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Attractions along Route 66

All US 66 sights, landmarks, & places to see

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Route 66 is a Destination in itself!

Top places to Visit along Route 66: We have compiled our favorite sights and spots along U.S. highway 66.

During your Route 66 road trip, the highway will take you take you by plenty of awesome attractions that range from the "must-see" to the offbeat and unusual. Thse landmrks include classic roadtrip sights like 1950s motels, vintage gas stations and diners, antique neon signs, wacky sights, weird, and kitschy spots and also magnificent outdoors and National Parks.

Enjoy our state-by-state list of attractions and use it to Get your Kicks on Route 66!

Gary's Gay Parita Sinclair

colorful Craftsman style Sinclair gas station, with signs and memorabilia
Gary's Gay Parita Sinclair Gas Station in Paris Springs, Missouri. Credits Click on image for Street View

Route 66 Best Attractions

Index to this page

The 1950s neon sign of Tee-Pee Curios

Tee-Pee Curios neon sign, Credits

Midpoint café sign, Adrian, Texas

colorful neon sign of Route 66 Midpoint Cafe
Midpoint Cafe, Adrian, Texas.
Rent your car advertisement

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1. Wacky, Kitschy & Unusual Roadside Attractions

enormous catsup bottle shaped water tank

World's largest Catsup Bottle, Collinsville Il. Credits

The odd and the unusual, the weird and the kitschy are very common along Route 66. From Muffler Men to gigantic fiberglass animals, totem poles, teepees, enormous catsup bottles and bowling pins, Route 66 has them all!

Some of these classic quirky sights are listed below:

Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup (Funks Grove IL)
Muffler Man Holding Hot Dog (Atlanta IL)
World's Tallest Gas Pump (Sapulpa OK)
World’s Largest Covered Wagon (Lincoln IL)
Pink Elephant Antique Mall (Livingston IL)
Historic Largest Catsup Bottle in the World (Collinsville IL)
Fiberglass steer store sign (Edwardsville IL)

close up of the two giant arrows, painted red and yellow, stuck in the ground

The gigantic "Twin Arrows" at Twin Arrows, AZ- Credits

The World's (second) Largest Rocking Chair (Fanning MO)
Giant Bowling Pin (Buckhorn MO)
Blue Whale (Catoosa OK)
The World's Largest Totem Pole (Foyil OK)
Giant Cross (Groom TX)
Cadillac Ranch (Amarillo TX)
Historic Wigwam Motel (Holbrook AZ)
Twin Arrows Trading Post (Twin Arrows AZ)
Wigwam Motel (San Bernardino CA)
Bottle Tree Ranch (Helendale CA)
Giant Orange (Fontana CA )
Chicken Boy (Los Angeles CA)

giant red rocking chair and three vintage cars dwarfed by it

Red Rocker in Fanning, Missouri. Credits

Blue concrete whale in a pond

Big Blue Whale, Catoosa. Credits

Muffler Men

The Muffler Men stand out among America's most amazing advertising stunts. These fiberglass giants are 19 to 21 feet-tall and were widely used as eye-catchers during the 1960s-70s.
Many of them survive on Route 66, some are original and others are brand new.

Below is the "" a Route 66 Muffler Man; 30-foot-tall behemoth from 1965 on Route 66 in Wilmington, Illinois

muffler man with chef hat, fork and spatula in his hands

Carl the Cheff, Springfield MO. Credits

muffler man with an emerlad green astronaut suit and helmet

Gemini Giant, Wilmington IL.

>> More information? Visit: Muffler Men on Route 66

2. Americana

American flag on the wall of a railroad depot

Goffs railway Depot, CA. Credits

America, its culture, values, and the Mother Road

Route 66 is the essence of Americana:

The Mother Road as America's Main Street, embodies the core small town values of America, with its Mom-and-Pop stores, its vintage service stations, motels, and diners.

It also represents America's freedom; a roaming, mobile, and automobile-oriented society, where new horizons for personal growth and experiences can always be found.

Route 66 American flag

us flag made with licence plates on a wall
US flag made from license plates on Route 66 (the Tag Flag), Galena Kansas. Credits
Burger, soda and fries on a diner's neon sign

Mr DZ' diner's neon sign on Route 66 Kingman AZ. A. Whittall

Travelers come from all over the world to experience "America" along Route 66: they long to hear American music, savor its food, visit the open horizon of the Far-West and the charming small towns in the Midwest.

These are some examples of Americana along US66:

>> More information? Visit: Americana

A flag of Texas painted on the wall of a gabled house
Texas flag mural, Adrian Texas, click for Street View. Credits

3. Historic Places

vintage Soulsby’s Service Station

Soulsby’s Service Station, Mt. Olive Pechristener

Route 66 is dotted with plenty of historic sSites and many places that have been listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Buildings, Churches, Diners, Motels, battlefields, POW Camps, bridges and segments of the Mother Road have been listed as Historic Places.

You can find them and learn all about them by checking our Historic Sites page where we list them state-by-state.

