Running through northern Arizona, Route 66 shaped twentieth-century travel, commerce, and culture. Neon signs, motels, and diners tell the story of migration, tourism, and the open road.
Route 66, officially designated U.S. Highway 66, is a historic American highway stretching about 2,400 miles from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California. Established in 1926, it became known as the “Mother Road” and “Main Street of America”, symbolizing freedom, migration, and the rise of automobile culture. Though decommissioned in 1985, it remains a celebrated cultural icon and travel destination.

Route 66 was conceived as part of the original U.S. Highway System, connecting rural communities to major cities. During the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, it served as an escape route for migrants heading west, a journey immortalized in The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, who popularized the term “Mother Road.” The highway later fueled America’s postwar travel boom, lined with diners, motels, and neon-lit service stations that embodied mid-century roadside culture.
Travelers today retrace Route 66’s path through eight states—Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California—visiting preserved landmarks such as:

• Cadillac Ranch (Texas): Half-buried, graffiti-covered Cadillacs
• Blue Whale of Catoosa (Oklahoma): A playful waterfront sculpture
• Route 66 Museum (Clinton, Oklahoma): Exhibits chronicling the road’s cultural era
• Chain of Rocks Bridge (Missouri): A 1929 bridge famous for its sharp bend
• Santa Monica Pier (California): The symbolic “End of the Trail”