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When Route 66 opened between Chicago and Los Angeles in 1926, it marked the first time drivers could take a singular route between two of America’s biggest cities, connecting people in rural communities and major metropolitan areas across eight states.

Automobiles became vessels of adventure as drivers got behind the wheel and headed for wide open spaces. The highway, coined “The Mother Road” by the great John Steinbeck in his 1939 classic novel, “The Grapes of Wrath,” opened the door to a world of possibilities. For many, especially those living through cold Midwest winters and Dust Bowl-choked summers, Route 66 was a conduit out West, where a land of sunshine and endless opportunity beckoned. For others, the highway represented adventure and the freedom to explore that only comes with hitting the open road.

Few know that feeling like Michael Wallis, author of the 1990 book “Route 66: The Mother Road,” which is credited with reigniting interest in the highway. Wallis has traveled the highway more times than he can count and has an encyclopedic knowledge of Route 66 and the people and places along the way. He said the 100th anniversary of Route 66 in 2026 marks a great opportunity to get out on the open road. And it doesn’t take a cross-country trip to enjoy Route 66 ­– drivers can experience it right here in L.A. The roadway runs along Santa Monica Boulevard through Hollywood, West Hollywood, West Los Angeles and Santa Monica, making it a perfect day trip to experience how generations traveled the popular highway.

“Predictable – that’s a word that should never be used with Route 66,” Wallis said. “It is never predictable. There is adventure around every curve.”

Route 66 was among the first in the U.S. Highway System and while it opened in 1926, it wasn’t fully paved until 1938. Unlike earlier interstate throughfares, which were patchworks of local roads, it was purposefully engineered to take motorists through small towns and past important landmarks. While most modern highways are straight slabs of concrete, Route 66 winds its way across the landscape, undulating between hills, ascending and descending mountains and crossing deserts for 2,448 miles. The highway was the primary route between Chicago and Los Angeles for six decades until 1986, when the federal government removed the road from the U.S. Highway System. Ever-increasing modern transportation needs rendered the two-lane Route 66 obsolete for interstate commerce, and it appeared the Mother Road had come to an end. But like most enduring symbols of American freedom, Route 66 persevered, thanks to legions of history buffs and adventurers who refuse to let it fade into the distance, Wallis said.

“I lived on the original alignment of Route 66 in St. Louis County. I was born in 1945 at war’s end, and the Mother Road was still a teenager going on 20 years old at the time. I was so close to the road and it immediately became part of our everyday life,” Wallis added. “It was the road that we took trips on to Chicago to see family. It was the road I rode on in a big yellow school bus to Springfield, Illinois, to see Lincoln’s home and his tomb. And very importantly, for a boy from Missouri, it was the road we went west on all the way to the Pacific. It’s where I saw my first cowboys and Indians, oil pump jacks, the great wide open landscape of the West, the mountains, the deserts, the rivers. It was the road I learned to drive on. It was always part of me.”

The Chain of Rocks Bridge spans the Mississippi River near St. Louis, Missouri. (photo courtesy of route magazine)

Because there are hundreds if not thousands of interesting things to see and places to visit along the route, Wallis is reticent to mention specific locations as to not show favoritism. However, he cited a few examples of must-see cities and attractions along the way, heading from east to west, which is the direction early travelers primarily took, he said.

“In Chicago, the road starts right downtown there in the Loop, and you’ve got all kinds of activity in Chicago. But going out of Chicago, all the way through the Land of Lincoln, going south, there are so many highway towns and each one of them has a little gem,” Wallis said. “People knew they had to attract people off the road to their place, and especially after the interstates came along. You have to have a gimmick. It could be a great pie, it could be a fantastic blue plate special, it could be bands of neon or the grave of someone famous or infamous. In the West, you have the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, the great physical features of the lands.”

Wallis said beyond Chicago, Springfield, Illinois, St. Louis, Missouri, Joplin, Missouri and Tulsa, Oklahoma are places anyone who travels Route 66 must visit.

“Stop at a place called the Cozy Dog, that’s a very famous eatery on Route 66, right on the edge of Springfield,” he said. “At the border of Illinois and St. Louis is the Great Chain of Rocks Bridge. That was one of the last big crossings of the Mississippi on Route 66. Now you can’t drive on it, but the history is all interpreted there and it has been saved as a walking trail.”

