I'm going to be driving hwy 40 / route 66 most of the way, Los Angeles to Kentucky, in early April. I was thinking about jumping on and off hwy 66, and I have a few questions for those of you with route 66 experiences.

1. If I take route 66 the entire way, how much will that slow me down, overall? I have a week to make the drive.

2. Are there any sections of route 66 that I should not miss?

3. Are there any sections I should definitely avoid?

Thanks!

 

Old route 66 doesn't exist in many places, but I would recomend getting off the interstate and visiting those sections that still exist. Be sure and drive Route 66 from Oklahoma City East thru Tulsa. Western Oklahomas Route 66 has been mostly replace by I-40 and that is also true of New Mexico. Many are not aware that early on Route 66 went thru Santa Fe. Another great place to visit.

 

I read or saw pictures somewhere that various small portions of Rt66 are dirt now too...

 

It's gonna be a fun drive, if you have a week you should have plenty of opportunity to soak in some nice scenery and take pictures.

 

2 Years ago, we went from San Bernardino, Ca. to Williams, Az. using 40 and 66.
I got a map from AAA showing a lot of interesting places to see on 66.
Be sure and take 66 from Oatman to Kingman (Lots of twisties). From Kingman to Williams, be sure to stop in Hackberry and Seligman. We stayed overnight in Williams.

 

I definitely want to avoid those sections!

There are some books available on route 66. I might have to look into those.

 

Great tip! I didn't think about getting an AAA map and I am not a current member, but I could ask a friend. Years ago they used to make those little customized map books for trips, for free, and they were really cool, back in the days before GPS. As far as sightseeing, they are probably better than a GPS.

Is that your car? Nice! I love old places like that and that is what I am looking for!

 

Here is a link to a trip made in 2004 going E to W.
http://69.89.25.185/~trexsoft/t-rexs...e.com/route66/
The NCRS did a national road tour in 2009 following Rt 66. There are a lot of sites to see, some are easy others out of the way. There are lots of web sites pretty much for each state that show Rt 66 attractions. Here is a link to my photos of trip.
https://picasaweb.google.com/Karman1...09NCRSSanJose#
Some neat places ot stayif timing right:
Hotel El Rancho in Gallup, NM; Blue Swallow Motel in Tucamcari, NM.
Places ot visit: Bastow, CA., Oatman, AZ., Hackberry, AZ, Seigman, AZ., Williams, AZ., Winslow, AZ., Ok City Memorial, Tulsa to Joplin you can follow Rt 66 in places depending on your routing. Lots of places in MO the interstate replaced the old road so hard to follow. Have fun. Ken

 

I have done the Rte 66 fun run a couple of times, and the folks that put it on have a lot of info, you may want to contact them.

Link:

http://www.azrt66.com/funrun.htm

 

The 57 Vette belongs to the guy that owns the store.
It's his daily driver. After talking to him about Vettes awhile. I had to buy a hat and t-shirt from Route 66. of course.

 

Part of 66 close to Williams is very rough, we got back on 40 as soon as we could.

Oatman is where the Donkeys run the streets and beg for carrots from the tourists. They even try to go into the stores where the carrots are. Neat place to see.

Jimmy

 

Don, most of route 66 out here in the west is in decent shape with some exceptions. Some must hit places are williams, az, if you have time, you might even want to take the grand canyon railway train into the canyon. It leaves williams each morning at 9:15 am, i bit over a two hour train ride into the canyon, you will have 3 hours there and then the train ride back to williams so that would take up 1 day. contining west on route 66, be sure to check out the grand canyon caverns on route 66, then contine west on the freeway to seligman. be sure to take route 66 from seligman west through Peach Springs, Hackberry is a must stop and then onto Kingman. From kingman, continue on to Cool Springs (an old gas station with the old pumps still in place (its a small tourist store now) but the pump island is open for pictures (no gas). From cool springs, old route 66 is a must see and is probably the most scenic and incredible stretch of road over to Oatman. To think this part of the road was THE road in the early days across the country is incredible. Scenic canyons, steep drop offs, a winding snake of a road into Oatman. Oatman is a neat tourist town now with the burros. then you can continue down to I-40 to I-15 into Victorville. Exit D St, which is old route 66 and be sure to stop in at the Victorville California Route 66 museum. Best museum on the road! I think they are closed tues/wed though.

I just took a group of corvettes out to Laughlin and over to Oatman last weekend then down to cool springs and Kingman.

Depending on when you are going, my next corvette tour is april 15, 16, 17 out to williams, and the grand canyon railway tour into the park. come join us if its in your time schedule.

 

I know that RT66 west end of it, starts at the intersection for 4th and 5th streets on the edge of San Bernardino, Ca.. very close to the old Wig-Wam Motel. There is the old Cajon Blvd going up through part of the Cajon Pass and so on. From there, freeway. Just know that the RT66 was replaced by other freeways and so on over the route but as stated, lots of interesting places where it still runs like in Gallop, NM which I saw last year.

 

A friend drove Rt 66 from Chicago to AZ. He said that by the time he got there, he needed Prozac because all the old rundown stuff was so depressing.

We have done 66 Chicago - St Louis, pretty boring.

I like back roads, but maybe not this one.

 

I'm a photographer so all that old rundown stuff makes some great depressing photos! I'll bring the prozac just in case!

 

Do you have his number so I can call ahead and have him move his car out of my parking spot!

Sounds like a good stop!

 

Note to self: Buy carrots before Oatman!

 

Darn, I will just miss you. I will probably leave LA on the 10th or 11th so I will be through there already.

Thanks for the tip on the Tue/Wed closure. I will check that out.

 

Thanks to everyone for all the good information! Keep it coming!

 

Be careful with the donkeys.........
A friend fed one and as he turned around to walk away, it bit him in the a$$. Also, if you feed them from your car, they will sometimes stick their heads right into the lower cars, Vettes in particular.