Route 66 through Oklahoma and Missouri: where to stop and sleep

The short answer

• Elk City for western Oklahoma: the National Route 66 Museum is on the old road through town, and the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton is on the way east.
• Stroud for a small-town night between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, with the 1939 Rock Cafe on Main Street.
• Tulsa for the city stop: the hometown of the man called the Father of Route 66, and the most to do on this stretch.
• Joplin or Carthage at the Missouri line: Joplin for its Route 66 mural, Carthage for the 1949 66 Drive-In and the courthouse square.
• Bourbon for the last night before St. Louis, near Meramec Caverns and the murals of Cuba.
• How many nights? Five is comfortable for this stretch if you drive the old road and stop to look, one in each town. Four works if you skip Stroud or Tulsa.

Museum hours and prices below are from the official pages as of October 2026, and motel scores and prices from our own checks of Booking.com on 17 Oct 2026. Opening hours, prices and seasons change, so check before you go.

How long does Route 66 take through Oklahoma and Missouri?

Allow at least four or five days if you want to drive the old road rather than the interstate. The National Park Service puts Route 66 in Oklahoma at about 400 miles (640 km), and Visit Missouri gives 317 miles (510 km) for Missouri, between Joplin and St. Louis. In between, the road crosses a short corner of Kansas, about 14 miles (23 km) according to the National Park Service.

The interstates, I-40 in western Oklahoma and I-44 from Oklahoma City to St. Louis, run close to the old road most of the way, so you can make up time when you need to. These are our rough interstate estimates, without stops; the old road is slower:

The year matters too. 2026 is the road's centennial, and Oklahoma's tourism office lists centennial events along the road, so some small towns have busier weekends than usual. Check event dates before you book.

What is there to see in Elk City?

The main sight is the Elk City Museum Complex at 2717 West 3rd Street, on Route 66, which includes the National Route 66 Museum, the National Transportation Museum, the Old Town Museum and the Farm and Ranch Museum. The city lists it as open Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 17:00, and on Sundays from 13:00 to 17:00 only between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Adults pay $5. Further east on I-40, the Oklahoma Historical Society's Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton (2229 West Gary Boulevard, I-40 exit 65) traces the road through the decades of its history, as TravelOK puts it; it is open Monday to Saturday, 9:00 to 17:00, adults $10, and closed on 11 November, 26–27 November and 24–25 December 2026.

Two motels in Elk City:

• Flamingo Inn is on West 3rd Street, the old Route 66, less than 1 km from the museum complex. It scores 7.1 on Booking.com from 216 reviews and 4.0 on Google Maps from 271 reviews (checked 17 Oct 2026). Booking.com had no rooms for our January 2027 dates, so we have no price.
• Bedford Inn is on South Main Street, about 3.5 km from the museum. It scores 7.9 on Booking.com from 74 reviews (checked 17 Oct 2026), with a weak score for Wi-Fi (5.0), and was around €66 a night for two in mid-January 2027 when we checked.

Both list children as not allowed on Booking.com. If you are travelling with children, ask before you book or choose a stop further east.

Is Stroud worth a night between Oklahoma City and Tulsa?

Yes, if you want a small Route 66 town rather than a city. Stroud's landmark is the Rock Cafe, at 114 West Main Street, which opened in August 1939 with a sandstone exterior and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, according to the National Park Service. It survived a fire in 2008 that left its rock walls, foundation and original grill, says TravelOK. TravelOK also says its owner since 1993, Dawn Welch, inspired the character Sally Carrera in Pixar's Cars, and lists it as open Tuesday to Saturday, 7:00 to 20:00, sometimes on Sundays and Mondays. Call ahead early in the week.

• Sooner Motel is about 0.5 km in a straight line from the Rock Cafe, close enough to walk. It scores 7.1 on Booking.com from 45 reviews (checked 17 Oct 2026), lists check-in at any time and a minimum check-in age of 18. Booking.com had no rooms for our January 2027 dates.
• Cattle Country Lodge is about 1.2 km from the Rock Cafe, with the highest Booking.com score of the motels in this guide: 8.1 from 79 reviews, and 4.1 on Google Maps from 377 reviews (checked 17 Oct 2026). It lists breakfast, takes cards only, and was around €77 a night for two in mid-January 2027.

