Route 66 Turns 100, and Yeah, Now's the Time

Look, Route 66 has been a cliché for decades. The kitsch, the souvenir shops, the guy driving a vintage Corvette who will absolutely tell you about it — all of that is real and it's not going anywhere.

But here's the thing: in 2026 the Mother Road turns 100, and for the first time in a long time, the road has real momentum behind it. Towns that were half-dead are throwing actual parties. The centennial is giving people a reason to care, and the energy on the road right now is genuinely different from the usual nostalgia-tourism shuffle.

If you've always told yourself "yeah, I'll do Route 66 someday," someday is literally this year.

A little context ​

Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 — 2,448 miles connecting Chicago to Santa Monica, threading through eight states and roughly the heart of the country. For three decades it was the main artery of American movement: Dust Bowl migrants, postwar road-trippers, truckers, people chasing something west.

Then the Interstates happened. By 1985, Route 66 was officially decommissioned, bypassed by I-40 and friends. Whole towns along the route basically evaporated. The road became a relic — a nostalgia object, a theme park for tourists who'd watched too many American movies.

But the thing about nostalgia is: it keeps people alive. The route survived as a patchwork of state and local roads, kept going by obsessives and locals who refused to let it die. This year the centennial is pulling a lot of people out to see what remains — and what remains is a lot.

Four stops worth making ​

Tulsa, OK — the actual birthplace ​

Tulsa is called the "Capital of Route 66" because Cyrus Avery — the guy who conceived the highway — was from here. The Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza at the east end of the historic 11th Street Bridge has a 20,000-pound sculpture called "East Meets West" that's worth seeing, but the real draw right now is Cain's Ballroom.

On May 30th, the Capital Cruise rolls through town for a centennial birthday concert at one of the best music venues in the country. Known as the "Carnegie Hall of Western Swing," Cain's is the kind of place where the floor is literally sprung for dancing and everyone in the room is having a better time than you expected. If you're in the region this month, just go.

Adrian, TX — exactly halfway ​

This is the geographic midpoint of the entire route: 1,139 miles from Chicago, 1,139 miles from Santa Monica. The Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas is pure Americana — checkerboard floors, vintage signage, locals who've been eating here for decades, and pie that is genuinely, surprisingly good.

They're throwing Midpoint Parties all summer for the centennial: classic cars, live bands, pie-eating contests. It's corny in the best possible way. You pull into Adrian, eat a slice of "Ugly Crust" pie, and you feel like you're inside the specific America that Route 66 was always trying to be.

Amarillo, TX — Cadillac Ranch ​

Ten Cadillacs half-buried nose-first in a Texas wheat field, spray-painted by millions of visitors since 1974. Every time you visit it looks completely different. It's free, open 24/7, and the rule is bring a can of spray paint — that's the point. Add your layer to it.

It sounds like a tourist trap and it is, technically, but it's also one of those places that somehow still feels surprising in person even though you've seen a thousand photos. Go at sunrise if you can. The light is good and you'll probably have it mostly to yourself.

Winslow, AZ — take it easy ​

"Standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona" — the Eagles line that immortalized a town that really needed the press. The actual Standin' on the Corner Park is worth a stop, more for the feeling of it than for any specific spectacle.

What people sleep on is La Posada Hotel next door. Mary Colter designed it in 1930 as a grand Harvey House railroad hotel, and the restoration is genuinely stunning. Have a meal in the Turquoise Room — it's one of the better restaurants in rural Arizona and a weird, wonderful place to end up on a road trip.

Why actually go this year ​

The centennial energy is real and it's concentrated right now. Springfield, MO kicked things off in late April with concerts and classic car shows — that's where the highway was formally born, and they treat it like a hometown birthday. Seligman unveiled new monument signs. Peach Springs held a whole cultural celebration with the Hualapai tribe. Towns up and down the route are all doing something simultaneously, and the community of Route 66 lifers is out in force.

This kind of coordinated energy happens once. The people who've spent careers keeping this road alive are all showing up in 2026. If you've been putting it off, this is the year the road puts on its best show.

The honest caveat ​

It's long. Like, genuinely long. To drive it properly — Chicago to Santa Monica, no skipping — you need two to three weeks minimum, and that's moving. A lot of people fly into Albuquerque or Phoenix and drive the Southwest slice, which is honestly where the best scenery is anyway. That's completely fine. The full run is also fine. Just know what you're signing up for.

And yes, parts of it are touristy and cheesy. That's the deal. The kitsch is baked in.

But some of it — a quiet stretch of two-lane blacktop through the New Mexico desert at 6 AM, no other cars, the light turning the mesas orange — is as good as anything I've seen anywhere. That part hasn't changed in a hundred years and probably won't in the next hundred either.