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There are seven guidebooks described here. Please click on a link, or just scroll through...

Note: To make comparisons as uniform as possible, each book sample (look beneath each picture for a link) shows how the text describes Tucumcari, NM. (Tonite!)

 

These two guidebooks are the easiest to use:

1)  "Route 66 Adventure Handbook" - by Drew Knowles

2)   "EZ66 Guide" by Jerry McClanahan

 

This is the heavy-duty two-volume authoritative book set:

3)  "The Complete Route 66 Guidebook and Atlas" - by Bob Moore and Rich Cunningham

 

These are specialty publications about Route 66:

4)  "Route 66 Dining and Lodging Guide" - by National Historic Route 66 Federation

5)  "Route 66 for Kids" - by Emily Priddy

6)  "Guidebook To Highway 66" - by Jack Rittenhouse

7)   "Route 66 Traveler's Guide" by Tom Snyder

• "Route 66 Adventure Handbook"  by Drew Knowles
  
   

  Type of publication:  230 page guide - measures 5" x 8" - black and white - some photographs. Direction of travel described in text: East-to-West (Chicago-to-Los Angeles) Cost:  $14.95   Features:  The narrative and writing style is very readable and offers a very realistic picture of the highway. The guidebook closely resembles a AAA Tour Book in that the narrative invariably includes descriptions of all the surrounding attractions near Route 66, including those that have nothing to do with the Mother Road, like national monuments, parks, etc. This is very handy for those whose interest and curiosity goes far afield. Also helpful for folks with kids.   Limitations:  There are no maps in the guidebook or turn-by-turn directions. In fact, the author issues a challenge to the reader in an introductory section called "Finding Route 66" to use common-sense techniques to find the road without a map. (Whew!) There are few dining and lodging recommendations.   Where to get it:  http://www.exithere.net/book/index.html ISBN:  0-9718624-2-7   Comments:  This guidebook could well be titled "Route 66 Adventure Handbook Including Everything Within 20 Miles On Either Side of the Highway". It has the most things to do of any of the books and is very informative about America at large.

  Click here for a full-sized version of above.      Click here for a full-sized book sample.

• "EZ66 Guide" by Jerry McClanahan
   

  Type of publication:  200 page pocket guide - measures 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" - black and white. Spiral-bound.   Direction of travel described in text: Bi-directional, covers East-to-West (Chicago-to-Los Angeles) as well as West-to-East (Los Angeles-to-Chicago)   Cost:  $15.95   Features:  Provides compact and interesting text with very high quality maps on the same page. (Jerry was the artist behind the Here It Is: The Route 66 Map Series that is very popular among roadies.)  The narrative is crammed with bits of information that only an author of his experience would find room to include. He also includes a "Treasure Hunt" for the sharp-eyed and an excellent bibliography.   Limitations:  The westbound and eastbound directions are evenly balanced on each page but the narrative describing what you see as you drive along is written only from a westbound traveler's perspective. Although the overview maps of each section are contiguous, the detail maps are not. However, the omitted maps are the roughest, the abandoned, the obliterated, or the sparse and uninteresting stretches of the Mother Road. (Perhaps they're just waiting for you to discover something out there on your own...)   Where to get it:  the store at the National Historic Route 66 Federation. ISBN:  0-9709951-4-8   Comments: In a word, this book is "very creative".

  Click here for a full-sized version of above.      Click here for a full-sized book sample.

• "The Complete Route 66 Guidebook and Atlas" - by Bob Moore and Rich Cunningham
  
   

  Type of publication:  Two-volume book set, each book measures 8.5" x 11".  The first volume is an atlas that contains 236 full-color maps covering the entire length of Route 66. The second volume is a 180 page narrative guidebook. Direction of travel described in text:  Bi-directional, covers East-to-West (Chicago-to-Los Angeles) as well as West-to-East (Los Angeles-to-Chicago), 90 pages of narrative for each direction. Cost:  $29.95   Features:  The atlas was constructed using GPS and National Geographic's TOPO software, based on the USGS topographic maps. The GPS waypoints on the maps have unique ID numbers that appear in the guidebook next to matching text. The guidebook provides very detailed mile-by-mile driving instructions designed to match the traveler's trip odometer (which is periodically re-set).   Limitations:  Not cheap. The two books have a remarkable of amount of detail which may be confusing for the more casual traveler. You will be handling two books at once in the car.   Where to get it:  http://www.route66maps.com ISBN:  0-9701423-1-5   Comments:  This is THE book set for the heavy-duty Route 66 traveler. In addition to showing the popular Route 66 routings, the books also detail how to travel along older, abandoned alignments on what are called "Adventure Tours". The guidebook also contains numerous recommendations for dining and lodging along the way.