Some examples of these historic spots are given below and they include a motel, a gas station, a pier, a café, and also a school and a church:

austere brown adobe San Miguel Mission church

Historic Place: Oldest Church in the US, , Santa Fe New Mexico. A. Whittall

Soulsby’s Shell Service Station (Mt. Olive IL)
Blue Swallow Motel (Tucumcari NM)
Rock Café (Stroud OK)
First School in Oklahoma (Edmond)
San Miguel Mission oldest church in the U.S. (Santa Fe NM)
Santa Monica Pier "End of the Road" (Santa Monica CA)
Phillips 66 Station (Chandler OK)

Historic Wigwam Motel on Route 66 in Holbrook Arizona
Historic Wigwam Motel Holbrook, AZ.

>> More information? Visit: Historic Places along Route 66

4. Route 66 Towns

Vintage 1950s police patrol parked on Main Street in Seligman

is US 66 in Seligman Arizona. A. Whittall

The towns, cities and villlage along Route 66 are tourist attractions in their own right. We have individual webpages for each of the towns located along Route 66, and these pages provide complete information.

For each town along the highway you can read:

  • A quick reference list of its main sights
  • About: Facts & Trivia; History
  • Weather data and current Forecast
  • How to get there. Location and distances
  • Full details on its Attractions & Sights
  • Hotels & lodging in the town and nearby.
  • Map of the town and Route 66
  • The National and State Parks close to them

We have listed all these towns in one page, state-by-state. Each town is a link, so you can click on any town to access full information on its sights and attractions.

>> Full information, visit: Route 66 Towns

5. Landmarks & Places to See

tiny cottage style vintage Hole-in-the-Wall Conoco gas Station

Vintage Conoco Station in Commerce Oklahoma. Credits

Our Landmarks page lists all the attractions on Route 66.

You can find them on a state-by-state basis. Within each state we include links to each of the attractions which we have categorized so that you can find what you need easily.

  • Route 66 Motels
  • Café, Trading Posts, Diners, and Route 66 classics
  • Service Stations
  • Neon Signs
classic neon sign in red and yellow of La Mesa Motel
Neon Sign at La Mesa Motel, Santa Rosa NM Credits

Route 66 Neon Signs

Some of these great vintage neon signs are listed below.

vintage red neon sign with white letters and two more signs under it

Boots Court Motel neon sign, Carthage, Missouri. Credits

De Anza Motor Lodge (Albuquerque NM)
Munger Moss Motel (Lebanon MO)
Sonrise donuts (Springfield IL)
Historic Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket (Willowbrook IL)
Hotel Chicago (Chicago IL)
Rest Haven (Springfield MO)

>> More information? Visit: Landmarks

Restored 1950 Tropics Restaurant Neon Sign on Route 66

Blue neon Sign with a palm tree
Lincoln Illinois. Martha Raaymakers

6. National and State Parks

snow dusted mountains of the San Francisco Peaks, Flagstaff

Snow dusted San Francisco Peaks, Flagstaff AZ. Credits

For those who enjoy the outdoors, Route 66 offers plenty of ways to enjoy nature.

In our individual town webpages we list all the National and State Parks that are close to those towns and US66

So get your hiking shoes ready and check out the volcanos, canyons, forests, multicolored deserts, caverns, and mountains that you can trek during your road trip on Route 66!

Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon are only two of the National Parks set close to U.S. 66. Visit our National & State Parks page for full details on ALL parks.

multicolored rocks shaped like cones or tepees
The "Tepees" in Blue Mesa, Petrified Forest Nat. Park, AZ.

>> More information, visit: National & State Parks

7. Top Ten Attractions in each state

Do you want to know which are the Top Ten Attractions in each state?

Visit our State by State page with our "Top Ten" sights in each state so you can get a taste of what there is to see.

Below is our Top Ten list of sghts in Arizona:

  1. Barringer Crater (Barringer Crater)
  2. Historic Wigwam Motel (Holbrook)
  3. Twin Arrows Trading Post (Twin Arrows)
  4. Town of Oatman
  5. Petrified Forest National Park (Holbrook)
  6. Grand Canyon National Park (Williams & Flagstaff)
  7. Hackberry Store (Hackberry)
  8. the Jack Rabbit Trading Post (Joseph City)
  9. Rainbow Rock Shop (Holbrook)
  10. Standing on a Corner in Winslow Arizona

>> "Top Ten" sights in each State

The "End of the Trail" sign on Santa Monica Pier

The end of the trail sign of Route 66 on the pier in Santa Monica
"End of the Trail" sign in Santa Monica, CA. The unofficial western end point of Route 66.

8. Route 66 Painted Shields

The Route 66 shields that are painted on the road surface are a top attraction for all of us who road trip along the Mother Road.

We all want to take a picture of them, and even pose beside them too!

Visit our "Shields Painted on Route 66" webpage to learn where they are (we list them and include state by state maps) and how to take a picture on the roadway without getting hurt by the oncoming traffic.

>> More information? Visit: Route 66 painted shields

Shield on the roadway in front of a gas station between Kingman and Oatman in Arizona:

US 66 shield painted on winding highway surface in the mountains
US 66 Shield on Highway in Cold Springs, Arizona
Brick paved surface with yellow median line, corn field, house in the distance. Route 66, Illinois

Brick Paved Route 66 in Auburn Illinois. Credits

Brick Paved Route 66

Talking about roadbeds, did you know that there are some sections of Route 66 paved with bricks?
Drive along them in Oklahoma, Texas, Missori and Illinois.

>> More information? Visit: Brick paved sections of Route 66

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Fit-and-well.com advertisement
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Credits

Banner image: Hackberry General Store, Hackberry, Arizona by Perla Eichenblat

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