Route 66 Turns 100 – These Iconic Stretches Are Still Worth Driving

The famous Route 66 became an official U.S. highway on November 11, 1926, eventually earning a status as one of the most iconic roads in America – a gateway from the Midwest to the wonders and adventures of the West Coast. But just 59 years later, it was officially removed from the U.S. Highway System as the Interstate System replaced it.

Still, a full century after its birth, roughly 85 percent of the old road is still drivable. Long stretches still run past the diners, gas stations, and motels that served travelers in the 1950s, allowing drivers today to take a cruise down memory lane.

How Route 66 Began 

Route 66 was never a brand-new road. It stitched together existing local roads between Chicago and Los Angeles under one federal shield. Its champion was Cyrus Avery, a Tulsa businessman and Oklahoma highway commissioner who helped draw up the new numbered highway system and steered the route south through his home state.

Avery wanted the number 60, but Kentucky claimed it for a route of its own. On April 30, 1926, Avery and a Missouri highway official sent a telegram from Springfield, Missouri, proposing 66 instead, which is why Springfield calls itself the birthplace of the road. Most of the route was still dirt and gravel when it opened, and it wasn't fully paved until 1938.

The official designation of the road came and went without much fanfare. The legend of Route 66 would only develop later, in stages.

During the 1930s, hundreds of thousands of migrants traveled west toward California during the Depression and Dust Bowl era on Route 66. John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath famously dubbed it the “Mother Road” in 1939, helping turn it into a national symbol of migration and opportunity.

Then came the period that created the Route 66 image we recognize today. Bobby Troup's “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” became a hit in 1946, and after World War II the highway boomed with vacationing families, neon motels, diners, gas stations, roadside attractions and Americans heading west to places like the Grand Canyon and Southern California. The Route 66 television series in the 1960s further cemented the road as a symbol of freedom and adventure.

How It Disappeared and Came Back 

The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 launched the Interstate System, and I-55, I-44, I-40, and I-15 gradually absorbed Route 66's traffic between Chicago and Southern California. Seligman, Arizona, lost most of its business when I-40 routed around the town in 1978. Williams, Arizona, was the last town on the route to be bypassed, in October 1984, according to Northern Arizona University's Route 66 archive, and the road was decertified on June 27, 1985.

The revival started in Seligman. In 1987, local barber Angel Delgadillo and other business owners founded the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona, and that same year the state designated the road between Seligman and Kingman a historic route. Delgadillo, who turned 99 in April 2026, retired in 2022 after 75 years of cutting hair. The barbershop building his father built in 1923 was restored for the semiquincentennial, with work completed on April 30, 2026. The National Park Service now maintains a travel guide to the road's historic sites across all eight states.

Where to Drive It Now 

Oklahoma 

Oklahoma has roughly 400 miles of Route 66, more drivable miles than any other state. Between Tulsa and Oklahoma City, the old two-lane road runs through the towns of Sapulpa, Stroud, and Chandler, home to the Route 66 Interpretive Center. In Arcadia, the famous red Round Barn dates to 1898, and Pops 66 Soda Ranch serves chicken-fried steak under a 66-foot neon soda bottle. The Blue Whale of Catoosa sits about 20 minutes northeast of Tulsa.

West of Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma Historical Society runs the official Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, and the National Route 66 Museum is a half-hour farther west in Elk City. Stay in Tulsa for the eastern half of the state and Oklahoma City for the western museums.

For those looking to trace Route 66 through the Sooner State, Tulsa to Oklahoma City takes about two and a half hours with stops, compared with about an hour and 45 minutes on the I-44 turnpike. Oklahoma City to Clinton is about 90 minutes on I-40. April, May, September, and October bring the most comfortable driving weather. Spring is also severe storm season, and July and August highs average in the mid-90s. The Oklahoma Route 66 Association keeps a current list of events.

The Texas Panhandle 

Texas has about 178 miles of Route 66, running from Shamrock to Glenrio, and most of it runs right alongside I-40. Shamrock is a little over an hour west of Clinton on I-40. Start at the 1936 Art Deco Tower Station and U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, which now serves as a visitor center and chamber of commerce office. In McLean, the Devil's Rope Museum houses a Route 66 exhibit, but it is open only from March 1 through November 1.

Amarillo, about 90 minutes west of Shamrock, has the most lodging along Route 66 in the Panhandle. The Big Texan Steak Ranch has served Route 66 travelers since 1960, and at Cadillac Ranch just west of town, visitors are still encouraged to add their own spray paint to a modern art installation of old cars half-buried in the ground. The MidPoint Cafe in Adrian, 45 minutes west of Amarillo, marks the halfway point of the route, 1,139 miles from both Chicago and Santa Monica.

Spring and fall are the best seasons to drive Route 66 in Texas. Summer highs run in the 90s, wind is constant year-round, and winter ice storms occasionally close I-40. Visit Amarillo has current information on attractions and hotels.

Northern Arizona 

The 86 miles between Seligman and Kingman make up the longest continuous stretch of Route 66 left in the country. Seligman's main street is lined with souvenir shops, Angel and Vilma Delgadillo's Original Route 66 Gift Shop, and the Snow Cap Drive-In, opened by Angel's brother Juan in 1953. West of town, the road crosses open ranch country to Grand Canyon Caverns, where an elevator takes visitors about 20 stories underground. Farther on, the Hackberry General Store is packed with vintage signs and gas pumps, and the Arizona Route 66 Museum fills Kingman's historic Powerhouse building. Explore Kingman lists museum hours and lodging.

Stay in Williams, 45 minutes east of Seligman. As the last town bypassed, it still has a walkable historic downtown, and the Grand Canyon's South Rim is just an hour north. The Seligman to Kingman drive takes about 90 minutes without stops, and Kingman back to Williams is about one hour and 45 minutes on I-40. Amarillo to Williams is roughly eight hours of interstate driving, so most travelers treat Arizona as a separate trip and fly into Phoenix, about two hours south of Williams.

May, June, September, and October are the best months to visit. Williams sits at nearly 7,000 feet, so nights drop below freezing from November through March, and snow is common in winter. Kingman is lower and hotter, with summer highs near 100 degrees. If you're coming from the east, stop at Petrified Forest National Park, about two hours east of Williams and the only national park with a segment of Route 66 inside its boundaries.

Celebrating the Centennial 

The biggest celebrations of the Route 66 centennial take place on November 11, 2026 – Veterans Day. Tulsa is hosting Oklahoma's statewide Route 66 Centennial Celebration in the Tulsa Arts District, and Springfield, Illinois, is hosting the Illinois Route 66 Statewide Conference and Centennial Celebration the same day. As of 2026, Veterans Day is also a fee-free day at National Park Service sites for U.S. citizens and residents, which makes it a good day to fit in Petrified Forest. The U.S. Route 66 Centennial Commission keeps a full calendar of events by state.

Services thin out quickly on the old road, especially in Arizona, where there is little between Seligman and Kingman beyond the caverns and Hackberry. Fill your tank before leaving either town, and call ahead to small cafes and museums, since many cut their hours after Labor Day.

Did you drive Route 66 before the interstates replaced it? Share your memories of the old road in the comments.