What Remains Along the Mother Road: A Stop at Antares

I love exploring old highways for something new and unique—especially places like the Kozy Corner Trailer Court in Antares, Arizona.

I love exploring old highways for something new and unique—especially places like the Kozy Corner Trailer Court in Antares, Arizona, where nostalgia clings to every sun-faded sign and cracked bit of pavement. Located along historic U.S. Route 66, the site began around 1965 as Lake Mead Rancheros, a roadside stop that included a restaurant, bar, motel, and Shell gas station. As Route 66 traffic slowed and the decades wore on, the property shifted with the times: a trailer court was added, the name changed to Kozy Corner, and the motel evolved into modest two-bedroom apartments catering to long-term residents and budget travelers.

By the late 1980s, Kozy Corner had become a mix of transient refuge and local hub, with a small diner, a convenience store, and a Laundr-O-Mat serving the area. Like many stops along the Mother Road, it reflected the adaptive spirit of the highway’s roadside culture. In more recent years, the addition of Giganticus Headicus—a 14-foot-tall concrete sculpture built by artist Gregg Arnold—transformed the site into a kind of living gallery. Though the trailer court and motel largely faded, the place found new life as a roadside attraction and gift shop, preserving in concrete and kitsch the layered history of Route 66.