Canyon Diablo, Arizona
- Ghost town
- In Canyon Diablo, Arizona
- 3.1 mi from Route 66
Canyon Diablo, now a ghost town, lies near Winslow, AZ, on the rim of the gorge of the same name, about 3 miles off the old road. It began in 1880 as a camp for railroad crews stuck at the canyon while a bridge was built, and legend paints it as one of the roughest towns in the West. Once trains crossed in 1882, the camp emptied. Foundations, one grave and old bridge footings remain.
What is Canyon Diablo?
Canyon Diablo is a deep, narrow cut in the high desert of Coconino County, and the town grew on its east rim where the railroad had to cross. Today the site holds scattered stone foundations, the ruins of a later trading post, the carved stone footings of the first railroad bridge and the heavily marked grave of trader Hermann Wolf, who died in 1899. Freight trains still thunder over a double-track bridge that the Santa Fe finished in 1947.
History of Canyon Diablo
Crews of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad reached the canyon in 1880 and could go no farther until a bridge was in place. Money troubles slowed the work, and the camp is said to have swelled to about 2,000 people. Writers later described a main street nicknamed Hell Street, lined with saloons, gambling halls and brothels, and town marshals who did not last a month; one story says the first was buried the evening he took the job. Much of this lore was written down long afterward, so treat it as legend rather than record.
The bridge was finished and trains crossed in 1882. The crews moved west and the town died almost at once, though a trading post hung on into the early 1900s. The name lives on in science: in 1891 iron fragments from Meteor Crater, about 11 miles southeast, were named for the Canyon Diablo post office, and they are still called the Canyon Diablo meteorite.
Visiting Canyon Diablo: tips
Leave I-40 at Exit 230, Two Guns, and follow a rough, rocky dirt road about 3 miles north. A high-clearance vehicle is best; an ordinary car can manage only when the road is dry and in good shape. There are no services at the site, so bring water. Leave the grave and ruins as you find them. Pair the trip with the Canyon Diablo Bridge at Two Guns, about 3.5 miles away, Meteor Crater, about 11 miles, or Twin Arrows, about 9 miles.
On the map
Full mapCanyon Diablo with the 6 closest stops. Tap a marker for details.
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Stops near Canyon Diablo
All of Arizona
3.4 mi from Canyon Diablo
3.5 mi from Canyon Diablo
9.1 mi from Canyon Diablo
10.7 mi from Canyon Diablo
11.4 mi from Canyon Diablo
16.1 mi from Canyon Diablo
Questions about Canyon Diablo
Can you visit Canyon Diablo, Arizona?
Yes, but it takes some effort. From I-40 Exit 230 at Two Guns, a rough dirt road runs about 3 miles north to the site. A high-clearance vehicle is recommended. There is nothing staffed there: only foundations, Hermann Wolf's grave and the old bridge footings beside the railroad.
Was Canyon Diablo really meaner than Tombstone?
That is how later writers described it: a crowded railroad camp of about 2,000 people with saloons, gambling halls and short-lived marshals. Few records from the 1880s survive, so the most colorful tales are hard to prove. The boom camp emptied once the bridge was finished in 1882, though a station and trading post lingered into the early 1900s.
What is the Canyon Diablo meteorite?
It is the name given to the iron fragments found around Meteor Crater. When they were studied in 1891, meteorites were named after the nearest post office, and that was Canyon Diablo. The name has stuck ever since.
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