Two Guns, Arizona: The Ghost Town on Canyon Diablo

Two Guns, Arizona, is a ghost town on Route 66 overlooking Canyon Diablo. Once a thriving tourist stop with a zoo, trading post, and “death cave.”

Two Guns, Arizona, sat along the edge of Canyon Diablo and grew from a frontier crossing into a busy tourist stop on Route 66. Native artifacts found there date back centuries, and the nearby “death cave” carried a dark history tied to an Apache-Navajo conflict in the late 1800s. By the time the railroad and highways arrived, the area was already layered with legend.

In the 1920s, the spot was transformed into a roadside attraction. Harry “Two Gun” Miller built a zoo, gift shop, and tours of the death cave, promoting it as “Fort Two Guns.” Gas stations, cafés, and trading posts soon followed, making it a popular stop for travelers along the Mother Road. But disputes, fires, and the eventual realignment of Route 66 shifted business away.

By the 1970s, most of Two Guns was abandoned. Today, travelers along I-40 can still walk among the ruins of old trading posts, campgrounds, and the burned-out service station. Nearby, the Canyon Diablo Bridge stands preserved on the National Register of Historic Places, a reminder of the rise and fall of this unusual desert outpost.