Route 66 from Barstow to Pasadena California

Barstow to Pasadena CA, itinerary and alignment

California Route 66 Itinerary and maps

Each leg of Route 66 described below has an interactive map and many image maps so you can follow the alignments of the highway along the way:

• Topock to Barstow - Map of this segment
• This leg: Barstow to Pasadena - Map of this segment
• Pasadena to Santa Monica - Map of this segment
  Santa Monica End of the Trail!

Arizona, previous leg

• Kingman to Topock AZ - map of this segment

Barstow to Pasadena along Route 66

Historic Background of this section of US Highway 66

Route 66 was created in 1926 and it used pre-existing highways as its first alignment. The original highway in the area was the "National Old Trails" a private sponsored highway created in the 1910s. It was known as an "Auto Trail" and formed part of the publics demand for "better roads"; a movement that lobbied for good highways that could be used by motor vehicles, and also signs to mark them and help drivers to find their destination.

The thumbnail (Click to see large size map), shows some of the "Auto Roads" or "Auto Trails" that were good enough to be driven by cars back in the 1920s.

1927 Road map, SW CA
Click on image to enlarge.
Credits

1956 Shell Roadmap, SW CA
Click on image to enlarge.
Credits

From Barstow to Pasadena along Route 66

The Alignment of Old Route 66 from Barstow to Victorville

The first road through Victorville was the National Old Trails (N.O.T.) road which was a highway that was projected to link New York and Los Angeles in the early 1910s. This road ran close to the Santa Fe Railroad between Victorville and Needles. This is a simple route, and a relatively intact one too. Just head west from downtown Barstow along Main St., and stick to it.
It passes through neighboring Lenwood, Hodge and Helendale in a wide sweeping curve towards the west in the Mojave desert, running next to the old SF Railway and the Mojave River just beyond it.

Mojave River

The river is located roughly 1.5 to 2 miles west of Lenwood. The Mojave is an itermitent river that flows in a closed basin with an area of 4,580 sq. mi. (11.862 km²), its source is in the San Bernardino Mountains at almost 3,000 ft. altitude (900 m) and it discharges into Soda Lake, in the Mojave Desert.
It is a source of water used by the desert animals and plants, and also by those crossing the Mojave since prehistoric times.

110 mi long (177 km), its discharge varies from nil to a maximum of 70,600 cu. ft. (2.0000 m³). Most of its water flow is underground as the river bed is dry most of the year.

Father Garces named it Arroyo de los Mártires (Martyrs' Creek) in 1776. When Jedediah Smith followed it westwards into California in 1826 he named it "Inconstant River".

The underwater course of the Mohave River was marked by vegetation growing next to it, and therefore was in sight of Route 66 and the SF Railroad all the way from Newberry to Victorville andi in its last section, past Oro Grande, it was a visible water course.

After Helendale, the road swept towards the southeast, crossing the railroad tracks using an underpass at Oro Grande and, after crossing the Mojave River on the steel truss Oro Grande Bridge, it heads straight into Victorville along D Street and turning right (south) along 7th Street, which it followed until leaving town.
The driveable segment ends at the junction of Green Tree Blvd. and 7th St. by Exit 150 of I-15.
This alignment is shown in this custom map with directions (pale blue line).

The Alignment of Old Route 66 from Victorville to San Bernardino

Victorville to Cajon Pass

This alignment is shown with a burgundy line in our custom map.
Leave Victorville from Green Tree Golf Course by I-15 Exit 150. The original roadway is buried by the four-lane freeway (I-15) built on top of the original alingment.
At Exit 143 was the site of the Miller's Corners service station mentioned by Jack Rittenhouse, on the Main St. into Hesperia, a town that is located 4 miles east.

Keep southbound, and at Exit 138 the old road headed to the eastern side of the present I-15 at the foothills of the mountains, with San Bernardino Mountains to the east, Cajon Pass in the middle and the San Gabriel Mountains to the west. This is where the San Andres Fault cuts across the mountains marking the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate.

Across Cajon Pass

See the yellow line in our custom map.

The original 1926 to 1930s alignment is mostly gone as you can see in our custom map, it crisscrosses the freeway several times on its way up towards the summit and then downhill on the southern side of Cajon Pass.

The construction of I-15 eliminated most of the old roadway, but at Exit 129, you drive along it as it became Cajon Blvd. where you can still see the stone wall that dates to the 1930s and served as a crash barrier, keeping cars from falling down the cliffs in a period when guard rails hadn't yet been invented .

Cajon Blvd. runs on the southern side of I-15 all the way to the community of Devore.

Devore

The alignment of U.S. 66 is cut off at the junction and interchange of I-215 and I-15 that interrupt the old alignment. On the southeastern side of the freeway, it continues with a NW-SW course into San Bernardino once again along Cajon Blvd.

