Known as the Main Street of America and the Mother Road, U.S. Route 66 is the nation’s best known highway. Once the microcosm of a culture increasingly connected by automobiles, its sights and attractions are now a fascinating reflection of a nation on the move. Travel this iconic highway through the heart of America with Route 66 Backroads as your guide. This lavishly illustrated book steers you from Chicago to Los Angeles, traveling through the lowlands of the American Plains and the high plateaus of New Mexico and Arizona, from the Great Lakes to the mighty Pacific Ocean, and through major metropolises and remote country towns.

Branch away from the Mother Road, and you encounter gems hidden beyond today’s standard motels and tourist traps---the quaint frontier communities that date back to the nation’s westward expansion; the legacy of ancient native cultures; and the awe-inspiring natural wonders that have graced these lands since time immemorial. State parks, wildlife refuges, museums, historic sites, literary landmarks, and much more are there to be explored within a few hours’ drive from the path of Route 66. The fifty trips included here offer new travel opportunities for the thousands of road-trippers who follow this legendary route, looking for something more.

This lavishly illustrated book guides you along iconic Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles---from the Great Lakes to the mighty Pacific Ocean, through the Great Plains and the high plateaus, and to major metropolises and remote country towns. Presenting fifty backroads journeys, the book points the way to gems beyond the typical tourist traps, from quaint frontier communities to evidence of ancient native cultures and awe-inspiring natural wonders. Find state parks, wildlife refuges, museums, historic sites, literary landmarks, and much more, all within a few hours’ drive of Route 66, awaiting the traveler who’s looking for something different, something more.