Amarillo Route 66 Guide: What to See, Do & Eat

After spending a week exploring Oklahoma City, we made our way west for another week-long stop in Amarillo before continuing on to Albuquerque, and it ended up being the perfect mix of quirky roadside attractions, classic eats, and wide-open Texas landscapes.

If you’re looking for things to do in Amarillo or planning your own Amarillo Route 66 road trip, this stretch is packed with iconic stops and some unexpectedly fun hidden gems. From spray painting cars at Cadillac Ranch to exploring small-town museums, scenic hikes, and local breweries, Amarillo offers a little bit of everything.

In this post, we’re sharing our full week-long itinerary, including exactly how we spent each day, tips for visiting these stops, and ideas for how to plan your own trip. We’ll also include a list of even more things to do in Amarillo so you can customize your Route 66 adventure based on your interests and travel style.

Where We Stayed in Amarillo

During our time in Amarillo, we stayed at Route 66 RV Ranch, a spot we had also stayed at back in November, which tells you it’s a good one if we came back!

The campground itself is pretty simple, mostly a gravel lot with fairly standard-sized sites, but where it really shines is in the amenities. We made use of the clubhouse fitness center on both visits, and there’s also a game room, lounge space, and a solid laundry room, which is always a plus for longer stays. There’s also a good-sized grassy commons area, which is nice if you want a little extra space to spread out, play yard games, or just hang out outside your rig.

It’s not the most scenic campground out there, but it’s comfortable, well-equipped, and a great home base for exploring Amarillo and the surrounding Route 66 attractions.

Sunday: Route 66 Icons and Amarillo’s Quirky Art Scene

After our overnight stay at the Cactus Inn Motel, we made the short drive into Amarillo to kick off the next leg of our Route 66 trip. We checked back into the same campground we had stayed at during our visit in November, which made it feel a little like returning to familiar territory.

Once we got settled, we headed back out to explore, focusing on some of Amarillo’s famous roadside art. Sundays are a bit quieter here, with a lot of businesses closed, so it ended up being the perfect day to hit these outdoor stops. When we visited back in the fall, we had intentionally skipped a lot of the Route 66 attractions knowing we’d be back, so this time we were ready to check them off.

Cadillac Ranch

Our first stop was the iconic Cadillac Ranch. This is one of the most recognizable Route 66 attractions, featuring a row of Cadillacs buried nose-down in the ground and completely covered in layers of spray paint. If you’re planning to visit, a quick tip: don’t bother buying spray paint ahead of time, there are always tons of partially used cans left behind that you can use. It was a lot of fun getting to literally leave our mark on Route 66.

Giant Legs of Amarillo

Next up was one of the more unusual stops: the Giant Legs of Amarillo. Created by artist Lighnin’ McFudd, the sculpture features, as the name suggests, a pair of massive legs seemingly emerging from the ground. There’s also a plaque referencing Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem Ozymandias, along with a completely fictional backstory claiming the statue is a fragment of the one described in the poem. It’s weird, a little random, and exactly the kind of stop that makes Route 66 so fun.

Combine City

From there, we headed a bit outside of Amarillo to check out Combine City, a farming-inspired take on Cadillac Ranch, with a row of combines half-buried in a field. It’s definitely more off-the-beaten-path, but a cool variation on the same idea and worth the quick detour.

Slug Bug Ranch

We continued the theme with another similar stop, Slug Bug Ranch. This attraction originally lived along an older stretch of Route 66 before being relocated by the Big Texan Steak Ranch to its current spot near their event center. In addition to the classic buried Volkswagen Beetles, they’ve added more vehicles and artwork to paint, plus paved walkways and a proper parking lot. If accessibility is a concern, this is definitely the easier of the spray-paint attractions to visit.

Big Texan Steak Ranch

We wrapped up the day with dinner at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. Even though we had eaten here on our last trip, it felt like a must-do stop again. The restaurant is famous for its 72-ounce steak challenge, and this time we actually got to watch a few people attempt it, which was surprisingly entertaining. It’s touristy in the best kind of way, and a pretty perfect way to end our first day in Amarillo.

Monday: Errands and a Quiet Reset Day

After a full first day in Amarillo, Monday ended up being a much quieter, more practical kind of day. Between work and the fact that a lot of places around town are closed on Mondays, it was the perfect time to catch up on errands. After wrapping up work, we headed out to grab groceries and pick up a package, nothing exciting, but always necessary when you’re living on the road.

That said, we did stumble on a pretty unexpected perk of RV life. We had Betsey’s medication shipped through Chewy, and it turns out they won’t deliver it to our home state of Illinois, but they will ship it to several of the states we’re traveling through. So somehow, it actually ended up being more convenient to get it delivered while we’re on the road than it would be at home.

Tuesday: A Detour to Vega 

On Tuesday, we took a little detour out of Amarillo to visit the nearby town of Vega, one of those small Route 66 stops that you might otherwise drive right past, but ended up being surprisingly memorable.

Milburn-Price Culture Museum

Our main stop was the Milburn-Price Culture Museum, which is part of the Route 66 passport program. And honestly, this is one of those places where you walk in and immediately think, where ARE we? It feels less like a traditional museum and more like something you’d see on American Pickers, just collections of items everywhere, with very few labels or explanations.

