If you’re going to the Grand Canyon, whether to the National Park or the Grand Canyon Skywalk®, you’ll likely drive through Kingman. Just 72 miles from the Skywalk® and 170 miles from Grand Canyon Village, Kingman is a pleasant hold over with museums, interesting attractions and lots of cool restaurants.
Drop in at the Kingman Powerhouse Visitor Center, an historical 103 year old former power plant, houses a Route 66 Museum and visitor centers for Arizona, Route 66 and Grand Canyon West, Home of the Skywalk. Here, you can pick from over 200 free Arizona maps, brochures and booklets to plan your journey through the Grand Canyon State.
While in Kingman, take a chance to explore this little desert Rail Road town. Here are some tips, deals and unique offerings while in Kingman:
Visit the Mohave Museum of History & Art and experience our pioneer past. Dioramas depict the story of the area’s development and history in the mining of gold, silver, copper and turquoise.
Desert Diamond Distillery, a little family owned and operated working distillery is one of the few in the U.S. that is open to the public with tours and a tasting bar. The bar was rescued from a famous French restaurant on the old Las Vegas strip and known to be a favorite place of the Rat Pack. DDD Spirits received 2011 Spirits International Prestige (SIP) Awards, including a platinum bestowed on their Gold Miner's Rum. Tours are $5 each, but if you pick anything up in the gift shop, they’ll deduct the tour cost from your purchase.
Grand Canyon West®, Home of the Skywalk® is a 1 hour 45 minute drive from Kingman, and the drive is part of the journey where you can see much of the pristine Arizona desert in its natural beauty taking you through a salt flat, ranch land and a Joshua Tree forest. The Hualapai People, whose traditional homeland is the Grand Canyon, have opened up to share this treasure with the world. And the Grand Canyon West viewpoint is just one of their wonderful tours, From Peach Springs, one can take the only road down to the bottom of the Canyon (permits available at Hualapai Lodge) for a truly breath taking adventure! Or, also from Peach Springs, book the only one-day white-water rafting rides in the Grand Canyon.
Kingman has nearly seventy restaurants ranging from fast food to Mexican, Italian cuisine, Thai, Sushi, American Steakhouse or the corner Café. Here are some hot spots around town:
Kingman Co Steakhouse is a Licensed Certified Angus Beef House that prides itself on their hand cut steaks. Owner, Master Griller and Master Cutter Jesse Godinez’s top priority is that no customer leaves unsatisfied. Jesse has a hand in every cut of steak from his kitchen and marinates the Atlantic Salmon for a minimum of 24 hours in a secret recipe that will have you coming back for more.
Floyd & Co Real Pit BBQ and Wood Fired Pizza ...
The Dambar & Steakhouse is Kingman's Landmark Steakhouse, a favorite of travelers. A little history: The Dambar’s original stone structure was built in the 1930’s as a depression-era WPA (Works Progress Administration) project. It was a gas station during the fifties and a bar in the sixties when purchased by a construction worker whose wife argued against buying that “damn bar.” The name stuck and the DAMBAR eventually expanded into food service.
Cellar Door Wine Bar entertains every Thuesday thru Saturday. This little wine bar is an nice street-side escape to relax, enjoy a glass of wine or beer and listen to music or just escape from the world. They stock over 140 labels of wine available by the bottle, about 35 beers and a variety of non-alcoholic beverages, with a small menu of appetizers (cheese plate, hummus, bruschetta caprese, olives). Visit their site for the upcoming line-up.