I'm planning a long road trip in conjuction with Speed Week this year -- east to MOKAN after Speed Week and then south to Tulsa then west through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and on into California and home. I'd like to drive as much of the Mother Road as possible, but my State Farm road atlas shows I-40 most of the way with no indication of 66. Does old 66 exist as a frontage road, and if so is it still driveable? TIA for any advice/info.
Lots of info out there... http://www.historic66.com/ http://www.national66.com/ http://www.route66usa.com/info.html
I know that most of the Oklahoma section is driveable, and many of the old gas stations, motels, etc., are still there. Most are either closed, or antique shops, or '66 museums'.
I've driven the 40 a few times. Along the way, there are portions of route 66 that are still open. They often have gift shops and a few hokey businesses. In other places, it runs quietly alongside the 40 as a very poorly maintained two lane road. There are a few areas to gain access, and driving on them is not the carefree experience of tall tales. It's broken, bumpy, hilly, winding, and narrow. Even in our Camry, it was slow going. It is cool though, and along the way there are plenty of derelict buildings and remnants once thriving businesses that fuel the imagination, and provide very cool backdrops for photography. Good luck.
Arizona has quite a bit still drivable in the western part of the state, with "Route 66 Access" signs in several places along the freeway.
<font color="green"> The house and shop we are buying is right of 66 betwenn Catoosa and Claremore, OK. Another reason I like the place. Let us know when you are coming through. </font>
Seligman Arizona (west of Flagstaff) down to Golden Shores Arizona is complete. It winds through Indian country, Kingman, Oatman (a must!) and ends up at the Colorado River. From there you'll need to catch the F'way for a few miles befor you get back on 66 and go through Cadiz and Amboy California. Be sure you take extra fluids for yourself and your ride. Gas stations can be few and far between and in August it'll be hot. I've done that piece many times, enjoy.
Theres a little chunk at Williams AZ, went though a few weeks ago, looks like a couple good MExican restaurants there, went through Seligman too. Could've gotten off more often, but you backtrack between Vegas and the Grand Canyon.
I am planning a short 66 cruise in conjunction with the HAMB drags. I have plans for the cruise to go through a portion of Missouri, Kansas and a little of Oklahoma. It is possible to hit these 3 states from the HAMB drags in about an hour drive. My plans right now are for a short cruise and a stop for lunch. To the east of me there are lots of miles of 66 to drive with a really neat section near my brothers home (MO JUNK) in the central part of Missouri near Rolla.
My wife and I have driven most all of 66 from seligman to Joplin missouri- I have never driven from there to chicago. I saw lots of little towns with mom an pop restaraunts and old motels and gas staions with Neon signage....Sure ther wer bad stretches-But it was a great experience-we got off the interstate at every opportunity and I would recommend it to anyone who hasnt really seen AMERICA. It is dissapearing every year a litle at a time so dont put it off Mike-You wont regret it!.
Most of the Illinois stretch is intact from just north of St.Louis to about the Kankakee River about 30 miles south of Chicago. Some of the nicest area is around McLean where you have to stop at the Dixie Truck Stop and visit the Rt66 displays they have. The road is in pretty good shape in the central part of the state.
Ive driven on route 66 thru arizona and a portion in new mexico, fairly decent roads to drive on and ALOT to see ie antique shops, motels, lodges, resturants ect ect , if you go thru gallup be sure to hit up some of the salvage yards there, alotta good stuff there
WZ is right. A big chunk of old 66 is around here. Can go from Rolla to Lebanon (60 some-odd miles) on old 66 without too much effort. It runs right thru town here.
Pick up the Here It Is Route 66 Map Series guide maps. It has a map of each state with driving directions. I drove it from Joliet, IL to Albuquerque a few years ago. If your picking it up in Oklahoma you can basically drive the old road the whole state and was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Arizona is pretty chopped up so youll do a lot of driving on I40. Havent driven it but they say one of the best parts of RT66 is in Western Arizona starting at Seligman. Then you can head out into the Mojave Desert and follow the maps to Santa Monica if you want.