Another must-see attraction along the Mother Road is Meramec Caverns, a limestone cave in Stanton, Missouri. Legend has it the cave was a hideout for outlaw Jesse James.

Below the ground in Stanton, Missouri, lies Meramec Caverns,the largest cave west of the Mississippi. The mineral formations and color are as rare and unique as beautiful. These jewels of nature which took thousands of years to grow, are preserved in the spectacular sights. Folklore says Jesse James used the caverns as a hideout. (photo courtesy of Michael Wallis)

The state with the shortest segment of Route 66 is Kansas, but Wallis said it is among the most memorable stretches of the road.

“There’s less than 14 miles of Route 66 in Kansas, but it’s very, very important. You hit three little towns … the first one going west is Galena, then Riverton and finally Baxter Springs. All of them are great Route 66 towns,” Wallis added. “And then you drop down into Oklahoma and you’re in Mickey Mantle country because he came right down the line from Commerce, Oklahoma, and you can still see Mickey’s home there.”

Other notable sites in Oklahoma include the restored Coleman Theatre in Miami, the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore and the Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza in Tulsa. Avery, an early highway commissioner who lobbied for the creation of the highway, is considered the father of Route 66.

Wallis said the segment through the Texas panhandle is a great place to get your kicks. It includes the famous Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, where vintage Cadis are buried nose first in the middle of a remote pasture. The roadside attraction is so memorable that it inspired Bruce Springsteen’s 1980 song “Cadillac Ranch.” For a culinary treat, stop by the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, home of the 72-ounce steak dinner.

A vintage postcard depicts the Colorado Street Bridge, high above the Arroyo Seco.

Drivers also won’t want to miss Gallup, New Mexico, a major stop along a desolate portion of Route 66 in the old days; Winslow, Arizona, made famous in The Eagles’ 1972 hit song “Take It Easy” and the site of the historic La Posada Hotel. Kingman, Arizona, home to the Historic Route 66 Museum, is another memorable stop.

Wallis said the stretch of Route 66 through California is among the most beautiful segments and fun to explore, and he encouraged everyone interested in gaining a new perspective on the state to make plans to travel the road between the Arizona border and the Santa Monica Pier.

“You come in across that Colorado River into California and … into Needles, you take that journey across the big sea of sand, the Mojave, and what a wonderful trip that is. There’s all those towns along the way, especially Amboy, which is a great town. You get up to Barstow and you hang a left and go down to San Bernardino – another great Route 66 town ­– you hook a right and you take Foothill Boulevard. You have a plethora of places to see there, the Sycamore Inn, Rancho Cucamonga, a great historic place,” Wallis said. “As you work your way down through that whole vast complex of communities, across that great Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, working your way down to Hollywood, you end up taking Santa Monica Boulevard right to the end at Palisades Park. Make sure when you get there you take off your shoes and walk down and stick your toes in the Pacific.”

A historic sign welcomes visitors to California from Topock, Arizona. (photo by Edwin Folven)

Wallis was a journalist for Time Magazine before turning his attention to writing books, and because he is considered the quintessential expert on Route 66, Disney tapped him as a consultant on the 2006 movie “Cars.” The producers were so impressed by Wallis’ knowledge of the Mother Road that they wrote him into the film franchise as the voice of the Sheriff of Radiator Springs.

“‘Cars’ is a really important movie – when it came out, business on stretches of the road from Illinois to California went up 35%,” added Wallis, who also worked with Disney imagineers on Cars Land at the Disney California Adventure Park. “More importantly, it turned on a whole new audience – kids, young people, children. It really turned on children to the road and now those children are having children and they share it with them. The cycle goes on, it continues and continues.”

Wallis suggested that anyone wishing to drive Route 66 get a guidebook with travel tips and comprehensive information about exact routes, as portions of the road no longer exist and detours will be necessary. He released a 100th anniversary edition of “Route 66: The Mother Road” in August filled with information on the history and stories of the road.

“My book is not meant to be a guidebook; it is an inspiration book. It’s a love letter to the road,” Wallis said. “It’s arguably the most famous highway in the world, and that’s why those of us who protect it and believe in road culture and legacy feel an obligation to represent the lost roads and two lane highways. It’s an important part of history. And one thing I want people to always remember – in fact this line is trademarked to me – that life begins at the off ramp.”

The sign at the “End of the Trail” signals travelers are at the end of the Mother Road. (photo by Edwin Folven)