Travel Guide
Route 66 Begin Sign
Everything you need to know β hours, tickets, tips, and how to make the most of your visit.
Overview
About Route 66 Begin Sign
The brown Historic Route 66 Begin sign on Adams Street at Michigan Avenue marks the start of the Mother Road in downtown Chicago. It's the traditional first photo of any Route 66 trip, steps from the Art Institute and a short walk from Lou Mitchell's, the long-running diner beloved by road trippers.
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Insider Knowledge
Travel Tips
Go early on a weekend morning, when traffic is light, and photograph the sign safely from the sidewalk.
Nearby
Must See Attractions
route-66Blue Swallow Motel
A 1939 motor court in Tucumcari, New Mexico, with one of the most photographed neon signs on Route 66 and a garage beside each room. Lovingly restored, it's a working motel where you can sleep in a piece of road-trip history and watch the sign glow after dark.
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route-66Cadillac Ranch
A public art installation just west of Amarillo, Texas, where ten Cadillacs are buried nose-first in a field beside I-40. Created in 1974 by the Ant Farm art collective, it invites visitors to add their own spray paint, so the cars' colors change daily.
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route-66Chain of Rocks Bridge
A mile-long former Route 66 bridge over the Mississippi River just north of St. Louis, famous for its unusual 22-degree bend midstream. Closed to cars for decades, it's now a pedestrian and bike path linking Illinois and Missouri, with big river views and the old castle-like water intake towers.
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route-66Petrified Forest National Park
The only national park that protects a section of Route 66, in northeastern Arizona near Holbrook. A 28-mile park road links the banded badlands of the Painted Desert with fields of petrified logs more than 200 million years old, plus a rusted 1932 Studebaker marking the old Route 66 alignment.
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route-66Route 66 Begin Sign
The brown Historic Route 66 Begin sign on Adams Street at Michigan Avenue marks the start of the Mother Road in downtown Chicago. It's the traditional first photo of any Route 66 trip, steps from the Art Institute and a short walk from Lou Mitchell's, the long-running diner beloved by road trippers.
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route-66Santa Monica Pier
The pier marks the symbolic western end of Route 66, with an End of the Trail sign, the Pacific Park Ferris wheel, a historic carousel and long views along the coast. It's a joyful place to toast the end of a 2,400-mile drive as the sun sets over the Pacific.
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