Great road. I took it back from VLV from Kingman north through Saligman to Ashfork. One of the longer sections still in use.
You can take 66 almost right into downtown chicago. My tire guy is right on historic 66 (Ogden) and no kidding, I ALWAYS see a cool car or two when I'm on that street near Berwyn. The area has good CARma. I drove my chevelle down 66 to Springfield IL a couple years ago for the Route 66 Festival. Alot of the time you are running right alongside the interstate, but then you hit a town and you get to see some neat areas.
I made that road trip a few years ago (02) there was alot to see. My main intention was to stay on the mother road as much as i could...but after a few hours the novelty wore off and i ended up take'n I40 except for all the town's. It be nice to have tried to take it the whole way, but being on a time limit, yah just cant beet the interstates.
Mike -- We did the Calif/AZ portion two years ago. The road itself on the Calif side was BEAT TO SHIT. I threw a couple of hubcaps off the '38, only found one of the them. Good pie at the Bagdad cafe though. The Arizona side was like glass, AZ really keeps up the road in the western part of the state. East of Oatman (Food! Shopping! Gunfights!) is a pretty high pass, but then the road gets awesome. High desert, great scenery, acres of wildflowers (looked like Caltrans had spilled orange paint over the countryside). If you can swing it, spend a night at the La Posada hotel in Winslow. It's a Harvey House a couple has restored (they bought it for a dollar from Union Pacific before it was demolished). Great place -- now a national landmark -- but still cheap, with the world's best huevos rancheros in the dining room. Check out Twin Arrows, too. Great photo op. Don't use up all your sunscreen at B'ville, you'll need it!
I get alot of kicks on 66!! the road thru Rolla aint too shabby ! The part thru OKC to Amarillo has alot of bad roads but the old gas stations and motels make it worth while and give ya A good reason to carry spray paint as well !!
Hey man when you get to New Mexico I will cruise with ya I live on Route 66, I really do just let me know before you get here.
Alright!! cause it looks like Im gonna be headed that way for family soon !!! And who knows there will probably be some kind of LIVE CARGO HAMB relay that will need our help!!
When I moved to Vegas I drove some of it... I had called the teepee motel to make reservations and the guy wouldn't take my reservation, he said that I would have no problem... so I get there late after a really bad day on the road and guess what... no vacancy! I just busted out crying just like a silly girl (I was VERY worn out) and they felt sorry for me and opened up one that they had closed. So I guess crying does work sometimes...
My wife and I talked about doin the whole shiteree from CHI to CALI to Paso in the Shitbox . This is a great post for that .Thanx Guys!
Ron...that picture RULES!!!! It looks photo-shopped or somethin' with the Caddys painted like that. Very surreal. Flyin' the DBF!
One of the highlights of my honeymoon was cruising Route 66. I figured as the songs goes "...from Chicago to LA.", that's the way we would head. Got as much info as I could off the net with fairly detailed instructions and headed off from Chicago. We followed as much of it as we could, but we had also organised to catch up with Sumner (1FATGMC) in SE Utah before he headed off to Arizona for the winter. From what I remember, we spent a lot of the time on the service road for I40. As we were a bit rushed for time, we did end up getting on the I40 for a bit, especially in the parts where 66 was the service road. We made it all the way to Grants NM before we headed North up to Sum's place. I have heard that the Arizona section is some of the best parts of 66 though, so I guess we'll just have to cover that bit next time. Sounds like a road trip and a half Mike. Good luck and have fun. We want to hear all about it when you get back, including pics.
Peter Egan wrote an interesting article (Lost Highway: In Search of Old 66) in Cycle World in May '81. Obviously it wouldn't be a current tour guide, but it's fun to read and is available in a collection of his Cycle World stuff called Leanings.
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