Jim Hinckley - Route 66 Backroads: Your Guide to Scenic Side Trips & Adventures from the Mother Road

Journeys from the Mother Road

Route 66 Caf, in Cuba, Missouri, is a tangible link to when Route 66 was the Main Street of this community and countless others between Chicago and Santa Monica. ROUTE66PHOTOGRAPHS.COM

Route 66 is a fascinating American icon. For those fleeing the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, it was a road of hope, carrying desperate families west in search of a better life. In the era before the interstates, large portions of the iconic highway had larger-than-life reputations for white-knuckle driving, the result of narrow bridges, tiny shoulders, heavy traffic, and all manner of highway hazards. From Chicago to Santa Monica, the roadside became the worlds biggest sideshow, with colorful billboards encouraging you to stop and see a live Indian or albino buffalo.

The markings on this old pickup truck show it is destined to follow the Mother Roads entire route. ROUTE66PHOTOGRAPHS.COM

Today, the old double six, segmented and broken, remains an American legend that lures travelers from throughout the world to experience life at a slower pace, to step back in time and rediscover the quintessential American experience that is the road trip. Minivans may have replaced station wagons, and many of the neon signs may have gone dark, but the essence of Route 66 is there to be found.

Travelers who stay tied to the original trail of old Route 66 in their quest for an America before the age of generic franchise restaurants and chain motels may see only a vestige of that bygone time. However, for those looking for the true meaning of what the old road represented, where past and present flow together almost seamlessly, the Mother Road is merely a portal. In many places, a short detour north or south from the historic highway will take you to spots where the neon still glows and the diners still serve apple pies made with fruit picked from the orchard across the road. Explore the land beyond the stretches of the old road, and you will encounter some of the best historic, natural, and commercial attractions between the mighty Mississippi River and the great Pacific Ocean.

In Illinois, the homes of Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Ronald Reagan are just north of the highway and that of Abraham Lincoln is but a few blocks away. In Missouri, deviate from Route 66 and you are transported to the family vacation paradise of Branson or to the literary world of Mark Twain immortalized in books such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

The recently refurbished Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona, provides a rare opportunity to experience an evening on Route 66 as it was when Studebakers still rolled out from the factory in South Bend. KERRICK JAMES

A drive along the banks of the mighty Mississippi and its many tributaries is a journey through centuries of American history, from the world of lost Native American civilizations to that of French pioneers and explorers such as Lewis and Clark.

Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle are a cornucopia of surprises, especially for those who envision open plains of rolling hills where the winds sweep without restriction. Lakes and scenic canyons and historic communities and the National Route 66 Museum are but a few of the treasures found here.

In New Mexico, you can spend a morning visiting a wonderful little village that has been perched on a towering monolith of stone for almost a thousand years, and you can be back on Route 66 in time for lunch. In Arizona, a journey of less than one hundred miles separates Route 66 from the Garden of Eden and a village so remote that mule trains still deliver the mail.

One of the most beautiful drives in America begins where Route 66 ends, as you explore the Pacific Ocean shoreline and beach communities that define Southern California.

Route 66 has inspired more ink to cover paper with its praises than asphalt to pave it. Yet little about the wonders waiting just a few miles north or south of the Mother Road has been published.

It is my hope that the drives in this book enhance your adventure as you explore legendary Route 66. Additionally, as you travel, plan your schedule so that you have time for side trips onto the backroads from Route 66 and rediscover the true Main Streets of America.

Scenes from the backroads of Route 66at New Mexicos Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge (below) and Kiowaz Grasslands (above). KERRICK JAMES