  Click here for a full-sized version of above.      Click here for a full-sized book sample.    Click here for a full-sized version of above.      Click here for a full-sized book sample.

   

• "Route 66 Dining and Lodging Guide" by the National Historic Route 66 Federation
  
   

  Type of publication:  72 page pocket guide - measures 3.5" x 8.5" - black and white Direction of travel described in text: East-to-West, but this aspect is not especially critical for this type of guide. Cost:  $8.95   Features:  Reviews of dining and lodging establishments all along the highway. The reviews are submitted by a group of volunteers organized by the Federation who are each "responsible" for a 100 mile section of the Mother Road. A select number of the entries are marked with a "star" to indicate the place is worth making plans to visit. These are some of the more famous eating and lodging sites on Route 66.   Limitations:  Given the type of project this guide results from, there are no real limitations to the book.   Where to get it:  National Historic Route 66 Federation ISBN:  0-9709951-1-3   Comments:  The guide has gone through nine editions now, something of an indication of the tides of change that occur along the highway.

  Click here for a full-sized version of above.   Click here for a full-sized book sample.

   

• "Route 66 For Kids" by Emily Priddy
  
   

  Type of publication:  64 page pocket guide - measures 5.5" x 8.5" - black and white   Direction of travel described in text: East-to-West, but this aspect is not especially critical for this type of guide.   Cost:  Free, yes, F-R-E-E   Features:  A continuous listing of all the places along Route 66 that kids would enjoy. Entries are annotated regarding cost. Very handy for budgeting. Valuable appendices include other relevant topics about Route 66. Very attractively priced - makes it a great value.   Limitations:  The book is a self-published project, and is not illustrated.   Comments:  This guide is a gem. Emily knows kids and Route 66 very well and expresses the adventure of it all in a very readable style that is both informative and entertaining - even for adults!   Where to get it:  kidson66.com It's downloadable as a Microsoft Word file or as a universal PDF file. If you're reading this web page, you've got the means to download and use the book even if you don't understand terms like "PDF". Just click the link and follow Emily's instructions, which are very clearly written. And drop Emily a note of thanks. This book was a lot of work to produce... ISBN:  none

  Click here for a full-sized version of above.  Click here for a full-sized book sample.

• "Guidebook To Highway 66"  by Jack Rittenhouse
  
   

  Type of publication:  128 page pocket guide (and we mean a REAL pocket-sized guide) - measures just 4.5" x 6" - black and white. Special note: The late Jack Rittenhouse was a traveling salesman who, in 1946, kept a diary of places to see, eat, and stay along post-war Route 66. Driving in an American Bantam, he noted the mileage points and recorded them along with his observations and thus created the first modern guidebook to the Mother Road. The University of New Mexico Press prints the re-issue of his guide and it is fun to read about what the highway was like in those days. A lot of the road he traveled has changed since 1946, so the book is not reliable as a travel guide today, but if you follow along in the narrative as you travel, you will still see some of what he saw over 50 years ago.   Direction of travel described in text: East-to-West, but this aspect is not especially critical because the information is antique. Cost:  $7.95   Features:  A treasure trove of old information about the road.   Limitations:  Remember, the information in this guidebook is over 50 years old and should be thought of as an entertaining addition to your primary guidebook(s), not as THE primary guidebook.   Where to get it:  the bookstore at Route 66 Magazine ISBN:  0826311482   Comments:  One current guidebook, the Complete Guidebook and Atlas of Route 66, follows the same model as Mr. Rittenhouse did, providing directions and points of interest using mileage references so the driver can keep their bearings.

  Click here for a full-sized version of above.  Click here for a full-sized book sample.

• "Route 66 Traveler's Guide" by Tom Snyder
   

  Type of publication:  136 page pocket guide - measures 4" x 9" - black and white. Direction of travel described in text: East-to-West (Chicago-to-Los Angeles) Cost:  $12.95   Features:  Combines old AAA maps (neat!) of the Mother Road with today's interstates. The text is a combination of driving directions combined with an interesting running narrative of history, legends, and lore. There are also helpful appendices about other aspects of the highway.   Limitations:  This guide is included on the web page only because it is still being sold and because the original edition was a pioneering effort, which commands the respect of many roadies. However, the current edition has a significant number of errors and the reader may wish to take a close look at the other available guidebooks as alternatives. The narrative style makes for casual directions, so you must absolutely be watching out for turns, etc. that you'll have to figure out on your own. Most of the directions make references that require you to have a local/regional road map to help you along.   Where to get it:  Unknown ISBN:  0312254172   Comments: None

  Click here for a full-sized version of above.      Click here for a full-sized book sample.