Historic Route 66 and Studebaker

This paved pullout in Petrified Forest marks the old Route 66 alignment. A raised roadbed and weathered telephone poles trace its route across the open desert, and a 1932 Studebaker is displayed beside the outdoor exhibit. It is almost six miles from the north entrance, with auto and bus/RV parking. Treat it as a brief pause on the park drive: the appeal is seeing the old road trace and car together.

U.S. Route 66 was designated in 1926 and officially decommissioned in 1985. It crossed eight states from Chicago to Santa Monica, carrying Dust Bowl migrants west in the 1930s and later becoming part of the postwar family road-trip era. Petrified Forest is the only national park that contains a section of the route. The outdoor exhibit, established in 2006, marks where the alignment meets the main park road.

The 1932 Studebaker body was added to the pullout after the original exhibit was established. Frank and Rhonda Dobell, owners of an automotive service business in Holbrook, donated the car to the National Park Service. Its presence turns the old alignment from a line across the landscape into a story about the people and vehicles that traveled it.

From the pullout, look across the open desert for the raised roadbed and the line of telephone poles. For a photo, include the Studebaker in the foreground with the old alignment behind it; that ties the car to the route instead of isolating it as an antique.