Route 66 — Forgotten Towns, Copper Mines & The Scenic Drives Nobody Takes

Follow the most famous road in America — and the parts of it that almost nobody drives anymore. In this travel documentary we trace Route 66 from the red clay plains of Oklahoma west through the ghost towns of the Texas panhandle, across the painted badlands of New Mexico where entire communities were bypassed overnight by the interstate and simply never recovered. In Arizona, we climb to Jerome, a copper-mining city of fifteen thousand people that collapsed to fifty in a single decade and still clings to its mountainside above the Verde Valley. We descend into Bisbee, where a billion dollars of copper came out of the ground and a neighbourhood went into the pit to get it. And we end at Canyon de Chelly — a place that has been continuously inhabited for five thousand years, that was here long before the road, and will be here long after. This is Route 66's hidden history. Eight states. 2400 miles. The scenic drive that almost nobody takes anymore — and exactly why that needs to change. 🔔 Hi, I'm Hendrik from VoyagersTV. Join us on immersive journeys to the world’s most remarkable places. Subscribe to embark the voyage! 👉    / @voyagers.travel   Planning your next trip? These are the exact tools I personally use to save money on flights, hotels, and activities — and to stay comfortable while exploring the world. 👉 https://www.voyagers.one/travel-tools/ Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:50 How a Road Like This Dies 05:40 Illinois and the Crossing at the Great River 08:52 The Ozarks and the 13-Mile State 12:04 Oklahoma, the Longest Stretch 15:57 The Texas Panhandle & the Twin Ghosts 19:55 New Mexico, the Land Rises 22:59 Copper, Dust & the Arizona Mining Towns 27:13 The Painted Desert 30:48 The Mother Road Remembers #route66 #forgottentowns #scenicdriveusa #americanhistory #ghosttowns #traveldocumentary #roadtrip #hiddenhistory #abandonedplaces #voyagerstv #travel