Ride Route 66 with Harley-Davidson®'s Harley Owners Group®

Harley Owners Group® celebrates Route 66’s centennial by featuring five of its fifteen annual U.S. rides along the iconic Mother Road, honoring a century of freedom and adventure.

Tour Route 66 on your Harley-Davidson with H.O.G. Ride 365®’s 15 Rides for '26

Each year, Harley Owners Group® selects a handful of U.S. destinations that are famed for their riding experiences or are conveniently located along longer riding routes. This year, as Route 66 marks its 100th anniversary, five of our H.O.G. Ride 365®’s 15 Rides for ‘26 trace the iconic Mother Road—an unforgettable journey through a century of open-road legend and American spirit. Members earn an exclusive challenge coin for each ride they complete this year.

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End of Route

Image: Alejandro Luengo

SANTA MONICA, CA

ROUTE 66
END OF THE TRAIL

CHECK-IN LOCATION

“End of the Trail” sign at the Santa Monica Pier, near the pier’s western end, just past Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Few American icons conjure nostalgia for the golden age of motoring like Route 66. Celebrated in film, television, and literature as the “Mother Road” and “America’s Main Street,” the 2,400-mile highway stretches across two-thirds of the country through eight Midwestern and Western states.

The road carried generations westward from Chicago to California – some seeking fame and fortune in the Golden State, others fleeing poverty during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and countless families road-tripping in station wagons, stopping for kitschy souvenirs at roadside attractions.

U.S. Highway 66 was established in 1926 by the Bureau of Public Roads as part of the Federal Highway System and was decommissioned in 1985.

Although portions have long been absorbed by interstate highways, Route 66 has enjoyed a renaissance and remains a bucket-list road trip for drivers and motorcyclists.

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Gemini Giant

Image: Jeff Brown

WILIMINGTON, IL

GEMINI GIANT

CHECK-IN LOCATION

Gemini Giant statue, 201 Bridge St., Wilmington, IL 60481

The Gemini Giant is truly a giant among giants, one of many iconic roadside attractions along Route 66. The 30-foot-tall “Muffler Man” statue, attired in a green space suit and silver helmet, cradles a rocket ship in its arms.
The towering figure stood guard outside the Launching Pad Restaurant in Wilmington, IL from 1965 until it closed in 2024. Afterwards it was moved to Wilmington’s South Island Park, where it is displayed today. These fiberglass behemoths were manufactured by the hundreds throughout the 1960s and early 70s, and were often placed outside muffler repair shops, hence the nickname “Muffler Men.”

If you’re looking for souvenirs during your Gemini journey, the Landing Pad Gift Shop next door offers bobbleheads and all sorts of Gemini Giant and Route 66 merchandise (the shop is open noon to 6:00 pm Thursday through Monday, from April to November).

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Uranus Town Center

Image: Our Two Wheel Adventures

ST. ROBERTS, MO

URANUS, MO TOWN CENTER

CHECK-IN LOCATION

Uranus Water Tower, 14400 State Highway Z, St. Robert, MO 65584

Among the all the roadside attractions and oddities along Route 66, Uranus, Missouri stands out for its unusual name. Not a real town, but a marketing gimmick sure to appeal to anyone with a 13-year-old’s sense of humor, Uranus is actually part of the city of St. Robert, MO.

The ersatz town, a collection of shops and activities with pun-filled names (Putt Pirates Mini Golf, anyone?), was dreamed up in 2015 by businessman Louie Keen, who calls himself the Mayor of Uranus.

Understandably, the farcical town’s moniker has raised a few disapproving eyebrows, but the mayor is hoping you’ll stop by to visit and help him make Uranus great again.

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Blue Whale

CATOOSA, OK

BLUE WHALE OF CATOOSA

CHECK-IN LOCATION

Blue Whale of Catoosa, 2600 OK-66, Catoosa, OK 74015

Built as an anniversary present for his wife and as a place for his grandkids to play, the Blue Whale of Catoosa was completed in 1972 by zoologist Hugh S. Davis and is an iconic Route 66 landmark. Eighty feet long and twenty feet tall, Davis modeled the smiling concrete whale after real blue whales, the largest living mammals which can grow up to 100 feet in length and weigh up to 200 tons.

Now owned by the city of Catoosa, Oklahoma, the Blue Whale and its park are currently undergoing renovations and sprucing up for the 100th anniversary of Route 66. It is expected to reopen in late spring or early summer 2026; however, the whale remains visible and can be photographed from beside the highway.

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Cadillac Ranch

Image: Heidi Kaden

AMARILLO, TX

CADILLAC RANCH

CHECK-IN LOCATION

Cadillac Ranch, 13651 Interstate-40 Frontage Rd., Amarillo, TX 79124

A monument to the golden age of automotive tail fins, Cadillac Ranch is perhaps one of Route 66’s most well-known attractions. Ten vintage Cadillacs, manufactured between 1949 and 1963 are buried in a straight line at a 60-degree angle, nose-down, tail-up, in an Amarillo field. The installation was created in 1974 by a group called the Ant Farm, an art collective based in San Francisco. An eccentric local millionaire provided the inspiration, land, and funding for the project.

Its graffiti-covered automobiles are a constantly-changing riot of colors, thanks to the hordes of visitors who bring spray paint to add their own artistry to the exhibit.

Rather than being considered an act of vandalism, spray-painting the vintage Caddies is encouraged, but visitors are requested to spray only the cars – not the surrounding property – and to properly dispose of empty spray cans.

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