Small groups of up to 14, a road captain on every trip

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Pale yellow trusses of the Pony Bridge repeating over the Canadian River in Oklahoma

State 4 of 8, driving west

Oklahoma Route 66: Tulsa, Arcadia and the western plains

Oklahoma has more miles of the old road than any other state, and it is our home: the office sits on the 11th Street alignment in Tulsa. From the Ribbon Road to the wheat country around Elk City, this is where we know every stop.

Trips
71 only in Oklahoma
Stops
5On our trips
Length
1 to 15 daysSmall groups
Best months
Apr to MayTrips run Mar to Dec
From
$179Per person

The Plains: Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas

What the road is like in Oklahoma

Route 66 enters Oklahoma from Kansas near Quapaw and leaves for Texas at Texola, about 400 miles later. In between it passes through Miami, Vinita, Claremore, Tulsa, Sapulpa, Stroud, Chandler, Arcadia, Oklahoma City, El Reno, Weatherford, Clinton and Elk City. The east is green and rolling, Cherokee country with oak woods and creeks. West of Oklahoma City the trees thin out, the soil turns red and the sky gets bigger. Cyrus Avery, the Tulsa businessman who did more than anyone to create Route 66 in 1926, made sure it ran through his town, and Oklahoma has kept more drivable miles of the old road than any other state.

Wade Harlan, who founded Neon Motel Road in 2014, grew up in Sapulpa a few blocks from the road, and our office is on 11th Street in Tulsa's Meadow Gold District. Seven of our trips spend time in Oklahoma. The Tulsa day tour covers the city and the Blue Whale in one day. The Oklahoma and Texas trip and Neon and Diners both start in Tulsa, and Main Street Museums ends in Oklahoma City. The End to End journey, the classic convertible and the motorcycle trip each spend two or three days here. Earl Whitfield, who grew up in Clinton, leads most of our Oklahoma days.

Route 66 trips through Oklahoma, 2026 and 2027

Per person sharing a double room. Trips that only cross part of Oklahoma are listed too.

All 16 trips

7 trips

    Your own private trip

    Car club, family reunion or friends: any trip can run just for your group on your dates, from 6 travelers.

    Private and group trips

    Deals and early booking

    Save $150 per person on 2027 departures booked by January 31, 2027, plus last-minute prices on November and December 2026 dates.

    See current offers

    Not sure which stretch?

    Tell us how many days you have, the month and what you love: neon, diners, museums or open desert. A trip advisor in Tulsa suggests two or three trips.

    Email a trip advisor

    5 stops

    Where our trips stop in Oklahoma

    Spanish Revival facade of the Coleman Theatre on Main Street in Miami, Oklahoma

    Miami and the Ribbon Road: A theater and a nine-foot road

    Miami, pronounced my-AM-uh, is the first town of size in Oklahoma, and its showpiece is the Coleman Theatre on Main Street, a Spanish Mission style vaudeville house opened in 1929 and restored by volunteers, with its original Wurlitzer organ. Volunteers show visitors around the restored hall. South of town begins the Ribbon Road, a stretch of the 1922 highway paved only nine feet wide, so drivers meeting each other had to put two wheels on the shoulder. About three miles of it survive between Miami and Afton. Our motorcycle group rides it; our coach is too wide, so van groups walk a few hundred yards of it instead. For lunch, Waylan's Ku-Ku Burger has served burgers under its cuckoo bird sign since the 1960s.

    • Tour of the 1929 Coleman Theatre
    • A walk or ride on the nine-foot Ribbon Road
    • Lunch at Waylan's Ku-Ku Burger

    Best monthsMarch to June, September to November

    Trips that stop here

    The Blue Whale of Catoosa reflected in its green pond beside Route 66 in Oklahoma

    The Blue Whale of Catoosa: A blue whale in a pond

    Hugh Davis built the Blue Whale in the early 1970s as an anniversary present for his wife Zelta, who collected whale figurines. It sits on a spring-fed pond beside Route 66 in Catoosa, about 15 miles northeast of downtown Tulsa: 80 feet of concrete and steel painted blue, with a wide grin, a slide and a diving spot. Families swam here until the late 1980s. Swimming is no longer allowed, but you can walk into its mouth and out onto the fins, and there are picnic tables along the bank. Entry is free, with a donation box and a small gift shop. Our Tulsa day tour stops here, and the Neon and Diners trip comes on its first afternoon.