What should you see on Route 66 in Tulsa?

Start with the story of Cyrus Avery, the Tulsan the National Park Service says is credited as the Father of Route 66. He was involved in building the 11th Street Arkansas River Bridge in 1916–1917 and later pushed for the Chicago-to-Los Angeles route to run through Tulsa; the bridge closed to traffic in 1980 and was renamed the Cyrus Avery Route 66 Memorial Bridge in 2004. The National Park Service also points to Tulsa's restored Meadow Gold sign and Vickery Phillips 66 station, and to the Blue Whale, a handmade roadside attraction in Catoosa, just east of the city.

Crystal Motel is on West Skelly Drive, by I-44 on the southwest side of Tulsa, about 3.9 km in a straight line from the Route 66 Historical Village. It is a practical stop rather than a historic one. It scores 7.0 on Booking.com from 40 reviews (checked 17 Oct 2026), with a strong score for staff (8.6) and a weak one for Wi-Fi (5.0), and was around €60 a night for two in mid-January 2027. Rooms have a coffee maker, fridge and microwave.

Joplin or Carthage for the Missouri line?

Carthage if you want the 66 Drive-In and a quieter evening; Joplin if you want to be right at the Kansas end of the Missouri stretch. Visit Missouri puts Carthage about 17 miles (27 km) northeast of Joplin. The 66 Drive-In, at 17231 Old 66 Boulevard in Carthage, opened on 22 September 1949 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places; Visit Missouri says it shows films from April to September. Carthage also has the Jasper County Courthouse and, nearby, the Red Oak II village. In Joplin, the Route 66 Mural Park downtown has a three-dimensional mural built around a replica Corvette.

• Guest House Motel in Carthage is about 3.0 km in a straight line from the drive-in. It scores 7.7 on Booking.com from 92 reviews (checked 17 Oct 2026), lists breakfast and a guest laundry, and was around €63 a night for two in mid-January 2027. No pets, and a minimum check-in age of 20.
• Plaza Motel is on East 7th Street, Route 66 through Joplin. It scores 7.4 on Booking.com from 113 reviews but 3.2 on Google Maps from 229 reviews (checked 17 Oct 2026), a gap worth noticing. Some rooms are smoking rooms, check-in is from 14:00 to 19:00, and it was around €65 a night for two in mid-January 2027.

Why stop in Bourbon before St. Louis?

Because it puts you between two of Missouri's best-known Route 66 stops, Meramec Caverns and Cuba, without St. Louis prices. Bourbon's water tower, built in 1925, stands just off I-44 and is a common photo stop, according to Visit Missouri. Meramec Caverns, at I-44 exit 230 in Stanton, lists itself as open daily from 9:00 to 16:00, with the cave at about 60 °F (16 °C) all year; its riverboat runs only from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Cuba, to the west, is known as Route 66 Mural City for its 14 outdoor murals, and Visit Missouri notes its Wagon Wheel Motel has been open since 1934.

Budget Inn Motel is about 18 km in a straight line from Meramec Caverns and 17 km from the Cuba murals. It scores 7.7 on Booking.com from 73 reviews (checked 17 Oct 2026), but its Wi-Fi score is very low (2.5), and Booking.com lists children as not allowed. It had no rooms on Booking.com for our January 2027 dates.

Before you book

• Seasons. Several sights here are seasonal: the drive-in runs from April to September, Elk City's museums close on Sundays outside summer, and Meramec Caverns' riverboat runs only in summer.
• Children. Three of the eight motels in this guide (both in Elk City and the one in Bourbon) list children as not allowed on Booking.com.
• Prices are snapshots. The euro prices are the lowest Booking.com rate for two adults for 12–15 January 2027, converted from dollars, checked on 17 Oct 2026. Where we give no price, Booking.com had no rooms for those dates. Summer weekends, and centennial events in 2026, usually push prices up.
• Hours and fees change. The museum hours and prices above are from the official pages in October 2026; check them again before you go.

For all the Route 66 towns we cover outside Arizona, with a map, see where to stay on Route 66. If you are continuing west, read our Route 66 road trip from Kingman to Holbrook. How we choose and score places: how we review.