red flatbed Ford. Across the street rises La Posada Hotel (1930) — Mary Colter's last and favorite railroad hotel, restored to its gardens, art collection, and the acclaimed Turquoise Room restaurant. The Old Trails Museum, two blocks south, reads like Winslow's attic: Harvey Girls, Route 66, the transcontinental air mail route, and the trading-post era.
Homolovi State Park and Meteor Crater
Homolovi State Park, just north of town, protects ancestral Hopi pueblo sites along the Little Colorado River — two of the largest villages have sidewalk access, and petroglyph panels line the shorter trails. Meteor Crater, 18 miles west off I-40, is the best-preserved impact crater on Earth: nearly 4,000 feet across, 560 feet deep, with rim walks, the Barringer Space Museum, and guided rim tours. Between them, Rock Art Ranch (by arrangement) runs a two-mile canyon holding an estimated 3,000 petroglyphs on a working ranch.
Route 66 and the railroad
Winslow's downtown carries both the Mother Road and the main line: the Route 66 street murals, the restored Hubbell Trading Post building that houses the visitor center, and the Southwest Chief — Amtrak's Chicago-to-Los Angeles train — stopping daily at La Posada's depot.
When to visit Winslow
Winslow is high-desert country: April–June brings the clearest skies and the Standin' on the Corner anniversary festival; July–August runs hot at midday with dramatic monsoon skies (plan outdoor sites for morning); September–October is the prime window for Homolovi and Meteor Crater; winter is cold but crisp, with the smallest crowds and the year-round Turquoise Room dining room as the evening anchor.
Getting to Winslow from Phoenix Sky Harbor
Winslow sits on I-40 about 173 door-to-door miles from Phoenix Sky Harbor via I-17 north and I-40 east through Flagstaff — typically 2 hours 45 minutes in normal traffic. Our private shuttle picks up at any Winslow address, the La Posada Hotel, or the Winslow Amtrak depot, and runs door-to-door both ways. See our Phoenix to Flagstaff shuttle and Flagstaff to Grand Canyon shuttle pages for the same Northern Arizona corridor, or book directly below.
