Route 66 Barstow to Ludlow

Starting in Barstow

Begin your tour by driving to the east-end of Main Street in Barstow, where it passes underneath Interstate 40. You can also take the I-40 freeway and take exit #1. Reset your trip meter here.

There isn’t much to see along the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) stretch of Route 66 from exit #1 to the Marine Corps base. There used to be an old hotel and bar, but it was razed around 2010. If you’re not a serious or diehard Route 66 traveler, you can jump on I-40 and exit at Nebo Street (exit #5), which also bypasses the Marine Corps base.

Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow

If you took Route 66 from exit #1, you’ll pass underneath I-40 again and in a short distance be stopped by the base’s main entrance. Just before the entrance stands an old gas station and hotel that was originally a Motel 6.

The alignment of Route 66 used to go right through the middle of this military installation. Until I-40 was built, Route 66 travelers drove right through the base as if it were another town along the road. Unfortunately, after the events of September 11, 2001, for security concerns, the public can no longer drive on this portion of Route 66 through the base.

The base is used as a supply depot and maintenance facility for the Marine Corps. It was originally established in 1942 to support the Pacific theater in World War 2. During this time, unneeded material, mainly wood for crates, were thrown away but picked up by locals to build many of the old buildings along Route 66. The base itself, has since grown to support the on-going needs of the Marines.

A satellite facility of the base was built later and called the Marine Corps Logistics Base Yermo Annex. It can be seen along this tour just north of our visit through Daggett. Here is where the Marines store a lot of their rolling stock. Trains can regularly be seen delivering or picking up the rolling stock, such as tanks, assault vehicles and JLTVs (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle).

An interesting side note about this facility, it is the home of a mounted color guard. Traditionally, this elite team of equestrians lead and kick off the beginning of the Tournament of Roses Parade on Pasadena’s Colorado Blvd, which ironically is also, Route 66.

The above picture shows the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard passing through the streets of Pasadena, California, during the 131st Rose Parade Jan. 1, 2020. The last remaining Marine Corps mounted color guard has participated in the annual Tournament of Roses Parade since 1985. (Picture curtesy Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. Nathan Hall)

To continue the tour, jump on I-40 eastbound at exit #2, drive two miles, then exit at Nebo Street (exit #5).

Whoop-de-doos & Elephant Mountain

After exiting Nebo Street, you’ll be connected back to the original alignment of Route 66 as it exits out of the east side of the Marine Base. Just like our tours of Route 66 from Victorville to Barstow, the old alignment is right next to the Santa Fe railroad trips, which are now owned by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. These are the same railroad tracks that Route 66 roughly follows between Chicago and Los Angeles. There are many many “at grade” crossings of these same tracks and Route 66 along its entire length.

Between here and Daggett, you’ll experience the whoop-de-doos of driving through many dips in the road. These dips are caused by many drainage channels that run across the desert floor. These same types of channels are found all over the desert and cross Route 66 all the way into Arizona. When the roadbed was first built in the 1920s here (between Barstow and Daggett), it was simply built through these channels, causing the dips we’re experiencing now.

As we travel further east on Route 66, past Daggett, we’ll see that the road still crosses the many channels or ditches but now uses bridges instead. These were built in the 1920s and 30s, after it was determined that the road had too many dips for vehicles to drive through. By the ‘20s and ‘30s, vehicles by then were traveling faster than the normal 20-30 mph (32-48 kph) in previous years, causing newer vehicles needing to slow down for the dips.

In fact, and this might be hard to believe, Route 66 crosses more bridges between Daggett and the Arizona border than all the other bridges on the entire historic alignment of Route 66, from Chicago to Santa Monica. We’ll cover more on this topic on our next tour that continues east from Ludlow and into Needles.

Along this stretch of road, you’ll see a mountain come into view on the left. This is Elephant Mountain. It’s just across the sandy bed of the Mojave River from Route 66. Elephant Mountain saw several mining ventures that began the development of this area, mainly the town of Daggett, in the 1880s.

Elephant Mountain is also a significant archaeological site where debris, such as mill stones, pestles and mortars that were used by Native Americans, have been found here. There are also a few petroglyphs in a rock outcropping on the southern edge, as well as on an outcropping not far from Daggett-Yermo Road on the mountain’s east side.

Daggett

At about 7 miles (11 km) from I-40’s exit #1 (where we reset our trip meter), we reach Daggett. Although this looks like a forgotten and sleepy desert town, it actually has a lot of interesting history behind it and some of it is still standing around for you to go see.

Daggett had a lot going for itself back in the late 1800s. A lot of desert and Route 66 history occurred in Daggett; probably more than in any other town along Route 66’s path through the Mojave Desert.

Pictured below is an old AAA road sign from before Route 66 days was established in 1926.

The townsite was first established because of small mines in Elephant Mountain mentioned earlier. The mining boom of both silver and borax in the nearby Calico Mountains, just 6 miles to the north, brought a lot more people into the area. In 1882, the railroad arrived, and Daggett was the closest point to the silver town of Calico. Ore was hauled by wagon to Calico and, from there, hauled by train for smelting.

When the National Old Trails Road was being established in 1912, that would later become the path of Route 66 through California (the road alignment we’re touring on), an enterprising blacksmith owner got a contract to create the road grade from Barstow to the Arizona border.

Just before reaching the stop sign, you’ll see this curious looking “Ski lodge” on the right. This was built in the early 1920s and was a standard design in those days used for California Welcome Centers. It was also standard to have an inspection station built nearby and there was one directly across the street from the Ski Lodge. Now it is a vacant lot.

This inspection station is a big piece of Route 66 history, because it is the inspection station that actually appeared in the classic movie, the Grapes of Wrath, the movie that gave Route 66 that classic name, the Mother Road. In the movie, here’s where Tom Joad, played by Henry Fonda, was almost turned back. The real history is that this inspection station actually did turn back migrant workers in the Great Depression who were trying to escape the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma and the Great Plains.

When you arrive at the stop sign in Daggett, consider taking a detour to explore a little bit of this nicely preserved town with so much history. Do this, by turning left at the stop sign, crossing the railroad tracks, then turning right onto Santa Fe Street (the street directly across the tracks).