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Route 66

Last post 03-10-2009 9:33 PM by Mike Leco. 2 replies.
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  • 03-10-2009 8:01 AM

    • dave4
    • Top 500 Contributor
    • Joined on 03-10-2009
    • Posts 1

    Route 66

    After years of dreaming (and saving) my wife and I plan to drive Route 66 West to East starting in LA from mid May 2009. We have already hired an SUV, obtained info and some maps. It is clear it not going to be easy to find our way! I have iGO8 and Garmin XT GPS with US maps on my PDA  and have attempted to preplan the route and driven myself silly in the process. Does anyone know where I can obtain a GPS route for the journey? Coming from Australia I will have enough trouble driving on the 'wrong' side of the road and negotiating traffic in LA!!! Any advice would be appreciated Thanks - Dave

  • 03-10-2009 2:46 PM In reply to

    Re: Route 66

    Hi Dave,

    Most of Route 66 no longer exists.  It is either deteriorated and no longer driveable or it has been covered by an Interstate Highway.  This could be why you are having trouble planing your route? 

    There are small sections of the highway that are intact and a tourist attraction.  Those are well worth visiting.  But if you were hoping to drive the old highway from LA to Chicago, it's not possible.  You can drive the intact sections in Arizona and visit other area attractions.  There's lots to see in the southwest.  Or drive as close to you can get to where the highway was while taking some detours and side trips to see attractions between LA and Chicago.

     Our Route 66 page has more info about what you can still see.  www.usatourist.com/english/destinations/arizona/Route66-Main.html

    Also, if you search our forums "Route 66" you can find past posts about the drive.  Search box is in the upper right.  Search the entire site, not just this forum.

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  • 03-10-2009 9:33 PM In reply to

    Re: Route 66

    Route 66 has been largely replaced by modern superhighways.  The process began at least 30 or 40 years ago and has continued until now.  For much of the route, old Route 66 is buried under new modern highways or city streets.  Some sections of the old road exist as small pieces of road paralleling the newer highways.  In places, the local towns and states have restored bits of the road as tourist attractions. 

    If you want to search out those pieces of the old road, you can purchase a book that gives you detailed descriptions of how to find them.  If you are looking for the nostalgic old Route 66 that has been portrayed in films and books, that no longer exists.  I have driven on portions of Route 66 and think it is interesting for a short while.  After that, I can think of hundreds of attractions in the Southwest that are far more interesting than an old roadway. 

    Some of the longest intact portions exist in the California Desert and in the Arizona rangelands.  If you drive to Kingman Arizona, a few hours south of Las Vegas, you will be at the center of several surviving stretches of Route 66.  To the west, there are some long stretches of Route 66 through parts of the Mojave Desest.  To the east, a 100 mile arc of the old road that has been bypassed by the new highway goes as far as Seligman.  Williams Arizona just south of the Grand Canyon is one of the old towns that was on route 66. 

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