Route 66: Why Is the World Still Obsessed With It?
Route 66, the iconic “Mother Road,” celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2026, marking a century of American travel, culture, and adventure.
Historical Significance. Route 66’s 100th anniversary is not just a celebration of a road, but a tribute to a century of American exploration, community, and the enduring spirit of the open road.
Route 66 was officially designated on November 11, 1926, connecting Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California, spanning 2,448 miles across eight states. Originally a mix of paved, dirt, and wooden plank roads, it became a vital corridor for westward migration, commerce, and tourism, later immortalized in literature, music, and pop culture as a symbol of freedom and the American road trip.
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Centennial Celebrations
The Route 66 Centennial is a nationwide celebration running throughout 2026, featuring parades, festivals, and community events along the entire route. Key highlights include:
Opening ceremonies on April 30, 2026, marking 100 years since the route received its numerical designation.
Special events in California, including restored motels, visitor centers, and cultural installations along the Mojave Desert and Santa Monica Pier.
Amarillo, Texas, celebrating with attractions like the Big Texan Steak Ranch, Cadillac Ranch, and the Route 66 Historic District.
EAGLERIDER Centennial Tour, a 16-day motorcycle journey from Chicago to Santa Monica for 66 riders, featuring iconic stops and exclusive experiences.
Commemorative USPS Route 66 Forever stamps honoring the highway’s legacy.
https://www.route66centennial.org/
Travel and Tourism
The centennial encourages road trips, with interactive guides and maps highlighting must-see stops, accommodations, and attractions along the route. Visitors can experience a mix of nostalgia, cultural heritage, and modern amenities, from retro motels to art installations and outdoor adventures.
Preservation and Legacy
The centennial also emphasizes historic preservation, economic development, and cultural storytelling, with initiatives supporting local businesses, restoring landmarks, and sharing Route 66 stories through projects like the Centennial Monuments and the “I Am Route 66” storytelling program.
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“Get Your Kick from Route 66” is a popular rhythm and blues song composed by Bobby Troup in 1946. The song celebrates the freedom and excitement of a road trip along the U.S. Route 66, which runs from Chicago to Los Angeles. Troup wrote the lyrics while on a cross-country drive with his wife, Cynthia, the song became a standard, with numerous artists recording it over the years, including Nat King Cole, Chuck Berry, Perry Como & The Rolling Stones.
The song has been featured in various media, including the popular television show “Route 66,” The lyrics evoke the excitement of a road trip, mentioning various towns along the way, and the song has been featured in various media, including a popular television show that aired from 1960 to 1964, which further popularized the theme of the “Mother Road”.
Route 66 was called “the Mother Road” by John Steinbeck in his novel “The Grapes of Wrath” (1939). The highway served as a lifeline for families fleeing the Dust Bowl and economic turmoil in the 1930s. Steinbeck described it as the path of a people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land, and it became a symbol of hope and a place of refuge for many.
The road’s journey from the Midwest to the Pacific, stretching 2,448 miles, was a significant part of American history, representing the migration and resilience of the American spirit. Many ask, why have other iconic U.S. Highways survived and co-exist with the Interstate system (like U.S. Hwy. 1, 20 or 101), and Route 66 was decertified in 1985.
There were many reasons for this decision, which involved factors like safety, redundancy, and costs. By hearing this it was by divine Intervention that in 1988, I drove the route from Bakersfield to Normal and Bloomington Illinois, which served as a major corridor for travelers heading west.
In Bloomington-Normal, the original alignment ran along Main Street and later included a bypass to the east to manage traffic flow. The route shaped the development of the Twin Cities, influencing local businesses, hotels, and motels along the Mother Road. From Normal, Illinois I drove on Illinois 9, Indiana 26 to Ohio 119 gaining an appreciation for what it was like “in those thrilling days of yesteryear”.
One of my many Highlights Traveling the MotorRoad:
In 1903, a test oil well was drilled in Claremore, but instead of finding oil, the drillers discovered a large flow of artesian mineral water. Before long, radium bath houses became the rage in the neon lite town of Claremore.
In 1907, Rogers County was created from the Cherokee Nation and was named for Clement V. Rogers, the father of Will Rogers and a member of the Constitutional Convention.
When Route 66 came through the city, it was already well established, and to service the many road travelers, motor courts, service stations, and restaurants were quickly built along the highway.
Claremore is best known as the hometown of Oklahoma’s favorite son, Will Rogers. Rogers was born nearby in a rough log cabin “halfway between Claremore and Oologah on November 4, 1879. He rose from a vaudeville career as a sideshow rope‑tricks artist to become one of the most popular humorists in America.
Today, Claremore features the Will Rogers Memorial, which includes an eight-gallery museum with theaters and items from his cowboy trick roping days to Vaudeville.
Another “must stop” is the Will Rogers Hotel. Once famous for the radium baths, it has now converted its upper floors to senior apartments. The J.M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum displays over 20,000 firearms. Claremore is the setting of the classic Broadway musical Oklahoma, to which the Lynn Riggs Museum is dedicated.
Belvidere Mansion, Claremore, Oklahoma.
