Be a part of the Route 66 Centennial Celebration!
America’s most well-known freeway turns 100 in 2026, and cities from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California, are planning cruises, parades, rallies, museum occasions, and neon-lit celebrations.
For vacationers in bigger motorhomes, fifth-wheels, or journey trailers, exploring Route 66 is each a bucket-list dream and a logistical problem. A lot of the “Mom Street” is a two-lane patchwork of state highways, metropolis streets, preserved alignments, and sections which have been absorbed by interstates. Most of it’s manageable in a contemporary RV should you method it as you’ll a a big-rig journey, not as a “comply with each Historic 66 signal” scavenger hunt.
The most secure strategy to do it: use interstates for the lengthy hauls, drop onto Route 66 just for vast, straightforward segments, and deal with tight cities as park-and-play stops, which suggests drop the RV elsewhere and discover in your tow car or dinghy.
Why Route 66 is Difficult for Massive Rigs
Route 66 isn’t a single standardized freeway. It’s a set of preserved segments, metropolis streets, and former alignments constructed lengthy earlier than fashionable RV dimensions have been even thought of. In 2026, occasion site visitors and short-term avenue closures will amplify each tight flip and parking rule.
For giant rigs, the difficulty normally comes from three issues:
- Low clearances and laborious restrictions (underpasses, older constructions, posted size limits)
- Tight geometry (sharp turns, slim lanes, on-street parking, low bushes)
- Occasion congestion (closures, caravans, pedestrians, restricted parking)
Low-Clearance and Arduous-Restriction Hotspots
If there’s one hazard that ends RV goals rapidly, it’s committing to a route the place your RV can not bodily match. These areas require your rapid consideration.
Needles, California: Ok Road Underpass
Hazard: Posted 8-foot clearance underpass.
Who ought to keep away from: Each fashionable motorhome, fifth-wheel, journey trailer, or truck camper. This one’s not even shut.
What to do as an alternative: Reroute earlier than coming into city. If navigation tries to ship you throughout Ok Road, override it early and keep on a secure route.
Sitgreaves Go / Oatman Grade, Arizona
Hazard: Posted 40-foot most size between Golden Valley and Oatman, plus tight switchbacks.
Who ought to keep away from: Any rig setup longer than 40 ft in size (motorhome and dinghy or tow car and trailer). It may also be traumatic for shorter however tall/heavy rigs.
What to do as an alternative: Use I-40 for the through-route. Unhitch in Kingman or Laughlin and go to Oatman by automotive.
Chicago, Illinois: Enterprise Road Parking
Hazard: Self-contained motorhomes can not park on enterprise streets besides whereas actively loading/unloading.
Who ought to keep away from: Anybody anticipating to street-park downtown close to Route 66 begin markers.
What to do as an alternative: Deal with Chicago as park-and-play. Camp at an RV park exterior the center of the town and go in by automotive, prepare, or rideshare.
St. Louis, Missouri: Chain of Rocks Bridge
Hazard: Bridge is pedestrian and bicycle solely. No car site visitors.
Who ought to keep away from: Anybody planning to “drive” this historic phase.
What to do as an alternative: Park close by and stroll or bike it. Don’t construct it into your driving route.
Albuquerque, New Mexico: Road Width Restrictions
Hazard: Autos 90 inches or wider can’t be parked on metropolis streets besides whereas actively loading/unloading, and can’t be left unattended.
Who ought to keep away from: Most Class A motorhomes and a few giant fifth-wheels.
What to do as an alternative: Keep at an RV park and discover downtown by passenger car.
Santa Monica, California: Pier Parking Limits
Hazard: Autos over 22 ft are directed to particular outsized parking areas (Lot 1 North).
Who ought to keep away from: Anybody assuming they will roll into normal pier parking.
What to do as an alternative: Plan your Route 66 finale as a park-and-walk cease. Know precisely the place outsized automobiles are routed earlier than arrival.
Plan for Full Parks and Closed Streets
In 2026, Route 66 received’t simply be a scenic historic drive. It will likely be a rolling sequence of parades, cruises, festivals, and downtown avenue closures.
For giant rigs, the difficulty isn’t the gang, it’s what crowds set off: detours onto tight streets, blocked turns, and nowhere authorized to park a 35–45-foot setup.
Plan accordingly:
- Assume downtown is park-and-play. Drop the RV exterior city and discover by dinghy, tow car, rental automotive, bike, or rideshare.
- E book event-weekend websites 6–12 months early. Particularly close to kickoff occasions and well-known cities.
- Arrive early on parade or competition days. For those who plan to park and discover, get positioned earlier than the streets begin closing.
- Maintain a same-day bailout campground 20–30 miles out. If site visitors or closures make your authentic cease unrealistic, you have already got a Plan B.
Lock In These Three Habits Earlier than You Go
Earlier than you roll onto Historic 66, lock in these three non-negotiables:
- Use RV-specific routing that accounts in your precise peak, weight, and complete size.
- Know your RV’s actual numbers, with the precise peak together with roof equipment and the actual full size together with dinghy or tow car. “Guessing” is how rigs meet underpasses.
- Deal with posted restrictions as laborious limits, not strategies. If a phase says 40 ft most, it means it. Do NOT push it.
Why Use RV LIFE Journey Wizard and the RV LIFE App?
Exploring Route 66 in 2026 isn’t nearly mileage. It’s about avoiding recognized clearance traps, posted size limits, and downtown routes that don’t work for giant rigs.
That’s the place RV-specific routing issues.
With RV LIFE Journey Wizard, you’ll be able to enter your rig’s precise peak, complete size (together with tow car, dinghy car, or trailer), and weight. The system builds routes designed to keep away from low clearances and different frequent hazards, which is particularly essential on a patchwork street like Historic Route 66.
It additionally makes the entire expertise a lot simpler. You may plan your interstate journey days, determine campgrounds 20–30 miles exterior busy cities, and construct in these “park-and-play” stops earlier than you permit residence.
As soon as your route is constructed, the RV LIFE app follows that very same RV-safe plan on the street, so that you’re not counting on a generic automotive GPS that will attempt to ship you beneath an 8-foot underpass or over a restricted mountain grade.
The Backside Line
The Route 66 Centennial is a good excuse (not that you just want one) to do a traditional American street journey at its peak. Massive-rig RVers can completely get pleasure from it, however the most effective journeys come from life like expectations and good planning.
- Detour laborious restrictions like Sitgreaves Go if you’re over the restrict.
- Bypass recognized clearance traps just like the Needles underpass.
- Deal with the massive cities and competition weekends as park-and-play.
Comply with these tips, and Route 66 expertise stays what it’s purported to be: diners, neon indicators, roadside oddities, and 100 years of tales—not a each day stress check.
Share your Route 66 experiences
Do you could have an fascinating or horrifying story or tip about touring Route 66 in your RV? Assist fellow RVers out and inform us about it within the feedback.
