Recently, I saw on the Route66 group on Yahoo the Enchanted Trails RV Park in west Albuquerque no longer was renting out its six vintage trails to overnight guests.
I messaged owner Vickie Ashcraft whether it was true. She wrote:
I’m going to honor the reservations I have but I’m not taking new reservations. We are spending more time maintaining/repairing them than anticipated. The trailers are quite fragile and many parts cannot be replaced. Travel trailers are not the same as an apartment or home which has led to our having to replace toilets, air conditioners, refrigerators and more. […]
I’m still allowing tours and am referring folks to El Vado and Monterey.
The El Vado and Monterey, in case you didn’t know, are two vintage motels close to each other on Route 66 in Albuquerque and owned by the same company.
The Enchanted Trails still is operating as an RV park, as well, with 135 sites.
Those who wish to experience the vintage trailers can visit them in person but not sleep in them. The ones on display at Enchanted Trails are a 1974 Silver Streak, a 1959 Spartan, a 1969 Airstream, a 1963 Winnebago, a 1956 Yellowstone, a 1954 VaKaShunette and a 1956 teardrop trailer with a matching 1947 Hudson Super Six car.
Those itching to stay in a vintage trailer overnight have two options off Route 66.
The first is Kate’s Lazy Desert Airstream Motel in Joshua Tree, California, about 90 minutes from the Route 66 town of Amboy, California. It’s owned by Kate Pierson, best-known as one of the singers with the B-52s.
Another option is the Shady Dell in Bisbee, Arizona, but is more than 350 miles south of the Route 66 town of Flagstaff. It would take you almost all day to drive there.
(Image of one of the vintage trailers at Enchanted Trails RV Park in Albuquerque via Facebook)