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Has anyone ever done it end to end?
It's on my bucket list, and I just got an email from Sick the Mag. They're putting together a cruise/race for Oct 2024. They just had Death Week, which was an epic, 2000 mile, 12 day adventure through the Southwest that stopped at several strips for racing along the way. Sick 66 should be just as awesome. Fill out an Expression of Interest on sickthemag.com
I tried to do this years ago when I drove out to California. Started at the Art Institute in Chicago and followed every twist and turn all through Illinois. Very well marked. Once I crossed into Missouri, nothing. I had written to all the associations(this was 1995) and gotten advice, and bought some book. The book was worthless, the advice was spotty, and I ended up getting on the interstate.
In this day of the internet and mapquest and GPS I'm sure it would be way easier. Good luck and have fun if you end up doing it.
Sounds like something cool to do on a bucket list. AFAIK, you can't do the Mother Road end-to-end anymore. There are parts of it blocked off for one reason or another.
The problem is Rt66 is not a continuous road anymore and you spend a lot of time on the re-alignment routes and some of it is not paved. I drove it from New Mexico - California where it paralleled or merged with I40. It was a fun trip.
Our family did the original back in 1962 - end-to-end, California>Chicago (killer camping trip). I was 10 years old. I loved our stops in New Mexico on the original Route 66. Seems Mom wanted to stop at every landmark store. Sorry, I'm not much help on today's Route 66.
I bought this five cd set at Goodwill years ago. It was filmed in 2004. Probably the closest I will get to it. The movie CARS revived a lot of interest in Route 66.
The question about driving route 66 comes up periodically on here, and here’s my take on the idea. I lived in southern New Mexico for 10 years (2012-2022), and I had occasion to drive on or around route 66 a number of times.
The reality is as has already been noted. There’s not much of the original road left. In many areas, especially in the western states, interstate highways have replaced the original route, and there’s nothing left of it, except for where it passed through cities and towns along the way. You’ll find that, at many exits along the interstate that parallels the old 66 alignment, there will be signs for “I-40 Business Route” or “I-44 Business Route,” and that’s what left of 66. Business routes through towns along the way, like Winslow, Arizona and Tucumcari, New Mexico, where the original 66 used to pass through.
So you get off at the exit on one end of town, drive along the two-lane for a couple of miles to the other end of it, and then get back on the interstate. Many of these towns will have signs indicating that it’s the original route 66, but it’s been so long now that there’s rarely really anything to see that harkens back to the heyday of the original route. Some restaurants and motels will be there, and some will be cute, but, after all these years, there’s little of this left. You will find the occasional small museum dedicated to 66. You probably don’t really want to get off at every interstate exit along the original route from Chicago to Los Angeles as it will take you 100 years.
If it were me, what I would do is concentrate on areas where the original highway was far from a current interstate and thus still exists in more original form.
I would start in New Mexico and work west. The aforementioned Tucumcari is the first place to get off and look around. It’s a dusty town with many abandoned motels, gas stations, and restaurants, but there is still stuff to see. The best is the Blue Swallow Motel, especially if you can actually stay there for a night. It’s an original motor-court type motel with real neon signs and everything. You really will, for a minute or two at least, think you’re back in 1955. There are some restaurants that date from that time as well. Ask the clerk at the Blue Swallow.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico, which is the next town of any consequence on I-40 west, is simiilar. But, again, it’s mostly abandoned hotels and restaurants plus some modern chain hotels.
I would take Central Avenue through Albuquerque. Heading west on I-40, get off at exit 167 on the east side of ABQ. Follow it all the way through Albuquerque to where it reconnects with the interstate at exit 149 on the west end of town. That gives you about 20 miles of the original 66, and you’ll pass some restaurants that are from that time.
Keep in mind that 66 actually had more than one route through New Mexico. Originally it turned north well east of ABQ and went up through Santa Fe, curled back down to ABQ and passed through it north-south rather than east-west, went as far south as Belen, and then curved back north before heading west again. So it made a big “S” through central New Mexico. That’s why you’ll sometimes see signs for the old 66 that are well away from where it was in more recent years, and you’ll wonder what’s going on.
Get off I-40 at Grants and Gallup and go through the centers of those towns as well. They make a big deal of 66.
In Arizona, you’ll be on I-40 most of the time, but there are several must-get-offs, including Holbrook, Winslow, Flagstaff, Williams, and Seligman/Kingman/Oatman. Holbrook and Winslow are small cities with a route 66/I-40 business route through the center of them, and you’ll want to get off and drive through them just to say you did. You can actually exit I-40 a bit east of Holbrook and drive from one end to the other through Petrified Forest National Park.
If you’re a fan of The Eagles rock group, you’ll want to get off at Winslow and stop and take a few photos at Standin’ on the Corner Park, which was set up some years ago when the Eagles’ song about “standin’ on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see...” put Winslow on the map. It even has a flat-bed Ford in which she was "slowin' down to take a look at me."
Flagstaff is a definite must-see as route 66 runs through that town, and Williams, about 40 miles west, makes a big deal about its route 66 heritage, and there are stores and restaurants.
The next place of interest is Seligman, Arizona, about 75 miles west of Williams. It is at this point where I-40 continues straight west, but the original route 66 veers northwest and gets well away from the interstate, passing through the town of Peach Springs, among others. Here, although much of it has been repaved over the decades, you might find some original route 66 asphalt. This northerly route is Arizona 66, and it rejoins I-40 at Kingman, which is another town that celebrates 66. You’ll find some old-time diners and motels.