    • Walk inside the Blue Whale
    • Picnic by the pond
    • Gift shop with Route 66 souvenirs

    Best monthsMarch to June, September to December

    Trips that stop here

    Giant fiberglass man holding a milk bottle on 11th Street, Route 66 in Tulsa

    Tulsa: Our home town on 11th Street

    Tulsa is home to Neon Motel Road and was home to Cyrus Avery, called the father of Route 66. His story is told at Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza by the 11th Street Bridge over the Arkansas River, where a large bronze shows his family in a Model T meeting a horse-drawn wagon. The road runs east along 11th Street past the Meadow Gold sign, a dairy sign restored and lit again in 2009, and past our office. Downtown has some of the finest Art Deco in the country, built with oil money in the 1920s and 1930s. Buck Atom's Cosmic Curios on 11th Street has a space cowboy giant about 21 feet tall, and the Mother Road Market food hall makes an easy lunch.

    • Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza
    • Art Deco walk downtown
    • Meadow Gold sign and roadside giants on 11th Street

    Best monthsMarch to June, September to December

    Trips that stop here

    The historic red Round Barn with its domed roof beside Route 66 in Arcadia, Oklahoma

    Arcadia: the Round Barn and POPS: A round barn and a soda bottle

    Arcadia is a small town north of Edmond with two good reasons to stop. The Round Barn, built in 1898 by William Odor from bur oak boards soaked to bend, is 60 feet across with a round hayloft under the domed roof that once held barn dances. After the roof fell in during the late 1980s, local volunteers restored it, and it is free to enter. Down the road stands POPS, opened in 2007, with a steel soda bottle 66 feet tall in front that glows in changing colors after dark and coolers inside holding hundreds of kinds of soda. On the way from Tulsa we stop at the Rock Cafe in Stroud, built in 1939 from sandstone dug up while the road was being built.

    • The 1898 Round Barn and its hayloft
    • POPS and its 66-foot soda bottle
    • The Rock Cafe in Stroud

    Best monthsMarch to June, September to November

    Trips that stop here

    Neon script sign over the glass front of the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton

    Clinton and Elk City: Two museums on the plains

    West of Oklahoma City the land opens into wheat and red dirt, and two museums tell the road's story well. The Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, run by the Oklahoma Historical Society, walks through the decades with cars, diner booths and music from each era. Our road captain Earl Whitfield grew up in Clinton and still knows who ran which motel. About 25 miles west, the National Route 66 and Transportation Museum in Elk City is part of an Old Town of historic buildings with a farm and ranch museum next door. Before Clinton we stop at Lucille's in Hydro, a 1929 station where Lucille Hamons sold gas and cold drinks for 59 years. Several trips sleep in Elk City or Clinton.

    • Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton
    • National Route 66 Museum in Elk City
    • Lucille's station in Hydro

    Best monthsMarch to June, September to November

    Trips that stop here

    Coach, convertible or motorcycle

    Ways to drive Route 66 in Oklahoma

    1. In a day from Tulsa

      The Tulsa Route 66 Day Tour picks you up at downtown hotels at 9:00 and is back about 17:30. It covers 11th Street and the Meadow Gold District, Cyrus Avery Plaza, the Art Deco downtown, lunch at a local diner and the Blue Whale in Catoosa. It runs from fall through early summer, and it is a good way to start or finish a longer trip from Tulsa International Airport.

    2. By small coach west to the Panhandle

      Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle and Neon and Diners both start in Tulsa and roll west in a 24-seat coach, no more than 14 guests, with a professional driver and Earl Whitfield. The days are relaxed: Arcadia for lunch, an onion burger in El Reno, the museums in Clinton and Elk City, and on the neon trip, evening stops when the signs come on.

    3. Behind the wheel across the state

      On the End to End journey, the classic convertible and the motorcycle trip, Oklahoma is the longest state so far, two or three days of driving. Convertible guests take turns at the wheel on the long straight roads west of Oklahoma City. Riders on the motorcycle trip get the Ribbon Road near Miami and quiet two-lane stretches west of El Reno, with the support van close behind.

    One price

    What is included on our Oklahoma trips

    In Oklahoma our multi-day prices cover hotel nights in Tulsa, Oklahoma City or Elk City (or similar), breakfast every day, the dinners listed, the road captain and driver or the convertible, motorcycle and support vehicles, parking, and entries named in the itinerary, such as the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton. The Tulsa day tour covers hotel pickup, lunch, all entries and the guide.

    Flights are optional: each trip page shows the add-on price for flying into the start and home from the end, from 10 US cities. Full list and payments.

