Santa Monica

The original terminus of U.S. Route 66 was at 7th and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. However, over the years, and decades, Route 66 has had several “official” and “unofficial" ending points. Federal Highway rules stated one highway must feed into another to not "dead-end" a traveler, so Route 66's new ending was re-routed to connect with "Alt 101," today's California Pacific Coast Highway.

The extended route was at the intersection of Lincoln and Olympic boulevards in Santa Monica, about one mile from the Pacific Ocean. This is often referred to as the official ending point of Route 66.

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Several Mels restaurants are located in the Los Angeles area, including this one at 1670 Lincoln Boulevard, near the official ending point of Route 66.

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Pasadena

California Street Bridge

With its majestic arches rising 150 feet above the deeply cut Arroyo Seco, the Colorado Street Bridge was proclaimed the highest concrete bridge in the world upon completion in 1913. The bridge connected Pasadena to Los Angeles, and traffic on the new bridge was heavy. Only two lanes wide, the bridge was considered inadequate as early as the 1930s. The bridge remained part of Route 66 until the 1940 completion of the Arroyo Seco Parkway. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

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Rancho Cucamonga

The Cucamonga Service Station is a historic gas and automobile service station located in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Located on Historic Route 66, it was built in 1915 and today serves as a museum. The official address is 9670 Foothill Blvd, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730.

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Chicken Boy in Los Angeles

The 22-foot high, fiberglass Chicken Boy, is part man and part chicken, and holds a yellow bucket of chicken. Chicken Boy was originally located on the roof of the Chicken Boy restaurant on Broadway in Los Angeles. It was later put in storage, and then relocated to its current site atop the Future Studio Gallery, on 5558 North Figueroa Avenue, part of Historic Route 66, in the Highland Park area. It is commonly called the "Statue of Liberty of Los Angeles".

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San Bernardino

The second-largest city in the "Inland Empire" and home to a stretch of the legendary Route 66, San Bernardino has long been the gateway to Southern California. Rancho Cucamonga lies to the west, and Riverside to the south. It is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

San Bernardino was named in 1810, when Spanish priest Francisco Dumetz led an expedition through the area. Traveling in covered wagons, Mormon pioneers descended through Cajon Pass in 1851 and settled at the base of the mountains. Later San Bernardino grew into a railroad town with the 1875 arrival of the Southern Pacific and later, the Santa Fe Railway.

Today, the restored 1918 Santa Fe Depot, a Mission Revival national historic landmark notable for its domes and towers, is home to the San Bernardino History and Railroad Museum, which tells the story of both the city and the railroad.

Starting in the 1920s, San Bernardino served as an oasis for travelers after their arduous journey across the Mojave Desert along Route 66, the 2,448-mile highway that connected Chicago and Santa Monica. Many motor courts and motels in San Bernardino gave overnight refuge to Route 66 tourists.

Just off Route 66, there’s more dining history at the site where the first McDonald’s opened in 1948. An unofficial McDonald’s museum founded by Albert Okura preserves a huge collection of early memorabilia.

San Bernardino is also home to an iconic Route 66 landmark, the Wigwam Motel, where you can sleep in a 32-foot-tall concrete teepee. Among the most photographed of all Route 66’s roadside attractions, San Bernardino’s Wigwam was built in 1949 and is one of only two of these “Wigwam Villages” that survive from the highway’s heyday.

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Wigwam Motel No. 7

Driving down Route 66, this San Bernardino motel immediately grabs your attention with its one-of-a-kind roadside architecture.

In 1933 Frank Redford started developing the Wigwam “Villages” by designing teepee (tipi) shaped motel units. This was the last of seven Wigwam Motels built across the country; only three survive today. The others are located in Holbrook AZ and Cave City KY.

This one was opened in 1949, and remains open today at 2728 E. Foothill Boulevard, and welcomes travelers to "sleep in a teepee".

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Victorville

California Route 66 Museum

The California Route 66 Museum is devoted to the representation of U.S. Highway 66 in both historic and contemporary exhibitions. It is an interactive museum with over 4500 Sq. Ft. of floor space. The museum offers many photo opportunities for visitors to share memories in such settings as a 1950s diner and the VW Love Bus complete with hippie wigs and sunglasses for that perfect photo op.

The building was built in 1930 as the "Red Rooster" and later served as the "Les Pyrenees Restaurant". The museum is dedicated to "those who lived, passed through, or passed on here".

Located at 16825 South D Street in Victorville, California - Phone 760.951.0436

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Emma Jean's Holland Burger Cafe

Emma Jean's Holland Burger Cafe is a Route 66 icon that has been serving up meals to locals and hungry travelers on the Mother Road in Victorville since 1947. The building was built by Bob and Kate Holland from cinder blocks manufactured at the old Fiber Tile Plant. Emma Jean worked at the cafe as a waitress, and her husband bought the cafe and named it after her.

The cafe remains a family-owned institution, and because of its nostalgic Mid-Century ambiance, it has been featured in a number of movies and TV shows.

