This road has many names: The Mother Road, The Golden Road, Bloody 66, Will Rogers Highway, America’s Main Street. No matter how you call it, Route 66 is and remains part of the America’s magic.

Route 66 was laid and surfaced from 1926 to 1938.

It was the first connection from East to West across the United States, which permanently linked the cities of Chicago and Los Angeles.
Route 66 is 2448 miles long and runs through eight states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Route 66 starts in Chicago, Illinois, and ends in Santa Monica, California.

Route 66 covers three time zones and several climates zones. Therefore, there is no general travel recommendation. While it may be winter Chigaco you can count on summer temperatures in Arizona and in Los Angeles on the West Coast. Right in the middle of the trip across Missouri and Oklahoma you drive through the so-called Tornado Alley, where you may experience severe weather during tornado season. Tornadoes devastating everything in their paths are no unusual occurance. In 2013 a tornado destroyed the town of Moore, Oklahoma.

Today, around one-third ofe the original road dates back to the 1930s, other parts were resurfaced or replaced by Interstate I-40.

Route 66 Association is trying to keep Route 66 alive. Brown Route 66 markers have been errected, especially along historic sections, making it easy for travelers to find the old routes.