Grand Canyon Caverns

Some attractions are found by falling into them. In 1927 a cowboy and woodcutter named Walter Peck, cutting across this ground on his way to a poker game, nearly dropped into a hole in the desert. He came back with ropes and lanterns, bought the land expecting gold, and learned his ore was only iron oxide, so he turned to charging visitors a quarter to be lowered into the dry limestone caverns instead. The gamble paid off in a different currency: the caverns became a fixture on Route 66, drawing travelers underground to this day.

What the plaque says

Grand Canyon Caverns. In 1927 Walter Peck, a cowboy and wood cutter, was walking through this area on his way to play poker when he nearly fell into a hole in the ground. The next morning Peck and his friends returned to the hole with lanterns and ropes. Peck was lowered into the hole. He purchased the property and began making preparations for a gold mining operation. Once the assay reports were completed, he learned that his potential mother load was iron oxide. Peck, being an entrepreneur, then began charging 25 cents to lower early travelers and explorers down into the caverns. Today travelers worldwide come to visit these dry caverns.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Grand Canyon Caverns — 1.0 mi
  The largest dry cavern in the country, 210 feet under Route 66 — a Cold War fallout shelter, the deepest hotel room in America, and a Hualapai burial place the tourists once mistook for a sideshow.
• Peach Springs — 13 mi
  The capital of the Hualapai Nation — the People of the Tall Pines — on Route 66 at the rim of the Grand Canyon, gateway to Grand Canyon West and the only road to the Colorado's floor.
• Seligman — 25 mi
  The town that refused to die when the interstate went around it — a barber's crusade made this the Birthplace of Historic Route 66, and the reason the Mother Road still runs.