By admin 
TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – As Route 66 marks its 100th anniversary, a travel expert says some of the best stops along the Mother Road are just a short drive from home for Arizona families.
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Julie Thompson with Western National Parks said travelers from around the world make the Route 66 trip a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but Arizonans have access to the same destinations with far less planning and expense.
“The majority of travelers who come here to Arizona, they’re coming for these places,” Thompson said. “So like, live it like a local, but live it well.”
Flagstaff as a home base
Thompson recommends making Flagstaff the starting point for a weekend trip. From there, three national monuments are within an hour’s drive of each other.
“Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon, and Wupatki — they’re all National Monuments,” Thompson said. “They’re within an hour’s drive of each other.”
She said the goal is not simply to check parks off a list, but to slow down and take in places that cannot be found anywhere else.
“Even if that’s just like a picnic lunch at the base of a dormant volcano — which can you get a better picnic spot, you know,” Thompson said.
Junior Ranger program
For families with children, Thompson said the free Junior Ranger program at national park sites is a highlight of any visit.
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“The joy that you see in a young child when they get sworn in as a Junior Ranger, you would think it was made up,” Thompson said. “You would think somebody was staging it. That’s how absolutely joyous it is, and they will take their role as a Junior Ranger so seriously.”
Heading east or west on Route 66
Thompson said low-cost stops are available in both directions from Flagstaff. Heading east, travelers can visit the corner in Winslow, Arizona, Meteor Crater, and Petrified National Forest. Heading west, she pointed to Mojave National Preserve.
“I think it is one of the unsung heroes of the National Park Service,” Thompson said of Mojave National Preserve. “Absolutely beautiful, but it has everything for everybody. It’s got dunes, history, historic railroad station, wildlife, caves, hiking, night sky.”
Thompson said whether the trip is a single weekend based in Flagstaff or a longer drive across northern Arizona, some of the country’s most iconic road trip stops are just a couple tanks of gas away.
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