Another interesting visit is the Belvidere Mansion, a restored turn-of-the-century home that now serves as a museum and is allegedly haunted! To round out your history-filled adventure in Claremore, visit the Oklahoma Military Academy Memorial Museum and the scores of antique stores that line its downtown streets.
Claremore also can boast of being the hometown of singer Patti Page, who sold millions of records during the 1950s and ’60s, including the now-classic “Tennessee Waltz.” Incidentally, Page graduated from Daniel Webster High School in Tulsa, which also lies along Route 66. Along with Rogers and Riggs, Page has a major street named after her in Claremore. Page died at age 85 on New Year’s Day 2013.
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Story by Lauren Durie – Business Insider
I’ve traveled all over the US and driven most of Route 66.
These quirky towns and cities are worth the stop
- I love the quirk and nostalgia of Route 66, also known as the Mother Road.
- I was surprised by wild burros, an ancient civilization, and a live streamed steak-eating contest.
- I’d recommend that all drivers stop in Pontiac, Illinois, and Oatman, Arizona.
Most people drive Route 66 for nostalgia — the neon signs, the diners, the echoes of road trips past.
As someone who loves seeking out things you didn’t know you wanted on your travel bucket list, I prefer ridiculous over retro, and let me tell you: The Mother Road was the mother lode of quirk. I found Route 66 to be a tribute to America’s weird, wacky, and wonderful in the best way possible.
From a town with more burros than people to the remains of a prehistoric Native American city, if you’re celebrating Route 66’s 100th anniversary this year, these are some of the unique stops I found worth pulling over for.
There are several must-visit stops in Illinois
caption tk twistee treat Lauren Durie© Lauren Durie
Route 66 may start in Chicago, but I think Pontiac, Illinois, is the best place to officially get your bearings.
The Bob Waldmire Experience, located in the same complex as the Route 66 Hall of Fame & Museum, is the best place to learn about the road’s most famous explorer. A nomadic artist, Waldmire used a VW bus and “road yacht” — a converted double-decker school bus — as a studio on wheels, making him one of the OG van lifers.
Snap a photo with the iconic Route 66 Shield Mural before driving about two and a half hours south to Livingston, Illinois, home of the Pink Elephant Antique Mall.
This historic building, once a high school, offers just about everything you could ask for: Alongside the massive maze of trinkets and goods, you can buy sweet treats at the Mother Road Fudge-n-Candy and eat a meal at the retro Twistee Treat Diner.
I donned my best “Grease” getup and took advantage of all the photo ops there, too — including an oversize ice-cream cone, a giant UFO, and a bubblegum-pink elephant.
Keep driving toward Missouri, and you’ll approach Cahokia Mounds, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I loved exploring the archaeological remains of the largest pre-Columbian city north of Mexico by walking the self-guided earth mound trails, then popping into the Interpretive Center to learn more.
Head to Amarillo, Texas, for steaks the size of your head and oversize art to match
caption tk Lauren Durie© Lauren Durie
For Texas-sized Route 66 fun, the Big Texan Steak Ranch & Brewery looks more like a small town than a restaurant.
It’s best known for the 72-ounce steak challenge, which began in the 1960s as a competition between cowboys to see who could out-carb each other. Now, the challenge is open to anyone willing to attempt the feat.
Finish the spread in under an hour, and it’s free; fail, and it’s $72. Nearly 100,000 people have tried, with roughly 10,000 succeeding. Oh, and anyone attempting the challenge is live streamed.
I kindly passed — the restaurant serves regular meals, too — but I commend anyone who gives it a shot.
There’s more to explore at Big Texan, too, including live music, a shooting gallery, and covered wagons and cabins for overnight stays.
caption tk Lauren Durie© Lauren Durie
While you’re in Amarillo, Cadillac Ranch is another must-see. The iconic public art installation features vintage Cadillacs buried in the dirt.
Everyone is encouraged to leave their mark — quite literally, with spray paint — meaning it looks a little bit different every time you go. I found it oddly therapeutic knowing whatever I added wouldn’t be permanent.
Catch a shootout reenactment and befriend wild burros in Oatman, Arizona
caption tk donkey Lauren Durie© Lauren Durie
The only traffic you’ll usually find on the stretch of Route 66 from Kingman to Oatman is of the four-legged variety. A historic ghost town where wild burros now outnumber people, Oatman actually served as an inspiration for Disney’s “Cars”.
The wild burros descend from pack animals used by miners during the Gold Rush years. Local shops sell bags of food, and if you feed them, they’ll quickly try to become your best friends. (Fair warning: They do nip, and one almost ripped my dress.)
Tourists are encouraged to feed and photograph the burros as long as they don’t have a sticker on their head, which means they’ve been tagged as a baby or as needing a special diet.
Time your visit right, and you could also end up in the middle of a reenacted shootout on Main Street — which I found equally thrilling and unhinged.
For another outlaw experience along Route 66, the Grand Canyon Railway in nearby Williams, Arizona, offers a vintage train ride to the national park with “bandits” as carmates. A road trip, after all, is only as good as the characters you meet along the way.
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