Route 66: 2,448 Miles of America's Most Famous Highway

U.S. Route 66, established in 1926 and decommissioned in 1985, was the most famous highway in American history. Stretching 2,448 miles from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California, it crossed eight states — Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California — and three time zones. Route 66 traversed the geographic heart of America, from the industrial Midwest through the Great Plains, across the high desert of the Southwest, and over the mountains to the Pacific coast.

Introduction

The highway earned its place in American culture as the primary westward migration route during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, when hundreds of thousands of displaced farmers traveled its length to reach California. John Steinbeck called it "the Mother Road" in The Grapes of Wrath. Route 66 became a symbol of freedom, mobility, and the American love affair with the open road.

The Route

• Total Length: 2,448 miles (3,940 km)
• States Crossed: IL, MO, KS, OK, TX, NM, AZ, CA (8 states)
• Start: Grant Park, Chicago, IL (elevation 594 ft)
• End: Santa Monica Pier, CA (elevation 26 ft)

Route 66 began at Grant Park in downtown Chicago and headed southwest through the farmlands of central Illinois, passing through Springfield (the state capital) and crossing the Mississippi River at St. Louis. It then traversed the Ozark Plateau of Missouri, clipped the southeastern corner of Kansas (the shortest stretch, just 13 miles), and crossed the rolling prairies of Oklahoma from Tulsa to Oklahoma City and beyond.

West of Oklahoma City, the route crossed the Texas Panhandle and the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains) — one of the flattest, most featureless landscapes in North America. In New Mexico, it passed through Albuquerque and the high desert at elevations exceeding 7,000 feet. The Arizona section featured the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, and the dramatic descent from the Colorado Plateau to the Mojave Desert. The final stretch crossed the Mojave and Cajon Pass before descending to Los Angeles and Santa Monica.

Geographic Diversity

• Prairie: Illinois and Kansas flatlands
• Ozark Plateau: Rugged hills of southern Missouri
• Great Plains: Oklahoma and Texas Panhandle
• High Desert: New Mexico and Arizona, 5,000–7,500 ft
• Mojave Desert: Final desert crossing before California

Route 66 crossed a remarkable range of geographic zones. From the glacial till plains of Illinois to the deeply eroded Ozark Plateau of Missouri, from the red-earth prairies of Oklahoma to the Llano Estacado of Texas, the highway showcased the diversity of the American interior. West of Albuquerque, the route climbed to over 7,000 feet through the Continental Divide region before dropping into the Painted Desert.

The most dramatic geographic transition occurred in western Arizona, where the route descended from the cool ponderosa pine forests of the Colorado Plateau at Flagstaff (7,000 feet) to the scorching Mojave Desert floor near Needles, California (500 feet). This 6,500-foot descent over roughly 200 miles compressed multiple climate zones into a single day's drive, from alpine forest to cactus desert.

Dust Bowl Migration

• Period: 1930–1940
• Migrants: Estimated 200,000–400,000 traveled Route 66
• Origin States: Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas
• Destination: California's Central Valley and Los Angeles

Route 66's most significant historical role was as the primary escape route during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Severe drought and decades of destructive farming practices turned millions of acres of Great Plains topsoil into airborne dust. Massive dust storms — called "black blizzards" — buried farms, killed livestock, and made agriculture impossible across a 100-million-acre region centered on the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles.

An estimated 200,000 to 400,000 displaced farmers and their families loaded their possessions onto trucks and cars and headed west on Route 66 to California. Steinbeck immortalized this migration in The Grapes of Wrath, describing Route 66 as "the path of a people in flight." The migrants, derisively called "Okies" regardless of their actual state of origin, traveled the highway's full length to reach the agricultural valleys of California, fundamentally altering the demographics of both the Great Plains and the West Coast.

Roadside Culture

• Motels: First "motor hotels" built along Route 66 in 1930s
• Diners: Mom-and-pop restaurants every few miles
• Gas Stations: Competed for business with exotic architecture
• Tourist Traps: Trading posts, reptile farms, giant statues

Route 66 spawned a unique roadside culture that became synonymous with mid-20th-century America. The highway was lined with motels (a word coined from "motor hotel"), diners, gas stations, and tourist attractions competing for the attention of passing motorists. Businesses used outlandish architecture — giant arrows, neon signs, teepee-shaped motel rooms — to stand out along the busy corridor.

This roadside culture was a geographic phenomenon: it existed because of the highway and could not survive without it. When the interstate highway system bypassed Route 66 in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, thousands of roadside businesses were stranded on a road that no longer carried traffic. Ghost towns and abandoned motels became as much a part of the Route 66 landscape as the neon signs and diners that preceded them.

Decommissioning & Legacy

• Interstate Replacement: I-55, I-44, I-40, I-15, I-10
• Decommissioned: June 27, 1985
• Historic Designation: National Scenic Byway segments preserved
• Tourism: Attracts hundreds of thousands of heritage tourists annually

Route 66 was gradually replaced by interstate highways beginning in the 1950s. Interstate 40 replaced the longest stretch, from Oklahoma City to Barstow, California. By 1984, the last segment of interstate — I-40 through Williams, Arizona — was completed, and Route 66 was officially decommissioned on June 27, 1985. The highway was removed from the US highway system, and its iconic signs were taken down.

Route 66's cultural legacy proved more durable than its asphalt. Preservation efforts beginning in the 1990s saved many historic segments and roadside attractions. Several states designated remaining sections as historic or scenic byways. Today, Route 66 attracts hundreds of thousands of heritage tourists each year, including large numbers of international visitors drawn by the highway's cultural mythology. It remains the most famous road in the world, a geographic artifact of 20th-century America.

Key Facts

• Route 66 stretched 2,448 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica, crossing 8 states.
• It was established in 1926 and decommissioned in 1985.
• 200,000–400,000 Dust Bowl refugees traveled Route 66 to California in the 1930s.
• The highway crossed elevations from 26 feet at Santa Monica to over 7,000 feet in New Mexico.
• John Steinbeck called Route 66 "the Mother Road" in The Grapes of Wrath (1939).

Fun Facts

• The 13-mile stretch through Kansas is the shortest state segment on Route 66 — blink and you'll miss it.
• Route 66 was one of the first US highways to be almost entirely paved, completed in 1938.
• The TV show "Route 66" (1960–1964) was largely filmed on location along the actual highway.
• Bobby Troup wrote the song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" during his own drive along the highway in 1946.

Final Thoughts

Route 66 was more than a highway — it was a geographic corridor that shaped American migration, commerce, and culture for six decades. From the Dust Bowl exodus to the postwar road trip, Route 66 connected the industrial Midwest to the Pacific coast through some of America's most dramatic landscapes. Though decommissioned, its cultural legacy endures as a symbol of American mobility and the open road.