Map of Historic Route 66 from Illinois to CaliforniaĪ popular television show during the early 1960s bore the road's name: "Route 66". Route 66 Map from Chicago to Santa Monica The popularity stuck, and continues to grow today! So. The move "Thelma and Louise" also featured Route 66 references and scenes.
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The movie "Easy Rider" was filmed at several locations along Route 66. The legendary highway was known far and wide for its variety of "mom and pop" motels, neon lights, drive-ins, quirky roadside attractions, flat tires, cars with no air conditioning, dangerous curves, steep hills, and narrow lanes.
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It is popular lore in movies, songs, books like "The Grapes of Wrath", and TV shows. Route 66 became one of the most famous roads in the United States, outdistancing others such as the Lincoln Highway. We hope that this site will help planning your next vacation or holiday, and get Route 66 checked off your bucket list of destinations! The Lore of Route 66: The Main Street of America Included on this website are photographs, personal experiences, commentary and travel recommendations on the various segments of the Mother Road. We've had the pleasure of driving in all eight states along Route 66, The Main Street of America! Over time the route was formalized as a Federal Highway numbered as "U.S. In the early years many sections connected only one small town to the next, and had no official federal route number. "The Mother Road" was established on November 11, 1926, and ultimately stretched 2,448 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles.įrom its beginning in Chicago, Route 66 headed south through Illinois and Missouri, and a small section of southeast Kansas.įrom there it turned in a more westward direction through Oklahoma and Texas, with the final stretches in New Mexico and Arizona before its termination point in Los Angeles.Īlignments of the road changed often over the years, as improved sections of highway were constructed. Route 66 was one of the United State's first continuous stretches of paved highway, and served as a major path for those who migrated west. The Mother Road, seen in this vintage postcard The interior is so old school you’ll be forgiven for thinking you left your ’57 Chevy out in the parking lot.Travel Guide to Historic Route 66: The Mother Road Look for the building with the large steer perched on top. For a “good old American steak dinner,” head to the circa 1946 Rod’s Steak House. The town, also known as the Gateway to the Grand Canyon, has some great Old route 66 attractions on its own. Williams: Old-School Arizona (& gateway to the Grand Canyon)įor a classic road trip stop along Route66, Willams, Arizona fits the bill. Two step through the giant inverted forked ponderosa marking the entryway and enter a décor festooned with wagon wheels, animal trophy heads and Native American artifacts, all underneath a wooden ceiling supported by tree trunks that are so large you can’t even hug them. Head over to the Lowell Observatory, where Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930, for nighttime constellation tours.įor nightlife of another kind, the Museum Club on the eastern approach to Flagstaff has been a honky tonk bar offering up country music fare-Willie Nelson and Wanda Jackson have performed here-since the 1930s. In 2001, Flagstaff became the first International Dark Sky Place, providing stargazers with incredible sights. In short, a perfect Arizona road trip! ? Because of the combination of 21st century highway and old US route, you have the benefit of motoring through the desert and slowing down for the interesting bits. Old Route 66 detours are generally near towns or other points of interest. Typically, this is in wide-open stretches where there isn’t much to see beyond Arizona’s wide open skies. There are many miles where I-40 actually overlays the original Route 66 in Arizona. Therefore, it’s still possible to cobble together a ride that would reenact cruising along Route 66 in Arizona in the pre-superhighway era. Despite this, traces of the old road still exist. These days Interstate 40 is now the main east/west transit way across northern Arizona. The rise of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s obliterated many classic old U.S.
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Bonus: How to Find the Original Historic Route 66 in Arizona.Route 66 Kingman, Arizona: Classic cars & museums.Williams: Old-School Arizona (& gateway to the Grand Canyon).Flagstaff: a Route 66 road trip midpoint.Sleep in a Tepee on Route 66 in Arizona.Visiting the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.