Route 66Trip Guide
183 stops · 7 states

Museums on Route 66

Museums are the biggest group of stops in our Route 66 data: 183 of them, in 7 of the 8 states. By state: Illinois 51, Missouri 14, Oklahoma 24, Texas 5, New Mexico 9, Arizona 6, California 74.

Most sit in the big cities at either end. Chicago alone has more than thirty, from the Art Institute of Chicago to the National Museum of Mexican Art, and the Los Angeles side adds the Norton Simon Museum and the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. Between them the road passes smaller, road-trip-flavored collections: the Afton Station Packard Museum in Vinita, the Route 66 Historical Village in Tulsa, the Devils Rope Barbed Wire Museum in Shamrock, the Mohave Museum of History and Arts in Kingman and the California Route 66 Museum in Victorville. Half of the museums are within about 0.8 mi of the road, so most are a short detour.

Practical hint: small-town museums often keep short hours and close one or two days a week, so check the opening times on the museum's own website before you drive out, and give the big city museums a half day.

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Tap a dot for the photo and a link to the stop. Open this kind on the full map to filter by state or add a stop to your trip.

Museums in Illinois (51)

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Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois

Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois · on Route 66

World-famous paintings like American Gothic and Nighthawks, a short walk from where Route 66 begins.

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American Giants Museum

Atlanta, Illinois · on Route 66

A free museum about the Muffler Man advertising giants, on a 1926 Route 66 alignment in Atlanta, Illinois.

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Shea's Gas Station Museum in Springfield, IL

Shea's Gas Station Museum

Springfield, Illinois · on Route 66

A former Route 66 gas station museum in Springfield whose collection was auctioned off in 2015.

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Old State Capitol State Historic Site in Springfield, IL

Old State Capitol State Historic Site

Springfield, Illinois · 0.2 mi from Route 66

Illinois's Greek Revival statehouse of 1840 to 1876, where both Lincoln and Obama announced candidacies.

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Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, IL

Lincoln Home National Historic Site

Springfield, Illinois · 0.1 mi from Route 66

Abraham Lincoln's home for 17 years before the presidency, set in a preserved four-block Springfield district.

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Illinois State Museum in Springfield, IL

Illinois State Museum

Springfield, Illinois · 0.1 mi from Route 66

A free state museum of Illinois fossils, Native American life, art and everyday history, near the Capitol.

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More museums in Illinois 45

Museums in Missouri (14)

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National Blues Museum in St. Louis, MO

National Blues Museum

St. Louis, Missouri · 0.2 mi from Route 66

A former St. Louis museum of blues history and live music, now closed, a short walk from the Gateway Arch.

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City Museum in St. Louis, MO

City Museum

St. Louis, Missouri · 0.3 mi from Route 66

A St. Louis museum built from salvaged building parts and machinery inside a former shoe company building.

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Saint Louis Art Museum in St. Louis, MO

Saint Louis Art Museum

St. Louis, Missouri · 3.4 mi from Route 66

A big art museum in Forest Park with works from across the world and centuries, free to enter.

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National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, MO

National Museum of Transportation

St. Louis, Missouri · 2.0 mi from Route 66

Big locomotives, vintage cars and aircraft on 42 acres, plus a railroad tunnel dug in 1853.

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Route 66 Car Museum

Springfield, Missouri · on Route 66

About 70 cars from one owner's collection, a Batmobile among them, on Route 66 in Springfield, MO.

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Joplin History and Mineral Museum

Joplin, Missouri · 0.2 mi from Route 66

Lead and zinc ore, old mining gear and Joplin history under one roof in Schifferdecker Park.

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More museums in Missouri 8

Museums in Oklahoma (24)

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Afton Station Packard Museum, Oklahoma

Afton Station Packard Museum

Afton, Oklahoma · on Route 66

A restored 1930s D-X station in Afton that housed Packards, old pumps and Route 66 memorabilia.

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Route 66 Historical Village in Tulsa, OK

Route 66 Historical Village

Tulsa, Oklahoma · on Route 66

An open-air stop on Southwest Boulevard with a tall oil derrick, a steam locomotive and a big Route 66 map.

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Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum in Sapulpa, OK

Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum

Sapulpa, Oklahoma · 0.1 mi from Route 66

A car museum in a former armory in Sapulpa, with a 66-foot gas pump outside that sells no fuel.

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Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, OK

Stafford Air & Space Museum

Weatherford, Oklahoma · 0.5 mi from Route 66

A Smithsonian-affiliated space museum in Weatherford with an Apollo 10 suit and a Gemini capsule.

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Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, OK

Oklahoma Route 66 Museum

Clinton, Oklahoma · 0.7 mi from Route 66

A museum given over to the story of Route 66 in western Oklahoma, with fuel, food and a motel steps away.

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National Route 66 Museum in Elk City, OK

National Route 66 Museum

Elk City, Oklahoma · on Route 66

A museum named for the whole of Route 66, in the western Oklahoma town of Elk City.

