Route 66 Wednesdays; Jack Rabbit Trading Post

On the western outskirts of Joseph City in Navajo County on the north of bank of the Little Colorado River is a old US Route 66 stop known as the Jack Rabbit Trading Post. Finding the Jack Rabbit Trading Post is obvious given there is a large billboard denoting the site.

What "it is" is a large Jack Rabbit statue out front of Jack Rabbit Trade Post.

Jack Rabbit Trade Post dates back to 1949 and was opened by James Taylor in a former AT & SF Railroad Building.

Apparently the Jack Rabbit statue was meant to lure roadside travelers to the Jack Rabbit Trade Post. The Jack Rabbit statue on site today is a fiberglass construction and has been replaced various times. Previous Jack Rabbit statues can be seen on theroute-66.com.

theroute-66 on the Jack Rabbit Trading Post Statue

The Jack Rabbit Trading Post is located south of I-40/US 180 exit 239. Regarding the routing of US 66 in Joseph City it continued east over Manilla Wash and would have originally cut over the travel lanes of I-40/US 180 onto Main Street. East of downtown Main Street and US 66 would have crossed back over the travel lanes of I-40/US 180 and ran on the southern frontage road which is sometimes called "Old Highway 66." Joseph City was bypassed by I-40 some time between after 1977 as the historic alignment still appears on a topographical map of the area on historaerials.

Interestingly Joseph City wasn't settled as a rail siding of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. Joseph City was settled by a Mormon party in 1876 along the Little Colorado River. Joseph City was one of four settlements that the Mormons founded, the others were; Sunset, Brigham City, and Obed. Joseph City is the only remaining settlement out of the four settled in 1876. Brigham City and Sunset were located north of present day Winslow whereas Obed was located approximately three miles south of Joseph City.

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US Route 199

I was planning on driving US Route 199 for the third time this weekend. However "external factors" have pushed my visit to US Route 199 back for the time being. While I can't do a driving log for US Route 199 at the moment I can still write about it's history.

This blog will be slightly different from the usual flair for Gribblenation. Generally I have a stockpile of my own road photos from which to draw from. In the case of US Route 199 I was far more focused on hiking photos during my first two visits in 2014 and 2016 than the actual highway. At some point I will add a series of modern driving log photos but for the time being I will draw from numerous other sources to illustrate US Route 199.

Part 1; the History of US Route 199

Present US Route 199 is a 80.05 mile highway which connects US Route 101 in Crescent City of Del Norte, California northeast to Interstate 5 in Grants Pass of Josephine County, Oregon. US Route 199 is one of the original US Routes and …

Trans-Sierra Highways; California State Route 108 over Sonora Pass

In the fall of 2016 and late summer of 2020 I took a series of drives over mountain passes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Both traps culminated by way of crossing over the Sierra Nevada Mountains westbound by way of the 9,624 foot Sonora Pass on California State Route 108.
California State Route 108 ("CA 108") is a 99 mile east/west State Highway which originates at US Route 395 in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains. CA 108 crosses the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains by way of the 9,624 foot Sonora Pass and terminates at CA 99 co-signed with CA 132 in downtown Modesto. CA 108 has a 21 mile unconstructed segment which would extend it to Interstate 5 near Crow's Landing if completed.
Part 1; the history of Sonora Pass and California State Route 108Much of the early history of Sonora Pass is described by way of two informational plaques at the actual Pass. The first documented crossing of Sonora Pass was in October of 1841 by way of a course slightly due nor…

The Tioga Pass Road

Last Summer the Tioga Pass Road over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Yosemite National Park opened late due to the heavy snow pack from the previous winter. Approaching the start of July the Park Service finally had cleared the road to Tioga Pass. That being the case I headed up shortly after the 4th of July holiday during a lull in the tourist season.

The Tioga Pass Road runs from the Big Oak Flat Road at Crane Flat east to US Route 395 ("US 395"). The Tioga Pass Road is largely within the boundary of Yosemite National Park but is maintained by Caltrans as California State Route 120 ("CA 120") east of the Tioga Pass entry station to US 395. The National Park Service maintained portion of the Tioga Pass Road serve as a implied connection between the two segments of CA 120. The Tioga Pass Road is the highway mountain pass in California reaching Tioga Pass at 9,945 feet above sea level.

Part 1; the history of the Tioga Pass Road

Tioga Pass first obtained notewort…

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