How Long Does It Take to Drive Route 66?

Route 66 is about 2,400 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica, and you should plan about two weeks to drive it. If you drive it in 7 days, you cover about 350 miles a day with little time to stop. A slow trip takes 3 weeks. The plan below is 14 days: 13 driving days and a spare day at the coast.

How long is Route 66, and what does the map look like

Note: Wikipedia lists U.S. Route 66 at about 2,448 miles from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. It was established on 11 November 1926 and removed from the U.S. Highway System on 26 June 1985. Its state lengths were: Illinois 301, Missouri 317, Kansas 13, Oklahoma 432, Texas 186, New Mexico 487, Arizona 401, California 316 miles. These add to a little more than the stated total, so treat each as approximate (Wikipedia, U.S. Route 66, read 14 Oct 2026)

Note: The National Park Service says Route 66 runs through eight states, that its period of significance is 1926 to 1985, and that more than 250 buildings, bridges, road alignments and other sites along it are on the National Register of Historic Places. Its travel itinerary highlights over 100 of them (NPS Route 66 pages, read 14 Oct 2026). We did not find a mileage on the NPS pages we read

The map runs east to west: Chicago, Springfield (Illinois), St. Louis, a short piece of Kansas, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, the Mojave Desert and Santa Monica. Much of the original road is gone or has been replaced by interstates. Signs marked Historic Route 66 help you follow the pieces that remain.

The 14-day plan

Our plan is a sample. The overnight towns are large enough to have hotels, based on the route, and we did not check any hotel, price or opening hours for this page. The state lengths come from the table above and are approximate.

Missouri (317 miles) takes days 2 to 4. Oklahoma (432 miles) takes days 4 to 6. New Mexico (487 miles) takes days 7 to 9, and Arizona (401 miles) takes days 9 to 12. We chose these overnight towns by position on the route, not by a review of what is there.

Fast, normal and slow

• 7 days: about 350 miles a day. You drive most of the day and stop mainly for fuel and meals.

• 14 days: about 190 miles a day over 13 driving days, as in the table. This leaves a few hours a day for stops.

• 21 days: about 115 miles a day. You can follow the old alignments and stay two nights in the places you like.

These speeds are our arithmetic from 2,448 miles. They are not a measured drive time, and your time depends on how much of the old road you take instead of an interstate.

The 2026 centennial: what is still ahead

Note: The U.S. Route 66 Centennial Commission was created by the Route 66 Centennial Commission Act, signed in December 2020. It has 15 members appointed by the President, with input from the governors of the eight Route 66 states. The centennial site, route66centennial.org, lists the National Park Service among its partners (centennial site and National Trust for Historic Preservation, read 14 Oct 2026)

Note: Dated events we found, as of 14 Oct 2026. 17 Oct: Round Barn Round-Up, Arcadia, Oklahoma (listed by the Oklahoma Route 66 Association, not as an official commission event). 11 Nov: Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway conference and centennial celebration, Springfield, Illinois, with an evening concert by Starship featuring Mickey Thomas at Route 66 Motorheads (tickets $150 with dinner, per the byway site). 11 Nov: Route 66 Tulsa Birthday Bash and Veterans Day Parade, downtown Tulsa, with live music downtown (Tulsa listings; no start time found). Sources read 14 Oct 2026

Most dated events in 2026 were earlier in the year, including Tulsa's Route 66 Capital Cruise classic car parade on 30 May (Visit Tulsa). The centennial site lists a kickoff event but gives no date, so we do not give one. 11 November is the anniversary of the road's commissioning, so it is the one date that matters most if you want to be on the road in the centennial year.

Renting a car one way

If you fly into Chicago and out of Los Angeles, you need a one-way rental. Rental companies may charge a drop fee, and it varies by company, route and season. Some sources say the typical fee is $100 to $300, but that figure is not from a rental company and we did not confirm it. Pick the different drop-off city when you book, and look for a drop charge on the price breakdown before you pay. Compare it with a round trip and a flight back.

Best months

Travel guides most often name late April to early June and mid-September to late October for the full drive. These are commercial guides, and they disagree on exact dates. They say the desert in Arizona and California can pass 100 degrees F in summer, with monsoon storms in the Southwest from July through early September. They say Flagstaff and higher ground can have snow and ice in winter, and that storms are most likely in spring in Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. Many roadside businesses also cut hours from October to April. Treat all of this as a guide, not an official forecast.

Closures and old alignments

Parts of Route 66 are not one road any more. Some sections run on local roads, some beside interstates, and a few old pieces are closed or in poor repair. Reports we found, none confirmed as current in 2026:

• Oklahoma, near Wellston and the Pony Bridge: closures for bridge work began in August and September 2024, with a reopening expected before the 2026 centennial. We did not confirm that they reopened.

• New Mexico, between Glenrio and San Jon: a bridge washed out in May 2023. The county said it could not replace it by 2026, and reports say a passable path was kept open.

• California, near Essex: bridge replacements were under way in early 2025.

• Arizona, Kingman to Oatman: this is an older alignment now run as a county route. Reports describe past flood closures with a detour on Arizona Highway 95.

Before you leave, check the DOT for each state on your dates, and ask a local visitor center on the day. The sources above are news reports, not official closure notices.

What we checked and what can change

Read on 14 October 2026: the National Park Service Route 66 pages, the Route 66 Centennial Commission site (the calendar page returned an error), the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway centennial page, the Oklahoma Route 66 Centennial Commission event list and Wikipedia's U.S. Route 66 article for length and dates.

Not confirmed: the exact length (about 2,400 miles, Wikipedia 2,448), a mileage on an official NPS page, the national kickoff date, start times for the 11 November Tulsa events, any event not listed above, any 2026 closure, rental one-way fees, hotel details at any overnight town and the best months from an official source. We did not drive the road for this page.