30 Off-bike Things to Do along Bicycle Route 66

March 9, 2015

30 Off-bike Things to Do along Bicycle Route 66  

Traveling Bicycle Route 66 on two wheels doesn’t have to be all about the riding. There’s plenty more to see and do, as hinted at by the following list.   

Illinois

• Try your hand (and feet) at paddleboarding on Lake Michigan in Chicago
• Hike some of the 34 miles of trails at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie north of
• Wilmington
• Catch a flick at the retro Normal Theater in Normal, then visit the Beer Nuts factory in nearby Bloomington
• Pitch a game of horseshoes at Railsplitter State Park in Lincoln
• Learn more about Honest Abe at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield
• Use your pannier as a pillow while watching a movie under the stars at the Sky View Drive-In Theater in Litchfield

Missouri

• Take in a St. Louis Cardinals home game at Busch Stadium, just two blocks off the route
• Go birding at Route 66 State Park in Eureka
• Come face to face with a bad guy at the Jesse James Wax Museum in Stanton (also nearby:  Meramec Caverns )
• Cast a dry fly or rent a canoe and float the Niangua River at Bennett Spring State Park, off the route west of Lebanon

Kansas

• Take a selfie of you and your bike on the Brush Creek Bridge near Baxter Springs

Oklahoma

• Zip past Mickey Mantle’s childhood home in Commerce
• Spend a few hours admiring western art at the world-famous Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa
• Wander through the lavish gardens at Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers Park
• Find your way to the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City

Texas

• Be careful what you touch at the Devil’s Rope Museum in McLean
• Get back to the days of big-fin cars at Cadillac Ranch west of Amarillo

New Mexico

• Learn about New Mexico’s role in the Civil War at Pecos National Historical Park
• What’s better, red or green? (Chile, that is.) Decide for yourself in restaurant-rich Santa Fe

• Learn about native cultures at Albuquerque’s Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
• Scratch the clouds at Acoma Pueblo’s Sky City
• Trundle around the solidified lava flows of El Malpais National Monument  

Arizona

• Take a walk amid the hardwood trees of Petrified Forest National Park
• Check out the damage a 300,000-ton hunk of rock can do at Meteor Crater National Natural Landmark west of Winslow
• Explore some of the lovely dirt roads and trails surrounding Flagstaff with a mountain bike
• rental from Absolute Bikes
• Take a ride from Williams to the South Rim on the Grand Canyon Railway

California

• Book a boat tour of the Colorado River in Needles
• Stash your bike and set foot on the Pacific Crest Trail at Cajon Pass
• Find your favorite celebrity’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• When you get to Santa Monica—what else?—take a surf lesson, of course

Written by Mac McCoy

Photos by: Michael Clark | Sky City Cultural Center | Tangled Lilac Photography | Pirate Cove Resort | Devil's Rope Museum | Oklahoma City Parks & Recreation