| ROUTE 66: AMERICANA |
This modern-day Muffler Man stands outside Buck Atom’ s Cosmic Curios, a Route 66 gift shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Photo by Jeff Davison
THE ROAD THAT LEARNED
TO STOP TRAFFIC
THE ALLURE OF ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS AND 100 THINGS TO SEE ON ROUTE 66
Route 66 didn’ t just connect Chicago to Santa Monica; it helped create an entirely new kind of American travel culture. When the highway was officially established in 1926, it quickly became a major corridor for migration, trade, and long- distance driving. But it wasn’ t until the post- World War II boom in automobile ownership and family vacations that Route 66 truly transformed. As more Americans took to the road for leisure, small towns suddenly had a new challenge: How do you get travelers to stop?
The answer was creativity, visibility, and competition. Entrepreneurs along the highway began building eye- catching stops right along the roadside: motels with glowing neon signs, oversized statues, and oddities designed to grab attention as drivers sped by. These weren’ t random curiosities; they were survival strategies for businesses. A giant muffler man, a world’ s- largest anything, or a themed motel was advertising meant to turn a passing car into a paying customer.
Over time, these stops evolved into what people now casually call“ tourist traps,” though that term misses part of the story. They were often deeply local, reflecting regional identity, humor, and pride. A fiberglass dinosaur in the desert or a kitschy motor court in Oklahoma was about giving travelers a memory they couldn’ t get anywhere else. Route 66 became an open- air museum of American imagination, where each town tried to outdo the next with something bigger, brighter, or stranger.
Even after the construction of the Interstate Highway System pulled traffic away from the Mother Road, many of these attractions survived. Some faded, others were restored, and many became historic landmarks in their own right. Today, they’ re central to Route 66’ s identity, enduring symbols of a time when the journey itself was the destination and stopping along the road was part of the adventure.
This year marks Route 66’ s 100th anniversary, so to celebrate, here are 100 of the best roadside attractions along the route.
42 / AUGUST 2026 / RIDERMAGAZINE. COM