Is Route 66 Still There? What You Can Actually Drive in Its 100th Year
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Yes, you can still drive Route 66. On November 11, 2026, the Mother Road turns 100, and roughly 85% of the original 2,448 mile route between Chicago and Santa Monica is still drivable today, mostly as state maintained "Historic Route 66" rather than one unbroken federal highway. The road was officially decommissioned in 1985, replaced piece by piece by the interstate system, but most of it never disappeared, it just changed names and signage.
🛣️ What's Actually Left of the Original Road
Route 66 crosses 8 states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. In most of them you can follow long, continuous original stretches (the old alignments through Illinois and Oklahoma are especially intact), with only a handful of short gaps where the interstate swallowed the original road completely. Drive it non stop with zero sightseeing and you could technically cover all 2,448 miles in about 4 to 5 days. Nobody actually does that. Our Route 66 RoadBook spreads it over 19 days, which is closer to what it takes to actually see the road instead of just driving through it, roughly the distance from Lisbon to Moscow, done at a pace where you still stop for pie.
🎉 Why This Is the Year to Actually Go
The road's 100th birthday lands on November 11, 2026, less than two weeks after this is published. The biggest confirmed event is in Springfield, Illinois: Motorheads Bar, Grill and Museum is hosting a statewide Route 66 Centennial Conference with a keynote speaker, a midday Awards Gala Luncheon honoring the towns and businesses that kept the road alive, and an evening "Epic Centennial Celebration" with live entertainment and classic cars, all on November 11 itself. Illinois and Oklahoma have both run centennial programming through 2026 (Oklahoma's Route 66 Centennial Commission has been meeting monthly all year), so a trip timed anywhere near the date should expect extra events, flags, and classic car meets along the road, not just in Springfield.
⛽ What It Actually Costs in Gas
The US national average gas price sat at $4.30 a gallon as of October 18, 2026. At a realistic 25 miles per gallon for a loaded road trip car, the 2,448 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica burns through roughly 98 gallons, about $420 in gas for the drive itself, before the detours every good Route 66 trip needs (Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo, the Grand Canyon side trip from Williams, Arizona). That makes it one of the cheaper long American road trips per mile: mostly flat highway, and no national park entrance fees unless you detour into one.
🛏️ Where You Actually Sleep
Most of Route 66 is motels, not hotel chains, and that is the point. The Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona is the clearest example: 15 concrete and steel teepees, each about 30 feet tall, running around $120 a night in 2026. Fifteen rooms is not many for one of the most photographed stops on the entire road, so in a centennial year it is the one place worth booking weeks, not days, ahead. Springfield, Illinois has its own icon for food rather than sleep: the Cozy Dog Drive In, which still claims to be the birthplace of the corn dog and sits right on the original alignment.
The Honest Answer
So yes, Route 66 is still there, just not as one unbroken highway anymore. What is there is still enough to fill 19 unhurried days, cross 8 states and 3 time zones, and land you in Santa Monica right as the road itself turns 100.
🗺️ Knowing which stretches are still original, which towns are hosting the centennial events, and which 15 room motel to book now instead of in October is exactly what turns a 2,448 mile drive from "interesting" into "unforgettable."
That's exactly what the Route 66 RoadBook is built for.
It is a full day-by-day itinerary for the entire Chicago to Santa Monica route, built so you are never guessing which exit to take or where the next real stop is.
What's inside:
✅ A complete 19-day day-by-day Route 66 itinerary from Chicago to Santa Monica
✅ Every iconic stop mapped and explained, from the Cozy Dog Drive In in Springfield to the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook and the Santa Monica Pier
✅ Hotel recommendations for every budget at every stop, including which tiny icons, like the 15-room Wigwam Motel, book out first
✅ Google Maps links for every single route
✅ The best diners, roadside attractions, and hidden gems the entire length of the road
✅ Practical tips on crossing 8 states and 3 time zones, and structuring each day so the miles never feel rushed
✅ Instant digital download, on your phone before you book a single night