Preserving and Revitalizing Route 66 in the Mojave Desert
Following Route 66's interstate bypass, tourist traffic and money dried up; local communities declined. Thanks to revitalization and preservation efforts, a comeback has occurred.
Historic downtown NeedlesCalifornia Historic Route 66 Association
Preserving and revitalizing Route 66 in the Mojave Desert
Early Route 66 travelers drove through almost 200 miles of California's Mojave Desert, supporting local economies. After Route 66's interstate bypass, traffic and money dried up, causing a decline. Thanks to revitalization and preservation efforts, the region has made a comeback.
Road Runner's Retreat by Beth MurrayCalifornia Historic Route 66 Association
Bypassed: service businesses
The interstate bypass's impact is seen at the 1962 Road Runner's Retreat in Chambless. Its cafe and gas station beckoned drivers until the 1973 bypass occurred; it closed that same year. In many desert areas, businesses early travelers depended upon are vacant, in ruins, or gone.
Downtown BarstowCalifornia Historic Route 66 Association
Bypassed: historic downtowns
When interstates came, if they did not bypass a city, they still skirted previously bustling downtowns - like Barstow’s Main Street (Route 66), seen here. Downtown businesses had been filled with not just locals but travelers; those customers' loss had a major financial impact.
Bypassed: attractions
Interstate drivers no longer passed attractions where they might otherwise stop - as a brief break from driving, or as an enjoyable activity during an overnight stay nearby. With fewer customers, Lenwood's 1948 Bar-Len Drive-in Theatre closed in 1980, then sat decaying for years.
Community organizing and activism
Across Route 66, including in the Mojave Desert, locals and enthusiasts refused to give up. They began fighting for the Mother Road's survival and rejuvenation. A crucial way they fought back was organizing; the California Historic Route 66 Association (CHR66A) launched in 1990.
Amboy Crater by Bureau of Land ManagementCalifornia Historic Route 66 Association
Revitalization efforts: getting designated
When CHR66A started in 1990, it did so accompanied by legislation designating California’s stretch of the decommissioned Mother Road as State Historic Highway Route 66. A new federal designation for the Mojave, the Historic Route 66 Needles to Barstow Scenic Byway, came in 2001.
Revitalization efforts: wayfinding signage
Tourists are much more likely to visit attractions if they can find them easily, especially in isolated desert areas. So, wayfinding signs can be helpful. After the state historic highway designation, Route 66 shields got placed - as did directional signs from the interstates.
Route 66 public art
Some Route 66 communities in the Mojave Desert, like Needles, have gone even further than wayfinding signs - creating or commissioning eye-catching public art installations focused on Route 66. They let drivers know without a doubt that they’re on the famed Mother Road.
Another form of public art, murals, can be an important way for Route 66 communities to commemorate and celebrate their history and culture. Beyond just showing local pride, another purpose is to showcase the buildings that host the murals and to make historic downtowns seem more vibrant. That is especially important in bypassed areas, where vacancies and underutilized structures can be common. Barstow and Needles both boast numerous historically-oriented murals, such as these, along Route 66.
Historical markers and interpretive signs not only grab travelers’ attention and point them toward significant sites but also provide valuable historical information. Two kinds exist amidst the stone remains of Camp Cajon, a 1919 campground for early motorists traversing Route 66 through the Cajon Pass (a road through the mountains, connecting the Mojave Desert with the San Bernardino area). Shown here are a 2019 marker and a large kiosk installed in 2025 - both celebrating the camp's history.
Bagdad Cafe by Beth MurrayCalifornia Historic Route 66 Association
Interpretive signs: Save-A-Landmark Program
Across Route 66, particularly visible interpretive signs are the Route 66 Roadside Attraction signage provided by Hampton Hotels' Save-A-Landmark program. They were placed at key roadside sites, including several in the Mojave Desert - such as the Bagdad Cafe in Newberry Springs.