San Bernardino to Glendora

San Bernardino

The Two Route 66 alternatives into San Bernardino

Prior to the early 1950s when US 66, US 395 and US 91 were realigned along a "four-lane" highway running where I-215 now runs, the Mother road had two alignments into San Bernardino: City 66 and Alternate 66, they split 1.5 miles SE of the interchange of I-15 and I-215 at Verdmont.

The one that ran along Cajon Blvd. and Mt. Vernon Ave. (City 66) accompanied US 395, while the other ran further east, along Kendall Dr. and E St. up to 5th St. where it turned right and went through downtown San Bernardino (Alt 66).

Rittenhouse in his Guidebook to U.S. Highway 66 that he published in 1946 recommends taking the take the City alignment "through the edge of San Bernardino. At the center of a small business district US 66 turns right and heads almost straight west toward Los Angeles, about 53 miles distant. From this point on, the traveler is practically "in" Los Angeles. Tourist camps of the best type, fine cafes, and other roadside facilities are found all along the way, so no further detailed description is necessary". He adds that there are 12 towns between San Bernardino and Pasadena and that "Many of them are so close together as to be practically indistinguishable from each other".

Alternate US 66

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) created the "Alternate" designation in 1959. Its purpose was to designate a route that branches off from the main highway, passes through given towns or cities and then connects again with the main numbered route. The idea is to accommodate a high traffic demand.
When the Alternate and Main highways followed a similar course, the shorter and better built highway would be marked as main and the other as alternate.

There are only six places along Route 66 where an Alternate 66 alignment existed: From East to West they were the one into Chicago, Carthage MO, the one in Joplin MO, Oklahoma City, Alt 66 in San Bernardino, California, and the one leading into Los Angeles CA.

City 66 Alignment

Runs along Cajon Blvd., crosses CA-210 freeway and takes a sharp turn southwards along N. Mount Vernon Rd. into San Bernardino meeting the Alt 66 on 5th St.
See the pale blue line in our custom map with directions.

Alt 66

This highway ran to the east, along Kendall Dr., North E St. southwards and then west along 5th St.
See the blue line in our custom map.

As you can see both routes met just west of the downtown district of San Bernardino taking a westward course along Foothill Boulevard into Rialto, Fontana and the other towns that lie on that road.

Route 66 From San Bernardino to Pasadena

See the red line in our custom map.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Leaving San Bernardino Route 66 crossed farmland with orange groves running along Foothill Blvd. westwards until it reached Glendora.

It passed by the towns mentioned by Rittenhouse and others that didn't even appear in the maps at that time: Rialto, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Claremont, Pomona, La Verne, San Dimas, and finally, Glendora.

Glendora

In Glendora there was an older alignment, used from 1926 to 1933, and it is marked with a light blue line in our custom map.

To Glendora

Then it continues west along E. Foothill through Azusa and Irwindale where the road changes its name to Huntington Dr.; it passes through Duarte and reaches Monrovia where there is another old alignment (1926-33 US66) shown with a green line in our custom map.

Pasadena, end of this segment

The 1933-60s Route continued along Huntington Dr, that changed its name to Colorado Pl, Colorado St. and finally, when it enters Pasadena: Colorado Blvd.

The highway went by Arcadia and Sierra Madre entering Pasadena, the endpoint of this segment.

Next Section, final one of Route 66

Pasadena is the end of this segment, ahead are the different roadways Route 66 took into Los Angeles (1926-30 western terminus) and beyond, towards the "End of Route 66 in Santa Monica (1930-1964).

The Decommisioning of US 66 began in California in 1964

End of Route 66 moves to Pasadena, 1964. Source

Western end moved from Santa Monica to Pasadena in 1964

The first segment of Route 66 to lose its certification was the one located in Los Angeles County in 1964, it was replaced by State highways Route 2 and Route 11.

The western terminus of Route 66 was moved from Santa Monica to the intersection of the Arroyo Seco Parkway and Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena in 1964.

Hotels along this leg of your road trip

San Bernardino has plenty of lodging options for those travelling along Route 66, you can book a hotel or motel there:

>> Book your Hotel in San Bernardino

More Accommodation nearby along Route 66

• Kingman
• Peach Springs
• Mojave City Arizona
• Havasu City AZ
• Bullhead City AZ
• Laughlin Nevada
• Needles
• Barstow
• Victorville
• San Bernardino
• Pasadena
• Los Angeles
• Santa Monica

Book your room in Barstow

Continue your Route 66 Road trip:

Sponsored Content

>> Book your Hotel in Pasadena

Credits

Banner image: Hackberry General Store, Hackberry, AZ by Perla Eichenblat
Jack DeVere Rittenhouse, (1946). A Guide Book to Highway 66.

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