Route 66 Road Trip Tips

Planning a Route 66 road trip and wondering, “Is Route 66 worth it?” Or, do you just need some advice and Route 66 road trip tips?

Because when one thinks of a classic USA road trip, Route 66 often comes to mind. The “Mother Road”, as John Steinbeck referred, was one of the first cross-country routes for drivers traveling the USA, and was once filled with quirky roadside attractions, classic motorcourt motels, nostalgic diners and beautiful natural features.

Today, some of those attractions remain, but the truth is, you’ll find more abandoned buildings and sad towns than kitschy attractions. In fact, there really is no true “Route 66” anymore; once I-40 was built, Route 66 lost its appeal to travelers and in 1985, completely ceased to exist. I-40 was a much faster, safer way of traveling across the country. Thus, the small towns and businesses along the original Route 66 route suffered tremendously; some never recovering.

Full disclosure: I did not travel the entire length of Route 66. I started my Route 66 in Springfield, Missouri, and drove through Arizona. On other trips, I’ve driven patches of Route 66 in Arizona and California, and I have been to the Route 66 terminus on the Santa Monica Pier. Even though I haven’t traveled the entire span of Route 66, I feel I’ve had enough exposure to it – especially the best parts – to help you plan (or decide to skip!) a Route 66 trip. Let’s begin!

Route 66 Road Trip Tips – There is no Route 66 Thru-Route

This is the biggest misconception that people have when wanting to plan a Route 66 road trip. “It’ll be easy – just follow Route 66!”

But it’s not that easy. You’ll go on Google Maps and plug in Route 66 and what do you get? Well, Google might give you some historical markers, but it’s not going to give you a clear route across the country like you would expect. So why is this?

Remember when I said when I-40 was built, Route 66 became obsolete? As such, there is no Route 66 thoroughfare as it has been decommissioned so it won’t show up on your maps. I-40 is the closest to Route 66 as you’re going to get and the easiest way to plan your trip is to hop on/off I-40 when you have something you want to explore and when you’ve had your fill, get back on the interstate.

I-40 doesn’t do a very good job with signage of interesting Route 66 landmarks (there is some signage – you can follow the brown “Historic Route 66” signs but they won’t tell you exactly what’s there – so you might find yourself stopping in some dusty town, where the only sign of life is a patch of dandelions, with absolutely nothing of note).

So in order to have a good Route 66 road trip, you need to meticulously plan what you want to see or you will miss it. And because of this, traveling Route 66 was one of the most painstakingly, fussy trips I’ve ever planned. Though it did pay off because I did get to see nearly everything I set out to see.

If you’re very particular about driving on the original Route 66, you can do it, sort of. Think of Route 66 as a frontage road on the interstate – that’s basically what it is, especially on I-40. Some of this road is in terrible shape (I ran into a few places where it was completely unpaved for miles!), some of it doesn’t even exist, and some of it is completely closed.

There isn’t much left on Route 66

If you go into a Route 66 road trip thinking it’s going to be a gee-whiz, bees knees 1950s Americana nostalgia in every town in which you stop, think again. While there are a few towns where you’ll get this (think Seligman, Arizona), the majority of Route 66 is a bunch of nothing. You will drive through long stretches of desolate areas with nothing to see. Instead of do-wop diners with rollerskating waitresses on every corner, you will get abandoned gas stations, dilapidated ghost towns, crumbling buildings and weed-choked parking lots of bulldozed motels.

And I like this stuff – abandoned buildings, vintage neon signs, and ghost towns. That’s why I did the trip. But after a few days, even I was getting burned out on all the abandoned businesses and ghost towns because there are just so many! At the beginning of my trip, I was pulling over to photograph every hollowed-out gas station and shell of a motel I could find. Near the end, I’d just shrug my shoulders and keep driving.

You need to plan exactly what you want to see on Route 66

Most of the time, there is no sign from I-40 that tells you a Route 66 tourist attraction is just ahead. Likewise, from I-40, you won’t know if the upcoming town has that kitschy cement whale that you wanted to photograph or if the town is now a pile of rubble. Know everything and anything you want to see and mark its location your map – it’ll save you lots of time, gas and frustration.

Prepare for disappointment on a Route 66 Road Trip

The landscape of the classic Route 66 attractions and neon signs is always changing – and usually for the worse. That neato neon sign you wanted to photograph might not actually still be there. Or it’s there, but the neon was stripped and it’s no longer illuminated at right.

To give yourself better odds:

• When researching your trip, check the date the article was written or when photo was taken. If it was within the last year, there’s a good chance it’s still there.
• To verify even further, use Google Street View to see what was captured, and check the copyright date on the bottom of the screen. Again, it was was recent, it’s probably still there.

Even though I took those measures, I still found things I wanted to see that were torn down or just completely missing.

The best segment of Route 66 is in Arizona and New Mexico

Although I found cool signs and interesting towns in Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri, the best concentration of classic Route 66 attractions is on this stretch of the route. Here you’ll find those popular attractions like Standin’ on the Corner, the Blue Swallow Motel, the fun towns of Williams, Oatman and Seligman, along with a few ghost towns along the way. So if you’re short on time (or want to just get a taste of Route 66), this is the best, most upkept and most popular segment of the route. Additionally, the side trips from this segment are great – you can visit the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest National Park, Tent Rocks, Canyon De Chelle, etc.

My final thoughts on Route 66 Travel Tips

Route 66 isn’t what it used to be. The idea of Route 66 sounds iconic and bucket-list worthy, but it’s over-romanticized in pop culture and a shell of its former self.

Honestly, I would not do an all-out Route 66 trip because frankly, as much as I love old neon signs, motels and ghost towns, after having done a good section of the Mother Road, there just isn’t enough here around which to justify planning an entire trip. If Route 66 happens to be on your way to something else, hey, that’s great! But a dedicated Route 66 trip? No thanks.

My advice is to see it in sections when you’re on the way to somewhere else and you just-so-happen to be traveling in the area – like the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the Santa Monica pier. If you’re a huge fan of Route 66 nostalgia, then you’ll probably still enjoy a Route 66 trip, but you’d have to be a REALLY BIG FAN to really get the most out of it.

I hope this helps you in your Route 66 trip decision and planning!

Have you traveled Route 66? What did you think? Any tips you’d like to share?