    Included on every Oklahoma trip

    • Restored vintage motels and good 3 to 4 star hotels, double room with private bathroom
    • Breakfast daily plus the lunches and dinners listed in the itinerary
    • A road captain from the first day to the last, and local guides at museums and parks
    • Small coach with a professional driver, or your classic convertible or motorcycle on themed trips
    • Museum, park and attraction entries listed in the itinerary
    • Airport pickup on day 1 and drop-off on the last day

    Seasons

    Best time to drive Route 66 in Oklahoma

    April, May, September and October are our best Oklahoma months, with highs in the 70s and low 80s. Spring is also storm season, and May is the peak month for tornadoes on the plains, so we follow forecasts closely and keep plans flexible. June gets hot and July and August often pass 95 degrees with high humidity, so we skip them. November is cool and clear. The Tulsa day tour also runs in December and March, when days are short and crisp but the Art Deco and the neon look their best.

    1. JanNo trips: No trips
    2. FebNo trips: No trips
    3. MarGood: Good
    4. AprBest: Best
    5. MayBest: Best
    6. JunGood: Good
    7. JulNo trips: No trips
    8. AugNo trips: No trips
    9. SepBest: Best
    10. OctBest: Best
    11. NovGood: Good
    12. DecGood: Good

    Best monthsGood, some trips runNo trips

    Practical

    Route 66 in Oklahoma at a glance

    • Route 66 miles

      About 400 miles from Quapaw to Texola, through Miami, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Clinton and Elk City, more drivable miles of the old road than any other state

    • Main towns on the road

      Miami, Vinita, Claremore, Catoosa, Tulsa, Sapulpa, Stroud, Chandler, Arcadia, Oklahoma City, El Reno, Weatherford, Clinton, Elk City

    • Airports

      Tulsa International (TUL) in the east; Will Rogers International (OKC) in Oklahoma City

    • Time zone

      Central Time, with daylight saving time from March to November

    • Road weather

      Spring is mild with thunderstorm and tornado risk, summer hot and humid, fall dry and pleasant; winter brings occasional ice storms

    • What to eat

      Onion fried burgers in El Reno, chicken fried steak, Ku-Ku Burger in Miami, the Rock Cafe in Stroud, barbecue and soda from POPS in Arcadia

    • Best months for our trips

      April, May, September and October; the Tulsa day tour also runs November, December, March and June

    6 questions

    Route 66 in Oklahoma: questions

    Can I visit your office in Tulsa?

    Yes. We are at 1347 E 11th Street, Suite 200, on the 11th Street alignment of Route 66 in the Meadow Gold District, open Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 17:00 Central Time. We work by email rather than phone, so write to [email protected] before you come and we will make sure someone is in.

    Is the Tulsa day tour a good add-on to a longer trip?

    Yes. The Oklahoma and Texas trip and Neon and Diners both start in Tulsa, so many guests arrive a day early and take the day tour first. It costs $179 per person, includes hotel pickup at 9:00 and lunch, and is back about 17:30.

    What is an onion fried burger?

    A Depression-era dish from El Reno: a ball of beef smashed on the griddle with a heap of thin-sliced onions pressed into it, so the onions cook into the meat. It stretched expensive beef with cheap onions. Several diners in El Reno still make them, and we stop for one on the trips that go west from Oklahoma City.

    What happens if there is a tornado warning?

    Warnings are local and usually last under an hour. Our road captains follow the National Weather Service throughout the day, and if a warning is issued near our route we wait it out in a solid building, such as a museum or restaurant. Plans may shift by an hour or two, rarely more.

    Is the Ribbon Road drivable?

    About three miles of the 1922 nine-foot road survive between Miami and Afton, and cars do use it, though slowly. Our motorcycle trip rides it. Our coach is too wide for it, so van groups stop and walk a stretch, which is the best way to see the old curbs.

    Which Oklahoma museums are worth the most time?

    The Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton gives the best overview of the whole road, about an hour. Main Street Museums also visits the Coleman Theatre in Miami and the Elk City museum complex, and adds time in Tulsa's Route 66 sites.

    Next on the road

    Keep driving from Oklahoma

    The whole route
    Cracked deck of the white Brush Creek Rainbow Bridge near Riverton, Kansas, with a road shieldRoute 66 in Kansas5 trips, from $2,290 Restored 1929 brick gas station with orange pumps and a vintage tank truck in McLean, TexasRoute 66 in Texas6 trips, from $2,290 Brick row of rooms and the tall sign of the Munger Moss Motel, Lebanon, MissouriRoute 66 in Missouri5 trips, from $2,190

    Free advice, no obligation

    Drive Oklahoma on the old road

    Tell us the month and how many of you are traveling. A trip advisor checks seats and replies by email, usually the same working day.

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