Drive to the bottom of the Grand Canyon off Route 66
Route 66 to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is one of the most visited natural phenomenons on the planet. Every year millions of people visit this incredible place but did you know you can drive to the bottom of the Grand Canyon off Route 66 and few people ever do?
Diamond Creek Road is located in Peach Springs, Arizona and leads you from that city on old Route 66 to the bottom of the Grand Canyon right to the Colorado River.
Diamond Creek
The road essentially follows Diamond Creek which is a tributary of the Colorado River but which has attracted humans for thousands of years. Who wouldn’t want a reliable source of water in an otherwise-desolate part of the world?
The area has been home to the Hualapai Tribue for centuries due to the ability to have a reliable source of water. The Tribue built diversion dams along the creek to help irrigate fields so they could use this high-elevation land for farming. They also mined a rich deposit of red mineral pigment from a cave along the reek which provided them with a valuable commodity in the vast trade network of the Southwest.
The Hualapai Tribe
The road to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Diamond Creek Road, is on the land under the Hualapai Tribal Nation. The name Hualapai translates into the “people of the tall pines.” While you might think of Arizona as a desert, and much of it is, that desert here is very high elevation and, indeed, there are tall pines.
To access the road you’ll stop at the Hualapai Game and Fish office where you get a permit to traverse the road.
Do not skip this step - the rangers on the Hualapai land are very friendly people but they are also plentiful. In fact we encountered several rangers who were outstanding ambassadors of their lands but were also quite diligent in making sure we had the right permits to be on that land.
The permits are $16.50 per person to access the lands and traverse Diamond Creek Road.
You can also get a camping permit to camp with your van down by the river for $22.00 per person and fishing permits are available for $11.00 per tag.
The Hualapai Tribe has about 2,300 members with about 1,400 living on the tribal land which occupies about a million acres within Coconio, Yavapai and Mohave counties in Arizona. That land includes about 108 miles of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River.
Up in Peach Springs the Hualapai Tribe has a very nice general store which has a lot of great supplies at reasonable prices. They also offer a bakery and coffee. There is also gasoline available - to be honest I didn’t notice if diesel was or not. The store is immaculately kept.
The Hualapai Fish and Game office is just a few buildings away from the store and offers the permits to drive to the bottom of the Grand Canyon as well as hunting and fishing tags and such.
There is also a tribute to veterans across the street from the store which you will want to pay a visit to. It’s very nicely done.
While the Hualapai Tribe has no casinos they do own the Grand Canyon West experience which includes the glass outcropping where you can walk above the Grand Canyon. There is also a zip lining experience.
Diamond Creek Road
When we went the road was really well maintained and there were several front end loader tractors on the side of the road so the Tribe is clearly prepared for bad weather. We went in February of 2026 and there was still some snow on the ground but the road itself was clear.
I’ve been told that there are times when the road can become more challenging and the canyon and water from Diamond Creek would certainly make that a possibility. The recommendation is for a high-clearance vehicle but on our adventure the road was pretty much passable by anything, but that can change of course.
You do change elevations from a start around 5,000 feet to the floor of the Grand Canyon at about 1,450 feet. Overall it’s about 22 miles from the convenience store to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
Tourism in the Grand Canyon
Arguably the first first western people who created a tourism business at the Grand Canyon wee Julius an Cecelia Farlee who operated a hotel at Diamond Creek. The area had been explored by the U.S. Army with First Lieutenant Joseph Christmas leading an expedition in the area in 1857-58. These were the first known Anglo people to reach the Colorado River inside the Grand Canyon.
The Farlee Hotel was the first to serve tourism to the Grand Canyon
In 1883 Julias and Cecelia Farlee arrived in Peach Springs and opened a hotel about a mile from the Colorado River at the confluence of Peach Springs Canyon and Diamond Creek.
The Farlees ran a stage line between Peach Springs and the hotel which made this the first proper hotel and tourist business in the Grand Canyon. It happened that the hotel was very close to where Ives had camped 25 years before. The business lasted until about 1900.
There are a lot of rafting companies that will take you along the Colorado River and many of them end their tours at the base of this road. In fact, when we were there a tour was coming to a close and the participants were packing their gear with big smiles on their faces.
Funny thing, the tour company they were using had driven a box truck to the river’s edge owing to how decent this road is. The participants were also just overjoyed with their experience and were highly recommending the river rafting way of getting here too.
Why you want to do this
The Grand Canyon is one of the most popular natural spots in the world. We have visited by train, which is also pretty great, but there is nothing like heading into the Grand Canyon with the walls of the Canyon itself rising beside you.
No matter how many videos and photos I’ve seen of the Grand Canyon nothing can adequately describe the experience of seeing this incredible natural wonder in person. That’s true of driving to the bottom as well - the views are indescribable.
Bring a picnic lunch and spend the day at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Dogs are welcome to splash around in the Colorado River (on leash) although the ones we brought took one step into the water and chose not to continue. Again, it was February and the air temperature was cool and the water must have been downright cold.
You might think that this is a popular way to see the Grand Canyon but, when we went, there were few others sharing the adventure.
Since the Colorado River was our destination and there are nice, wide sandy beaches at the end of the drive the area is also frequented for those who are rafting down the river. In fact we saw a group of rafters ending their adventure while we were enjoying ours. The proof that the road was quite passable was the box truck they had for their supplies - I didn’t have box truck at the bottom of the Grand Canyon on my Bingo card that day. Who knew?
There are also nice picnic areas at the bottom and we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch while the Colorado River babbled past us and the walls of the Grand Canyon made for an incredible backdrop to this wonderful adventure.
Other things to see in the area
