Stagecoach 66 Motel
Seligman, AZ
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

On the eastern edge of Seligman, the towering sign at the Stagecoach 66 Motel lets travelers know they have arrived in one of Route 66’s best-known little towns. With its odd angles, bright colors, and giant lettering stacked high above the road, this is one of those signs that seems perfectly at home on the Mother Road. There is no mistaking it for the entrance to a modern interstate motel.

Stagecoach 66 Motel
Seligman, AZ
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

The property opened in the early 1960s as the Bil-Mar-Den Motel and Restaurant, with 44 rooms for weary travelers crossing northern Arizona. Vintage advertisements promised refrigerated air conditioning, individually controlled heat, a heated swimming pool, and shuffleboard. After a hot afternoon behind the wheel, that heated pool may not have been the first thing on anyone’s mind, but refrigerated air conditioning certainly sounded good.

Stagecoach 66 Motel in 1998
Seligman, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The Bil-Mar-Den was built during the final busy years of Route 66, when nearly everyone traveling through this part of Arizona passed directly through Seligman. That all changed in 1978 when Interstate 40 bypassed town. Traffic along the old highway seemed to disappear almost overnight, leaving local motel owners, restaurant operators, and gas station attendants wondering who would be stopping next.

Somehow, the old motel kept going. It later became the Stagecoach 66, and the big roadside sign was updated to match the new western name. Under one longtime ownership, a panel on the sign proudly announced that the motel was “Norwegian Owned,” an unexpected bit of international flavor in the middle of the Arizona desert.

Stagecoach 66 Sign
Seligman, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

There is plenty more Route 66 fun around the property. One end of the motel is covered by a colorful stagecoach mural, while a collection of individually decorated rooms celebrates Elvis Presley, John Wayne, Harley-Davidson, Norway, and the U.S. Marines. It is the sort of place where choosing a room can become part of the road-trip adventure. An attached pizza restaurant and bar also gives tired travelers somewhere to settle in without climbing back into the car.

The old sign has changed several times over the years as names, owners, and advertised amenities came and went. Betty Boop eventually found her way onto one of the lower panels, joining the mix of stagecoaches, western imagery, and Route 66 decorations scattered around the motel. It may not look exactly as it did during the Bil-Mar-Den days, but it still has plenty of character. 08-06

Stagecoach 66 Motel in 2020
Seligman, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

UPDATE: Check out the Stagecoach 66 Motel between 1998 and 2020. The sign and motel still look great over 20 years later. 09-21

UPDATE: The Stagecoach 66 Motel remains open with about 40 rooms, including several of its themed accommodations. The swimming pool promoted in early advertisements no longer appears among the motel’s current amenities, but the giant roadside sign, stagecoach mural, restaurant, and unmistakable Route 66 atmosphere all remain. 09-26

More photos below

Stagecoach 66 Sign Seligman, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com	Stagecoach 66 Sign Seligman, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Knotty Pines Motel (Gone)
Winslow, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Travel east along old Route 66 in Winslow and there was no missing the Knotty Pines Motel and its classic roadside sign. A tall pine tree rose right through the middle, complete with twisting neon branches and a big “Knotty Pines” panel hanging below. Even the vacancy panel had a little knotty-pine flavor. The motel and sign are now gone. 09-21

The Knotty Pines opened in 1958 with 45 units, making it a fairly large roadside stop for its day. Owners Ralph Miller and Bill Martin advertised the rooms as “deluxe,” with individually controlled air conditioning, central heat, telephones and wall-to-wall carpeting. After a hot day crossing northern Arizona, that air conditioning probably sounded pretty deluxe indeed.

There was also a restaurant and cocktail lounge on the property known as the Bear’s Den. Between the pine-tree motel sign and a restaurant named for a bear, the whole place must have brought a little mountain-lodge atmosphere to this otherwise wide-open stretch of Route 66.

Knotty Pines Motel (Gone)
Winslow, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The motel stood near the eastern entrance to Winslow, where the old highway’s one-way streets come together. Route 66 follows East Third Street in the eastbound direction and Second Street heading west through town, which has caused some confusion over the old motel’s exact location.

Earlier accounts placed the Knotty Pines where Tom’s Tavern now stands. Route 66 site research, however, indicates that the motel actually occupied the south side of the highway where the Sonic Drive-In stands today. Tom’s Tavern is across the road on the former site of the P.T.’s Motel. Two vanished motels facing each other across Route 66 makes this corner a bit of a roadside archaeology project.

UPDATE: The Knotty Pines Motel was demolished and its tree-shaped neon sign was removed. The Bear’s Den is also gone, and the old motel site has been completely redeveloped. 09-26