Preservation and adaptive reuse for heritage tourism
One of the Mojave’s most notable Route 66 sites is Barstow’s former Harvey House, the 1911 Casa del Desierto. Its life as a train station / hotel / restaurant ended, it sat vacant from 1973 to the 1990s. It now hosts Amtrak, office space, a NASA visitor center, and two museums.
Casa del Desierto is massive; smaller museum-conversion cases are much more common. In historic downtown Victorville, the Red Rooster Cafe building (shown on the left) eventually transformed into today's California Route 66 Museum. The restaurant-turned-museum is now a popular stop for heritage tourists. In 2025, the Victorville museum's operators took over and reopened one of Casa Del Desierto's attractions (following a surprise closure in 2024): the Barstow Route 66 Mother Road Museum.
Other Mojave Desert communities have also turned historic spaces into museums maintaining and displaying their local heritage. In downtown Needles, the former JC Penney department store now serves as the Needles Regional Museum. And in the tiny town of Goffs, a 1914, Mission Revival style school is now the Goffs Schoolhouse Museum and Cultural Center. The property also hosts the Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association and that nonprofit organization's large archival collection.
Not all Route 66 preservation efforts and building conversions are tourist-oriented. Some have been intended to primarily serve the local community – such as when Palo Verde College, a community college in Blythe, opened its Needles campus in 2009. Its home is a restored Art Deco building where Claypool’s Hardware had operated in downtown Needles from 1930 to 2002. As seen in the postcard on the left, in the midcentury era, its beautiful, historic facade had been hidden by a modernist cladding.
Tap to explore
Restoration for community usage (Needles, CA)
El Garces – a 1908 train station, Harvey House hotel, and restaurant – sat vacant for decades. In 2014, after a major renovation, it became a regional intermodal transit facility. The former luggage room is open to the community for event rentals, and El Garces tours occur often.
Preservation through grants and landmarking: The Daggett & Calico Historical Society has actively been trying to preserve the community's heritage as a stop along the railroad and on Route 66. In 2024, it received a National Park Service grant toward restoring and turning its vacant, 1924, former state welcome center (shown on the left) into a museum. In 2025, its application for National Register of Historic Places status for the 1890 Alf's Blacksmith Shop (seen on the right) was approved.
Road Runner's Retreat sign by Beth MurrayCalifornia Historic Route 66 Association
Preservation through grants & workdays (Chambless, CA)
Road Runner’s Retreat, a 1962 truck stop, has sat empty since 1973. In recent years, grounds cleanup, graffiti removal, and painting have occurred at annual volunteer workdays. Its sign is undergoing a multi-stage restoration, supported by several National Park Service grants.
Roy's by Beth MurrayCalifornia Historic Route 66 Association
Long-term preservation project: Roy's (Amboy, CA)
Roy's, an iconic motel/cafe/gas station complex, has been going through a preservation process since its 2005 purchase. Its gas station and cafe (now a gift shop) reopened in 2008; its sign got restored and relit in 2019. Events and Hollywood filming fund further efforts.
Several significant properties in Needles have also had their vintage neon signs restored and relit. First was the 1930 Needles Theatre, a Moorish-style moviehouse that has sat vacant for decades. Its marquee received a restoration and relighting in 2008. Following in its path was the tiny 66 Motel (built in 1946-1947 with six rooms, which now serve long-term residents instead of travelers). After fundraising efforts, the former motel's Googie-style arrow sign got the same treatment in 2012.
Barstow Route 66 mural of Casa Del Desierto by Carol M. HighsmithCalifornia Historic Route 66 Association
Preserving and revitalizing Route 66 in the Mojave Desert
Today, although work still remains to be done, the Mojave Desert's section of revitalized Mother Road is a heritage tourism success story. The tale tells not only of roadside sites and fascinating communities, but of the importance of advocacy, partnerships, and preservation.
Kelli Shapiro, CHR66A board member
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