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More museums in Oklahoma 18

Museums in Texas (5)

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Devils Rope Barbed Wire Museum in McLean, TX

Devils Rope Barbed Wire Museum

McLean, Texas · on Route 66

A McLean museum all about barbed wire, ranching and the Texas stretch of Route 66, set in an old bra factory.

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Texas Air & Space Museum in Amarillo, TX

Texas Air & Space Museum

Amarillo, Texas · 1.3 mi from Route 66

An aviation museum by Amarillo's airport, with civilian and military aircraft and space artifacts.

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American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in Amarillo, TX

American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame

Amarillo, Texas · 1.7 mi from Route 66

The Quarter Horse breed's own hall of honor and museum, a short hop off the old road in Amarillo.

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Amarillo Museum of Art, Texas

Amarillo Museum of Art

Amarillo, Texas · 1.3 mi from Route 66

A free art museum on the Amarillo College campus, a short drive from the Sixth Street stretch of Route 66.

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Don Harrington Discovery Center in Amarillo, TX

Don Harrington Discovery Center

Amarillo, Texas · 0.2 mi from Route 66

Amarillo's hands-on science center, with a full-dome planetarium and a helium monument by the door.

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Museums in New Mexico (9)

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US Southwest Soaring Museum

Echo Ridge, New Mexico · 1.4 mi from Route 66

A small aviation museum in Moriarty dedicated to gliding history across the western United States.

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American Vaudeville Museum

Edgewood, New Mexico · 4.3 mi from Route 66

A former vaudeville memorabilia museum in Edgewood whose collection now lives in Arizona and online.

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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, NM

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Albuquerque, New Mexico · 0.4 mi from Route 66

The nation's chartered museum of the nuclear age, in Albuquerque near Sandia Labs and Kirtland Air Force Base.

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New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque, NM

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science

Albuquerque, New Mexico · 0.4 mi from Route 66

New Mexico's state-run natural history and science museum, part of a museum cluster near Old Town.

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Albuquerque Museum, New Mexico

Albuquerque Museum

Albuquerque, New Mexico · 0.2 mi from Route 66

Southwestern art and four centuries of Albuquerque history, a short walk from Old Town.

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Western New Mexico Aviation Heritage Museum in Milan, NM

Western New Mexico Aviation Heritage Museum

Milan, New Mexico · 0.5 mi from Route 66

A small aviation museum at the Grants-Milan airport, housed with a 1953 flight service station.

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More museums in New Mexico 3

Museums in Arizona (6)

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Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, AZ

Museum of Northern Arizona

Flagstaff, Arizona · 2.5 mi from Route 66

Founded in 1928, this Flagstaff museum holds Native art and natural history of the Colorado Plateau.

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Arizona State Railroad Museum

Williams, Arizona · 0.4 mi from Route 66

A Williams nonprofit working to save Arizona's historic railroad equipment beside the Grand Canyon Railway.

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Pete's Route 66 Gas Station Museum in Williams, AZ

Pete's Route 66 Gas Station Museum

Williams, Arizona · on Route 66

A restored 1949 gas station in downtown Williams, filled with pumps, signs and oil cans.

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Poozeum in Williams, AZ

Poozeum

Williams, Arizona · on Route 66

A quirky Williams museum of fossilized dinosaur dung, including a record-setting specimen nicknamed Barnum.

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Bonelli House in Kingman, AZ

Bonelli House

Kingman, Arizona · 0.2 mi from Route 66

A 1915 house turned museum on a downtown Kingman corner, just off the old road.

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Mohave Museum of History and Arts in Kingman, AZ

Mohave Museum of History and Arts

Kingman, Arizona · 0.1 mi from Route 66

Kingman's museum of northwestern Arizona history and art, run by the county historical society.

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Museums in California (74)

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Western America Railroad Museum in Barstow, CA

Western America Railroad Museum

Barstow, California · 0.4 mi from Route 66

Railroad history of the desert Southwest, with big locomotives outside Barstow's Harvey House depot.

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Barstow Harvey House, California

Barstow Harvey House

Barstow, California · 0.4 mi from Route 66

Barstow's 1911 Santa Fe depot and Harvey House, home of the Route 66 Mother Road Museum.

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California Route 66 Museum in Victorville, CA

California Route 66 Museum

Victorville, California · on Route 66

Victorville's Route 66 museum, set in the old Red Rooster Cafe right on D Street in Old Town.

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Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery

Claremont, California · 0.1 mi from Route 66

The art gallery of Scripps College, set on a historic Spanish Colonial Revival campus in Claremont.

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Benton Museum of Art in Claremont, CA

Benton Museum of Art

Claremont, California · 0.7 mi from Route 66

Pomona College's art museum, opened in 2020, with some 20,000 works from Renaissance panels to photographs.

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La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, CA

La Brea Tar Pits

Los Angeles, California · 1.9 mi from Route 66

Natural asphalt seeping up in the middle of Los Angeles, where prehistoric animals were trapped and kept.

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More museums in California 68