The creators of the seminal “Roadside America” book and its terrific website of the same name recently released a Roadside 66 app for iPhones and iPads.
The app, priced at $7.99, is described as a “travel companion, guide, trip planner to US Route 66 landmarks and quirky attractions.”
“We’ve mapped more than 1,600 points-of-interest (POIs) in a corridor along Route 66 (certified in 1926, decertified 1985, subsequently and gloriously revived, to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026). Combining our collection of quirky roadside attractions with Route 66 must-see landmarks, the app is full of incredible stories and history.”
One of the features of the app is the Backseat Know-It-All feature:
Backseat Know-It-All starts each driving day with an illuminating factoid or two. By trip’s end, you’ll be an esteemed authority on all things Route 66-related, and an insufferable presence at gatherings!
Along with our own photos and RA contributor images, we worked with top Route 66 photographers, attractions, tourism bureaus, and Route 66 organizations.
Roadside America, consistently charting as a Top Ten Travel iOS app (U.S. App Store, paid) for 15+ years, is a trusted mainstay for iPhone and iPad users seeking funny, carefully curated attraction information, stories, and images of the wonderful attraction landscape. Roadside 66 builds on that thinking and methodology, and goes beyond. Roadside 66 provides new capabilities, customization options, and much exclusive original content.
Here is a listing of some of the app’s contents:
- Classics: Blue Whale, Tinkertown, Jackrabbit Trading Post, dozens of towns celebrating their Route 66 selves!
- Quirky: Singing Highway, Bottle Tree Ranch, Santa Anna’s Leg, road phantoms, Uranus!
- Statues: Muffler Men, Zozobra, the Golden Driller, Giganticus Headicus, celebs and nobodies!
- Vintage Signs: Tropics Dining Room, surviving and reborn mid-century neon!
- Petroliana: World’s Tallest Gas Pump, Streamline Moderne Lobster Rolls, scores of restored gas stations to fuel your imagination!
- Route Geek: Joining of the Pavements, Where Route 66 Crosses Itself, Golden Age ruins from dreams long lost!
- Nature: Ancient meteor craters, primordial Tar Pits, Route 66 Prairie, Endangered Wolf Center, earthquake faultlines and petrified forests!
- Museums: You need to know more about rattlesnakes, buttons, dinosaur poo, pigeons, barbed wire, and cookie cutters!
- Art and Architecture: Murals, folk art environments, Golf Ball House, Drive-Thru Donut, La Cita Sombrero, Beef Burger Barrel
The first “Roadside America” book about offbeat tourist attractions was published in 1992, and its website launched in 1994.
RoadsideAmerica.com was among the first to document Muffler Men across the United States. It’s hard to imagine the resurgence of these fiberglass giants on Route 66 in recent years without the website.
(Hat tip to Beth Murray; screen-capture image from the Roadside 66 app page)