Did Route 66 go through Los Angeles?

Yes. When Route 66 was created in 1926, it ended in downtown Los Angeles at 7th Street and Broadway; in the 1930s it was extended west across the city to Santa Monica.

What is there to see on Route 66 in Los Angeles?

We list 48 stops in and around Los Angeles, mostly museums, parks and nature areas and Route 66 sites. The ones our trip planner rates highest are Route 66 Original Western Terminus, Chavez Ravine and Arroyo Seco. Every stop is on the map above with a photo where one exists, and the distance from the old road.

How far is Los Angeles from the next towns on Route 66?

Los Angeles sits at about mile 2,434 of Route 66, counting from Chicago. The next town east with its own guide is Pasadena, CA, about 19 miles back. Heading west, Santa Monica, CA is about 10 miles on. Distances are measured along the road and rounded.

Is Los Angeles a good place to stay overnight on Route 66?

Our trip planner does not end days here; the nearest bigger towns make better overnight stops.

Route 66 town guide · California

Route 66 in Los Angeles, California

Downtown Los Angeles is where Route 66 first ended. When the highway was created in 1926, its western end was the corner of 7th Street and Broadway, in the middle of the old theater district, and today the Original Western Terminus marker stands on the Broadway sidewalk outside the 1921 State Theatre. In the 1930s the road was carried on west to Santa Monica along Sunset and Santa Monica boulevards, so this corner is the road's first finish line, not its last.

About mile 2,434 of 2,448 from Chicago
48 stops in and around Los Angeles

Tap a dot to see that stop here.

Tap a dot for the photo and a link to the stop (the fork-and-knife markers are places to eat). Open Los Angeles on the full map to filter by kind or add stops to your trip.

Drivers came in from Pasadena to the northeast, and from 1940 Route 66 used the new Arroyo Seco Parkway for that stretch. Beside the parkway, Heritage Square Museum uses historic buildings to show how Southern California grew between 1850 and 1950. The stops we group in and around Los Angeles cover downtown, Hollywood, Mid-City and Griffith Park, and reach into Glendale and Burbank. In Glendale, the Museum of Neon Art shows historic neon signs, including ones that once hung at Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Brown Derby.

For drivers, the Petersen Automotive Museum on Wilshire Boulevard's Museum Row holds one of the largest car collections of its kind. On the same row, the La Brea Tar Pits are a working fossil dig where natural asphalt trapped prehistoric animals; the George C. Page Museum there closed in July 2026 for a renovation expected to last about two years. In East Hollywood, Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, finished in 1921, crowns Barnsdall Art Park and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In Griffith Park, Travel Town Museum tells the story of rail travel in the West between 1880 and the 1930s, when the railroad was the main way to cross the West. The Autry Museum of the American West, named for Gene Autry, looks at the West from many points of view.

Practical note: traffic is heavy and the stops are spread out, so pick a few. Pasadena lies to the northeast, and Santa Monica, with the traditional finish at the pier, lies to the west.

Top 10 Route 66 attractions in and around Los Angeles

Route 66 Original Western TerminusThe downtown Los Angeles corner where Route 66 first ended in 1926, marked by a plaque at the State Theatre.
Chavez RavineThe hillside canyon north of downtown Los Angeles that sits beside Dodger Stadium.
Arroyo SecoA seasonal river and canyon whose Spanish name means dry stream.
La Brea Tar PitsNatural asphalt seeping up in the middle of Los Angeles, where prehistoric animals were trapped and kept.
Hollyhock HouseA Frank Lloyd Wright house on a hilltop park, now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Museum of DeathA grim, offbeat Hollywood museum about death and crime, founded to make visitors glad to be alive.
The BroadA downtown museum of contemporary art with free general admission to its collection.
Los Angeles County Museum of ArtThe West's biggest art museum, with more than 150,000 works, beside the La Brea Tar Pits.
Psychiatry: An Industry of Death MuseumAn anti-psychiatry museum run by a Scientology-founded group, on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
Griffith Park ZooRuins of the old Los Angeles zoo, with empty animal enclosures, picnic areas and trails.