Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1398 N E St, San Bernardino; admission by donation; 10am-5pm)
, which has interesting historic
Route 66 exhibits. Continue north, then turn left on W Highland Ave and pick up the I-215
Fwy to I-15 and exit at Cleghorn for Cajon Blvd to trundle north on an ancient section of
the Mother Road. Get back onto I-15 and drive up to the Cajon Pass. At the top, take the
Oak Hill Rd exit (No 138) to the
Summit Inn Cafe
( 760-949-8688; 5960 Mariposa Rd,
Hesperia; mains $5-10; 6am-8pm Mon-Thu, to 9pm Fri & Sat)
, a 1950s roadside diner with an-
tique gas pumps, a retro jukebox and a lunch counter that serves ostrich burgers and date
shakes.
Get back on I-15 and drive downhill to Victorville, exiting at 7th St and driving past the
San Bernardino County Fairgrounds, home of the Route 66 Raceway. Along 7th St in Old
Town Victorville, look for landmarks including the bucking bronco sign of the
New Cor-
ral Motel
. At D St, turn left for the excellent
California Route 66 Museum
(
GOOGLE MAP
; 760-951-0436;
www.califrt66museum.org
; 16825 D St, Victorville; donations wel-
come; 10am-4pm Thu-Sat & Mon, 11am-3pm Sun)
, opposite the Greyhound bus station. In-
side a former cafe is a wonderfully eclectic collection including a 1930s teardrop trailer,
sparkling red naughahyde booth with tabletop mini-jukebox, advertising signage, vintage
photos, and bits and pieces from the Roy Rogers Museum that used to be in Victorville be-
fore moving to Branson, Missouri (where it closed in 2010).
Follow South D St north under I-15 where it turns into the National Trails Hwy.
Beloved by Harley bikers, this stretch of rolling hills and vast expanses of high desert to
Barstow is like a scavenger hunt for Mother Road ruins, such as antique filling stations
and tumbledown motor courts.
In Oro Grande, the
Iron Hog Saloon
(20848 National Trails Hwy, Oro Grande; 8am-10pm
Mon-Thu & Sun, to 2am Fri & Sat)
is an old-time honky-tonk dripping with memorabilia and
character(s). It's hugely popular with bikers and serves large portions of rib-stickers, in-
cluding rattlesnake and ostrich. About 5 miles further north,
Bottle Tree Ranch
(Elmer's
Place; 24266 National Trails Hwy, Oro Grande)
is a colorful roadside folk-art collection of glass
bottles artfully arranged on telephone poles along with weathered railroad signs.
Barstow
At the junction of I-40 and I-15, nearly halfway between LA and Las Vegas, down-and-out
Barstow (population 23,000) has been a desert travelers' crossroads for centuries. In 1776