Emma Jean's is located at 17143 N D Street, Victorville, CA 92394 - Phone 760.243.9938

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Barstow

Barstow Harvey House

Originally built in 1911 as Casa del Desierto, a Harvey House hotel and Santa Fe Railroad depot, it currently serves as an Amtrak station and government building housing city offices, the Barstow Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center. It is also home to the Western America Railroad Museum.

681 North First Avenue Barstow, CA 92311

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Route 66 Mother Road Museum

A popular stop for those interested in the history of the old road is the Route 66 Mother Road Museum at 681 N. First Street in Barstow.

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Western America Railroad Museum

The Museum is dedicated to sharing the history of railroading in the Pacific Southwest.  It features both indoor and outdoor displays and is popular with railroad enthusiasts. It is located at 685 North First Street in Barstow, at the Barstow Harvey House.

Indoor displays include timetables, uniforms and other railroad memorabilia.  Several locomotives and rail cars are located outside.

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Newberry Springs​​

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​Bagdad Cafe is a memorable Route 66 restaurant located at 46548 National Trails Highway in Newberry Springs, California. Famous among mother road travelers, this iconic roadside stop captures the spirit of the classic American road trip with its quirky charm, desert surroundings, and cinematic history. Visitors exploring route66 can enjoy a unique dining experience in the Mojave Desert while taking in one of California’s most recognizable highway landmarks. Bagdad Cafe stands out as a must-visit restaurant for travelers seeking authentic nostalgia, photo-worthy scenery, and a true taste of historic Route 66 culture. Whether you are passing through Newberry Springs or planning a dedicated mother road adventure, Bagdad Cafe offers a distinctive stop that blends history, atmosphere, and road trip appeal.

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Ludlow​

The original dirt trail from Los Angeles to New York passed through Ludlow and it became Route 66 in 1926. The  travel guides of that time reported that Ludlow had " Hotel - gas - oil," clearly the town was switching from an economy based on the mines and the railroad to one based on catering to travelers moving along U.S. 66.

Over the next few years, the highway was improved, straightened out, widened and better bridges built. It was also paved by the early 1930s.

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After World War II, diesel engines replaced the old steam locomotives. Water stops were no longer necessary. So the railroad became even less important to Ludlow. business focused on US 66 and did so for the next 25 years until I-40 opened in 1973 and bypassing Route 66 between Ludlow and Needles. Ludlow declined rapidly.

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Amboy

Roy's Motel and Café is a historic site on U.S. Route 66 in the Mojave Desert town of Amboy in San Bernardino County, California. Roy's Motel and Café is a 24-hour gas station, gift shop, and famous tourist attraction, due to its 1950s Googie-Style neon sign that can be seen for miles approaching the town.

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Amboy was first settled in 1858; Lewis Kingman, a locating engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, created the town as the first of a series of alphabetical railroad stations that were to be constructed across the Mojave Desert.

In 1926, Amboy became a boom town after the opening of U.S. Route 66. In 1938, Roy's Motel and Café opened and prospered due to its isolated location on the route. Roy's was later purchased by the late Albert Okura who worked to restore and revitalize the area.

Two extinct volcanoes are located west of the town: Amboy Crater and Pisgah Crater.

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Goffs, California

Goffs, an unincorporated community about 40 miles west of Needles in San Bernardino County, California, is a nearly empty one-time railroad town at the route's high point in the Mojave Desert. Goffs was a stop on Historic U.S. Route 66, and jogged around the White Cottage Restaurant. In 1931 a more direct Route 66 alignment opened between Needles and Essex.

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Needles

Needles is located in San Bernardino County in the Mojave Desert on the western banks of the Colorado River. The city was founded in 1883 during the construction of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and was later incorporated in 1913.

The famous El Garces Harvey House, built by the railroad, is today on th National Register of Historic Places.

Needles was a major stopping point on Historic Route 66 beginning in the 1920s and continuing through the 1960s, when the route was discontinued and replaced by Interstate I-40. The city was the locale of numerous tourist courts, motels and diners, catering to the traveling public.

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Old Trails Bridge

From the day it opened in 1914 near Topock, this graceful arch and the deck it supported were a pivotal Colorado River crossing, first on the transcontinental National Old Trails Road and, by 1926, on Route 66. The Old Trails Bridge carried traffic until 1948 when cars and trucks began moving onto interstate systems. In 1948, the deck was removed so the bridge could accommodate a natural gas pipeline, which it still carries. The bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The bridge is located several hundred feet south of the I-40 bridge, near Topock, AZ, and Needles, CA.​

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Needles Regional Museum

Located right across the street from the El Garces Harvey House, the Needles Regional Museum displays many artifacts from the area. It features exhibits about local history, Santa Fe Railroad, Harvey House, Route 66, historical photographs, Mojave Indian bead work and pottery.

Visit the museum at 929 Front Street, Needles CA 92363 Phone 760.326.5678

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