The side-trip question
Route 66 travellers face a constant temptation: should we leave the road? The answer is sometimes yes. The route passes near extraordinary places, and it would be a shame to ignore them simply because they are not technically on the alignment. But side trips can also consume time, energy and money. The trick is to choose the ones that deepen your journey rather than distract from it.
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is the obvious example. It is not Route 66, but it is close enough to the Arizona section that many travellers include it. If you have never seen it, go. But do not pretend it is a quick photo stop. The canyon deserves time, and the detour can reshape your itinerary. Build it in properly or save it for another trip.
Santa Fe
Santa Fe is one of the most meaningful historic detours because the original 1926 Route 66 alignment passed through it before the highway was rerouted in 1937. It adds history, architecture, food, art and a different sense of New Mexico. If you are interested in the road’s evolution rather than only the later alignment, Santa Fe is more than a detour. It is part of the Route 66 story.
Petrified Forest and Painted Desert
Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert are among the most rewarding landscape experiences connected directly to the Route 66 corridor. The park preserves a visible trace of the historic highway, including old roadbed and telephone poles. It also gives you geology, colour, silence and a reminder that the road’s human history sits inside a much older natural history.
Meramec Caverns
Meramec Caverns in Missouri represents a different kind of side trip: classic roadside tourism. It has long been associated with Route 66 advertising and the tradition of pulling travellers toward a spectacle. Whether you love caves, signs or old-school promotion, it helps explain how attractions competed for motorists.
Mojave and desert detours
In California, desert side trips can be beautiful but demanding. Heat, distance and fuel matter. Do not wander casually into remote areas without preparation. The desert is seductive in photographs and unforgiving in real life. If you are prepared, it can be one of the most memorable parts of the trip.
How to decide
Ask three questions before taking a side trip. Does it connect to the story I am following? Do I have enough time to enjoy it properly? What will I sacrifice on the main route? If the answer is clear, go. If you are adding it because everyone else does, pause.
Side trips that are really old alignments or older histories
Some of the best 'side trips' are not side trips in the usual sense. The Santa Fe loop in New Mexico was part of the original 1926 to 1937 Route 66 alignment before the road was redirected along a shorter cut-off. Taking it is not a detour from the story; it is choosing an earlier chapter.
Petrified Forest National Park is another essential example because it contains traces of historic Route 66, including old roadbed and weathered telephone poles. The National Park Service describes it as the only National Park System unit containing a section of Historic Route 66. That makes it more than scenery. It is a rare place where deep geological time, Indigenous history, highway history and modern travel overlap.
How to judge a side trip
Ask three questions. Does it reveal an earlier layer of the corridor? Does it help you understand the landscape the road passed through? Does it add meaning without stealing too much time from the main route? The Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, nearby national parks, old mining towns and museum stops can be worth it if they fit your pace.
The danger with side trips is not that they are wrong. It is that they can turn Route 66 into a blur between famous destinations. Use them deliberately. A side trip should deepen the road, not replace it.
Side trips also help explain why Route 66 became a travel legend rather than only a highway. The corridor sits near desert parks, trading routes, rail history, Indigenous homelands, Spanish colonial towns, mining landscapes and Hollywood myths. The road borrowed energy from all of those layers.
Take it with you in Route 66 Logbook
Use Route 66 Logbook to keep the main route visible while you weigh up detours. Save side trips separately from your must-see Route 66 stops, then ask whether each diversion adds enough scenery, history or meaning to justify the time it takes away from the Mother Road.
Protect the rhythm of the main trip
A side trip should earn its place in the itinerary. If it gives you landscape, history, rest or a better understanding of the region, it is probably worth it. If it only adds distance because a list told you to go, question it.
Plan side trips around time, not FOMO
When adding major natural landmarks, avoid treating them as quick content stops. Places like the Grand Canyon or Petrified Forest deserve attention beyond a parking-lot photograph. Give them time or choose a smaller, more focused detour that suits the day.
A detour should earn its place
Side trips can also help prevent road fatigue. After days of diners, signs and pavement, a national park, art town, cave, canyon or desert walk can reset your senses. The key is returning to Route 66 with more energy, not less.
