10 Best California Route 66 Roadside Attractions
California Route 66 roadside attractions line the historic Mother Road from Santa Monica all the way to the Nevada state line, and you do not need two weeks and a full tank of nostalgia to see the best of them. Drivers running the I-15 corridor between Southern California and Las Vegas can dip into Route 66 history in a single afternoon or stretch it into a weekend loop.
The highway opened in 1926, so this stretch of California asphalt is marking its 100th year, and that makes right now a great excuse to finally pull off at the spots you always drive past.
Use our interactive map below to track these hidden gems along your drive. Whether you are running a single afternoon loop or a full weekend road trip, here are 10 stops worth the detour, arranged west to east so you can run the list in either direction.
10 California Route 66 Roadside Attractions
1. Santa Monica Pier
The official western terminus of Route 66 sits at Ocean Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, open 24/7 with rides and shops generally running from 11:00 AM into the evening. Entry to the pier is free, though rides and games carry their own pricing. Park in the multi-level deck right on the pier or one of the beach lots nearby. Inside the historic Looff Hippodrome, a hand-carved 1922 carousel still spins, the same one that appeared in the 1973 film The Sting.
2. Colorado Street Bridge
Just south of the Ventura Freeway in Pasadena, this arched span crosses the Arroyo Seco and stays open to cars and pedestrians around the clock, aside from occasional maintenance closures. Access is free, but parking directly on the bridge is not an option; use the adjacent residential streets or park areas instead. Completed in 1913, the bridge’s concrete arches climbed 150 feet high, making it the tallest concrete bridge in the world at the time.
3. Wigwam Motel
Book ahead for this one. The teepee-shaped units at 2728 E Foothill Blvd in San Bernardino fill up fast, with parking spots sitting right next to each individual unit and easy freeway access off Foothill Boulevard. Rates land in the mid-range boutique tier. Built in 1949 as Wigwam Village #7, the motel was the direct visual inspiration for the Cozy Cone Motel in Pixar’s Cars.
4. California Route 66 Museum
Off I-15 at the Seventh Street exit in Victorville, this museum is open Thursday through Monday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Admission is free with donations welcome, street parking is easy to find out front, and the single-level exhibit space is fully wheelchair accessible. A life-sized 1950s diner counter replica anchors a walk-through timeline tracing the highway back to its pioneer-trail roots.
5. Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch
North of Victorville on National Trails Highway, this open-air folk art field is open dawn to dusk daily with a gravel pull-off along the shoulder. There is no restroom or water on site, so plan accordingly. Admission runs on the honor system. The late artist Elmer Long built the entire installation himself, welding hundreds of scavenged metal pipes and topping them with decades of collected colored glass bottles.
6. Barstow Station
Right off I-15 at the East Main Street exit, this travel plaza is one of the most photographed California Route 66 roadside attractions on the whole list, and it runs 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM most days, extending to 8:00 PM on Fridays and Sundays. The lot is massive, with oversized vehicle spaces, plus multiple fast-food counters and souvenir shops under one roof. The whole structure is built from a cluster of retired Santa Fe railroad passenger cars bolted together to look like a classic depot. For Tesla and other EV drivers, there are also Tesla Superchargers nearby.
7. Barstow Harvey House (Route 66 Mother Road Museum)
Downtown at 681 N 1st Ave, near where I-15 meets Route 66, the exterior grounds stay open daily while the museum itself, home to both the Route 66 Mother Road Museum and the Western America Railroad Museum, opens Friday through Sunday from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Admission is free, the paved lot surrounds the historic depot, and the galleries and courtyard paths are fully wheelchair accessible. The Fred Harvey Company finished this depot in 1911, its fourth grand Harvey House built along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway.
8. Peggy Sue’s 50’s Diner
At the Ghost Town Road exit in Yermo, this classic American diner runs 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM daily with a lot big enough for standard cars and oversized trucks. It is a favorite refueling stop for drivers splitting the trip between Southern California and Las Vegas, with mid-range pricing on burgers and shakes. Out back, the Diner Park holds a pond and a collection of statues documenting the site’s history since it opened in 1954.
9. Bagdad Cafe
East of Barstow on old Route 66 in Newberry Springs, this diner opens daily from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with a gravel lot out front that fits cars and RVs alike. The menu sticks to grill classics and milkshakes at casual prices, and the spot still functions as a community hub and mail drop for nearby desert residents. Originally the Sidewinder Cafe, it took its current name after starring as the primary set of the 1987 cult film Bagdad Cafe.
10. Alien Fresh Jerky
At the Baker exit off I-15, this specialty jerky shop is open 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM daily, though the shared retail plaza parking gets crowded on weekends. Pricing shifts with package size and meat type. It sits a short walk from the world’s tallest thermometer and leans hard into an extraterrestrial theme, with a signature Area 51 jerky line that makes a fun last stop before crossing into Nevada.
Final Thoughts
Ten stops, one straight shot along I-15, and a century of Mother Road history packed into an easy day trip from Los Angeles, Orange County, or Las Vegas. These California Route 66 roadside attractions prove you do not need the full 2,400 miles to feel the pull of the open road, just a tank of gas and a reason to get off the freeway.
Recommended Reading
Want to keep exploring past these 10 stops? A few books belong in the glove box.
EZ66 Guide For Travelers by Jerry McClanahan is the spiral-bound bible for anyone actually driving the road. It skips GPS shortcuts in favor of the real alignment, with turn-by-turn maps built from decades of firsthand research, plus scavenger hunt games for the back seat crew.
Pair it with the Route 66 Dining & Lodging Guide from the National Historic Route 66 Federation. Volunteers review every listing themselves, so the 500 plus dining and lodging picks inside skew toward the vintage motels and diners that made the road famous in the first place, not paid placements.
For the history behind the highway, pick up Route 66, 100th Anniversary Edition: The Mother Road by Michael Wallis. First published in 1990 and now updated for the road’s centennial, it traces Route 66 from its 1926 origins through decommissioning and into its current life as a bucket list drive, with the stories and characters that turned a highway into folklore.