Going west of Kingman, don’t get on I-40. Rather, take the signs for old 66 (which I think is something like county road 10) towards Oatman. This is another section where the original 66 follows a significantly different route than the newer I-40. The old road eventually reconnects with I-40 near the Arizona/California border, but you’ll have driven on roughly 60 winding/twisting miles of the old 66. Oatman is s nice, partly scary little town (just kidding) with some interesting restaurants and other establishments.
I’m not familiar with the old 66 in California. I think it’s possible to drive on the old alignment at places between the border and Los Angeles, but there’s not much to see except vast expanses of nothing. Once you get into the LA area, the old 66 is marked, and you can follow it right up to where it ends at the Santa Monica Pier.
Last edited by jaunty75; November 10th, 2023 at 05:21 AM.
About 10 years ago, I bought a brochure with maps of the original parts of US 66 still accessible. My touring car (Challenger) was nearly new at the time, and my sweetie and I used it to follow every bit of what remained from Amarillo to Santa Monica.
In the 1950s, my family drove it at least once a year when visiting relatives in Long Beach--and I remembered some motels and stores from back then. I even saw the café in Victorville where I had the culinary adventure of a young life--my first California Burger.
Other memorable parts were stretches of the original road (with curbs!) and a few places where we had to go through claustrophobic drainage tunnels under I-40 to continue following on the opposite side.
By the time we got to the Santa Monica pier, I was noticing tiny pits in the windshield glass (from sand on that old road). Those little badges are still on the Challenger, and I think back to that adventure whenever I notice them.
I did the Route 66 Power Tour back in 2000ish, there were a few things to do and see.
My wife and I did part of Power Tour back in 2009, on the way to the Tour stop and home we tried to do as much of the original Route 66 in Missouri and Oklahoma
We took a family vacation 5 years ago out west. We flew into Vegas, rented a car, and drove all over Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and California. Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff that was there in 2000 is gone. There are several towns (Seligman Arizona, come to mind) that are trying to bring back the original vibe, with a little success.there we’re many diners and stores that obviously spent some time and effort to either preserve or restore the 40s-50s look and atmosphere.
I would have like to have traveled Route 66 in its glory years.
Looking down on the Olds from the observation lounge of the St. Louis arc
Standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona If you live in Winslow, you better LOVE the Eagles! They play them all day!
Last edited by matt69olds; November 9th, 2023 at 02:19 PM.
This discussion brings back memories of the first time I drove across Alligator Alley in 1970 in my 1967 4-4-2 from Naples to Andytown. I was sweating bullets the entire way watching the fuel gauge. Mostly a beat-up asphalt/gravel road in the middle of nowhere. Back to the thread topic...
jaunty75, what a great write up! Thanks for that info. I definitely would like to visit the areas you mentioned and this takes a lot of the guess work out of it. It's too bad that much of it has been lost but I guess that's what happens over the decades.
Here's a few more photos from our route 66 adventures over the years.
More Tucumcari. From 2015.
Sign at one end of the business route through town.
The Blue Swallow in the daytime; There is actually an early '50s Pontiac permanently parked in front of the motel. The gas pump is at a station next door.
Originally you actually could park your car in the little garage next to your room. Now they have you park on the stones in front of your room, and they put old cars and other memorabilia in the garages.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico. This restaurant has been there for decades, but I believe that, at the moment, it is out of business.
Here's a picture of the restaurant from a 1960s postcard. It was called "Lettie's" at the time.
Route 66 through Williams, Arizona.
It's west of Williams near Seligman where it gets interesting.
This photo is from exit 139 a little east of Seligman. This is typical of what you might see at various exits. The interstate continues one way while the old 66 goes another way. These next few photos were taken in 2010, so it's been a few years.
This is the typical scenery along the old 66 through Seligman and west to Kingman. It's just open highway, and you say to yourself "big deal."
But occasionally you run across something like this, and it's really cool. The old asphalt is still there next to the new highway.
Old route 66 bridge next to the new highway bridge. This shows why the old highway is still there at all in places. Along 99% of this route, when the road needed repair, they would just repair and repave the existing roadway. No need to cut a new alignment right next to the old one. The result of this, or course, is the old highway is gone for good.
But when it comes to bridges over ravines or whatever, if the bridge is too far gone to rebuild or wouldn't meet modern standards, they just built a new bridge next to the old one and left the old one there. The old asphalt leading up to the old bridge is still there as well.
There are occasional reminders that it is the old 66.
Somebody having fun with the old signs.
Typical of the route 66 ticky-tack in Seligman. There's lots of this sort of thing with restaurants, stores, and motels. You could probably get your fill of Route 66 in Seligman alone. The heck with the rest of it!.
Mr. D'z Diner in Kingman.
Here's the end of route 66 noted at the Santa Monica Pier.
Last edited by jaunty75; November 10th, 2023 at 06:41 AM.
I found a few photos from May 2022, when we actually spent a night at the Blue Swallow.
Another view of the motor court aspect of it.
They actually still use the old-style key and key fob like you would see all the time decades ago. No card-swipe plastic keys here! They sell the blue key fob with the motel name in the lobby.
Our room. Very much a '50s flavor. Hope you don't have any cell phone chargers that require a three-prong outlet!
November 9th, 2023, 05:59 AM
