The Kahak–Zafaraniyeh corridor, a major pilgrimage route connecting to the holy city of Mashhad, experiences very low tourist length of stay despite its significant religious, historical, cultural, and natural assets. This study aims to identify and prioritize the key challenges and opportunities influencing tourist retention along this corridor. The research is applied in purpose and descriptive–analytical in nature, using an exploratory mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with 22 experts were conducted and coded through thematic analysis. In the quantitative phase, a questionnaire comprising 31 challenge items and 31 opportunity items was developed based on qualitative findings and distributed among 85 experts, local officials, pilgrims, and tourism stakeholders. Reliability was confirmed with Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.915 (challenges) and 0.926 (opportunities). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, and one-way ANOVA.The results identified major challenges, including insufficient destination recognition (30.5%), inadequate roadside services, road-management and educational gaps, managerial inefficiencies, weak preservation and presentation of historical sites, safety issues, route monotony, and climatic or environmental constraints. Conversely, opportunities include rich historical–natural heritage (33.7%), existing infrastructure and handicrafts, cultural traditions and notable figures, natural diversity and geotourism potential, religious assets, roadway advantages, and the corridor’s strategic geographical position. Overall, strengthening tourist retention along the corridor requires addressing managerial and infrastructural shortcomings while strategically leveraging its cultural, historical, and natural capacities. These insights provide a foundation for tourism development planning and enhancing stopover rates in the region.