Route 66 landmarks and roadside art

Chicago Water Tower

Chicago, Illinois · 1.2 mi from Route 66

The Gothic Revival tower that survived Chicago's Great Fire in 1871, right on the Magnificent Mile.

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Navy Pier

Chicago, Illinois · 1.2 mi from Route 66

A long lakefront pier packed with food, theaters, parks and family attractions, a Chicago favorite.

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Site A / Plot M Disposal Site

Joliet, Illinois · 3.2 mi from Route 66

A quiet forest marker where Manhattan Project reactors were run, then buried, outside Chicago.

Old Chicago

Bolingbrook, Illinois · 0.7 mi from Route 66

The site of a 1970s indoor amusement park and mall in Bolingbrook, torn down in 1986.

Gemini Giant

Wilmington, Illinois · on Route 66

A fiberglass astronaut holding a rocket, standing beside Route 66 in Wilmington.

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World War II Illinois Veterans Memorial

Springfield, Illinois · 0.5 mi from Route 66

Illinois's World War II memorial: a 22-ton white globe ringed by granite walls in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

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Bissell Street Water Tower

St. Louis, Missouri · 2.1 mi from Route 66

A historic 1886 standpipe known as the New Red, one of three old water towers left in St. Louis.

Grand Avenue Water Tower

St. Louis, Missouri · 2.3 mi from Route 66

The oldest water tower still standing in St. Louis, a standpipe designed by George I. Barnett.

Gateway Arch

St. Louis, Missouri · 0.7 mi from Route 66

The 630-foot steel arch on the Mississippi is the tallest arch on Earth and the symbol of St. Louis.

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Mid America Adventure

Eureka, Missouri · 0.5 mi from Route 66

An amusement park opened by Six Flags in 1971, now run under a new name by Enchanted Parks.

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Baker Observatory

Fair Grove, Missouri · 7.1 mi from Route 66

A Missouri State University observatory set in the countryside just off the old road near Marshfield.

statue of Mickey Mantle

Commerce, Oklahoma · on Route 66

A nine-foot statue of Yankees great Mickey Mantle stands beyond the outfield at his old high school.

Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park

Chelsea, Oklahoma · 3.0 mi from Route 66

Ed Galloway's giant concrete totem pole and ten more sculptures, a few miles east of Foyil.

Blue Whale of Catoosa

Catoosa, Oklahoma · 0.1 mi from Route 66

A big blue whale on the water's edge in Catoosa, one of the most recognized sights on old Route 66.

Center of the Universe

Tulsa, Oklahoma · 0.2 mi from Route 66

A circle on a Tulsa footbridge where a clap echoes back oddly; closed for renovation, due back in fall 2026.

Leaning Tower of Britten

Groom, Texas · 0.1 mi from Route 66

A water tower tilted on purpose beside the highway in Groom, and a favorite of Route 66 photo books.

Cadillac Ranch

Amarillo, Texas · 0.1 mi from Route 66

Ten old Cadillacs buried nose-first in a row in Amarillo, a 1974 artwork about the rise of the tail fin.

Calvin-Rehoboth Robotic Observatory

Rehoboth, New Mexico · 0.5 mi from Route 66

A remote-controlled school telescope near Gallup, shared with a college in Michigan since 2004.

Standin' on the Corner Park

Winslow, Arizona · on Route 66

A small Winslow park built around the song Take It Easy, with a mural, a bronze statue and a flatbed Ford.

Anderson Mesa Station

Flagstaff, Arizona · 7.7 mi from Route 66

Lowell Observatory's dark-sky research station on a remote mesa southeast of Flagstaff.

Robotic Lunar Observatory

Flagstaff, Arizona · 1.3 mi from Route 66

A NASA-funded Flagstaff observatory that used the Moon to calibrate instruments on Earth-orbiting satellites.

Lowell Observatory

Flagstaff, Arizona · 0.7 mi from Route 66

The Flagstaff observatory where Pluto was found in 1930, with a working 1896 telescope for public viewing.

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United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station

Flagstaff, Arizona · 0.7 mi from Route 66

The Navy's dark-sky telescope station west of Flagstaff, whose plates revealed Pluto's moon Charon in 1978.

Braeside Observatory

Flagstaff, Arizona · 0.5 mi from Route 66

A small private observatory west of Flagstaff with a 16-inch telescope run by remote computer control.

Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch

Victorville, California · on Route 66

More than 200 bottle trees on a two-acre desert ranch, created by Elmer Long beside Route 66 in Oro Grande.

Tapia Adobe

Rancho Cucamonga, California · 0.1 mi from Route 66

The landmark home site of Tiburcio Tapia, who held the 1839 Rancho Cucamonga land grant.

Madonna of the Trail

Upland, California · on Route 66

A 1929 pioneer-mother statue, westernmost of 12 on the National Old Trails Road, beside the old Route 66.

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Prometheus

Claremont, California · 0.4 mi from Route 66

José Clemente Orozco's 1930 fresco at Pomona College, widely seen as America's earliest modern fresco.

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Raging Waters

San Dimas, California · 3.0 mi from Route 66

California's largest water park, a cool break for families in San Dimas on a hot day.

Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica, California · 0.8 mi from Route 66

Santa Monica's 1909 pier on the Pacific, where the End of the Trail sign marks Route 66's symbolic finish.

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