That said, it was still a really interesting stop. The docent there was incredibly friendly, and one of the highlights was getting to use their old printing press to stamp a postcard, which was such a cool, hands-on experience. Outside, there are a few larger pieces too, including a wind turbine propeller that you can actually walk inside, which might have been my favorite part. There’s also the world’s largest branding iron and a fun horned lizard statue named Hank, which definitely add to the roadside charm.

Magnolia Station

Right across the street, we stopped by the Magnolia Station, a beautifully restored gas station that dates back to 1924, back when this stretch of road was still part of the Ozark Trail, before Route 66 was officially established. It’s a quick stop, but a really cool piece of early road history.

Before heading back, we made one last stop at the local cemetery to check off a geocache. One of my newer travel goals is to find at least one geocache in every state we visit, so it was fun to add Texas to the list.

Wednesday: Route 66 Classics

Wednesday was all about checking off a few classic Route 66 spots in Amarillo, with a mix of antiques, local eats, and a brewery to round it out.

Texas Ivy Antiques

Our first stop was Texas Ivy Antiques to grab my Route 66 passport stamp. When we visited Amarillo last year, we explored a few antique shops farther down the road that felt a little… questionable, honestly. This area felt much more comfortable, and the owner here was incredibly nice, which made it a really pleasant stop.

GoldenLight Cafe

From there, we headed down the road to GoldenLight Cafe for dinner. I had come across them in my Route 66 cookbook, and they’re one of the oldest continuously operating restaurants along Route 66. It definitely leans divey in the best way, but the food was amazing, affordable, and the staff were all super friendly. This was also one of my stops for the Amarillo Convention & Visitor Council’s Boots & Brews Trail- if you check in at enough spots, you can earn a free Route 66 centennial bandana, which felt very on-theme for this trip.

Old Tascosa Brewing Company

After dinner, we walked just a block or so over to Old Tascosa Brewing Company, another stop on the trail. I tried their Route 66 centennial witbier, while Josh went for one of their meads. It was a nice, laid-back way to end the night and continue leaning into the Route 66 vibe of the day.

Thursday: A Quick Nature Break at Wildcat Bluff

After a few days of Route 66 stops, we switched things up on Thursday with a little time outdoors at Wildcat Bluff Nature Center. The nature center itself was supposed to be open, but just like the last time we were in Amarillo… it wasn’t, so I’m still not totally sure what the deal is there. Luckily, the trails were open, which is really the main draw anyway.

We kept it to a shorter hike because of the heat, but it was still a nice change of pace. The preserve has over 9 miles of trails, mostly winding through open grasslands, with a few sections that run along the bluff and offer some really great views of the surrounding landscape.

It’s not a must-do compared to some of the bigger Route 66 attractions, but if you’re looking to stretch your legs and get a little nature break while in Amarillo, it’s a solid option.

Friday: Canyon Views 

Friday evening we wrapped up our time in Amarillo with a return to one of our favorite spots from our last visit: Palo Duro Canyon State Park. It was funny, so many people recommended it to us when they heard we were coming to Amarillo… not realizing we’d already been! But honestly, it’s worth visiting more than once. Known as the “Grand Canyon of Texas,” it’s the second-largest canyon in the U.S., and it really does feel like it appears out of nowhere in the middle of otherwise flat plains.

Before heading to the canyon, we made a quick stop to check off my final location on the Boots & Brews Trail. You don’t actually have to purchase something at every stop, your phone’s location can check you in, so it was an easy final box to tick.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

At Palo Duro, we kept things a bit more low-key this time around. We hiked part of the Rock Garden Trail and then did the full scenic drive through the park. If you’re short on time or have mobility limitations, I’d still absolutely recommend doing the drive alone- the views are incredible the entire way.

Creek House Honey Farm

After our hike, we headed over to Creek House Honey Farm with plans for dinner… but quickly realized we hadn’t checked the hours. They only serve food at lunch and close earlier than we expected, so we just barely made it in time for a mead flight before they shut down for the day. Not quite the dinner we had planned, but since Josh is a big mead fan, we were still glad we stopped.

Saturday: Midpoint Stop & On to Albuquerque

Saturday was our drive day from Amarillo to Albuquerque, with one must-do stop along the way.

Midpoint Cafe

We pulled off in Adrian to visit the iconic Midpoint Cafe, which marks the official halfway point of Route 66- 1,139 miles from both Chicago and Santa Monica. This ended up being one of our favorite stops of the drive. I had what might honestly be the best breakfast sandwich ever, and of course we had to grab photos by the midpoint sign to commemorate it.

From there, we continued west to Albuquerque. Once we arrived, we got settled at camp and had a pretty low-key evening. After dinner, we headed out for a walk along the Paseo del Bosque Trail, which runs along the Rio Grande. It was a really nice way to end a travel day and ease into our next stop on the trip.

More to Do in Amarillo

Make sure to check out our post from last year’s visit: Making the Most of a Quick Stop in Amarillo

Other things we’ve missed or skipped are:

• Don Harrington Discover Center
• Wonderland Amusement Park
• Amarillo Museum of Art
• American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum
• Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian
• Texas Air and Space Museum
• Amarillo Railroad Museum
• Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon (currently under construction)
• Jack Sisemore RV Museum (I REALLY wanted to go here, but it was closed for the season)

Texas Route 66 Passport Stamps

More Route 66 Posts

Make sure to check out all our Route 66 posts here!

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