The California Route 66 Museum is located on Historic U.S. Route 66 in Old Town Victorville, in the Mojave Desert within San Bernardino County, California. Constantly changing exhibitions follow the development of U.S. Route 66 from the time of early pioneer trails and railroads.
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Really weird. Was in Victorville for the day and this popped up as a local attraction. This place really walks the line as to defining what museums are and their purpose.
Basically, the Route 66 Museum is a collection of... stuff without context. It's not well curated and it doesn't seem interested in telling you what these things are or their significance. There are a small handful of signs explaining things like the 15ft tall hula girl cutout, but even that information is incomplete and caused us to Google search more info while standing in the museum.
Mostly, this museum is a big storage unit. And because the collection is poorly curated some of it is modern stuff masquerading as antiques (like an off-the-shelf clabber girl baking powder you can get at any store put with the "antique" kitchen).
Moreover, it's not so much Route 66 related as it Victor Valley local history. There's some binders with local archive information that are mixed in with everything else. There's an entire manual for the camper trailer in the middle of the show room. But there's nothing about Route 66 specifically or its history or why this museum exists in this format.
There's a modest collection of Roy Rodgers memorabilia in a back corner and that area really highlights whats wrong with the museum as a whole. They have some local newspaper clippings of various quality but if you don't know anything about Roy Rodgers (like most people in 2025), there's no context, teaching, or anything else grab onto. It's not an exhibit that's trying to impart anything, it's stuff.
Cost of admission is free, but even then I'd give this place a pass. The Route 66 Museum appears to be a transparent tourist trap using Route 66 name recognition to lure in travelers from far away and extract a few bucks from them in "recommended donations" to keep the doors open on what is essentially an antique store where nothing...
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California Route 66 Museum Route 66 Victorville, California February 2022
We visited the California Route 66 Museum last year and we decided to revisit the Museum once again this year on our latest road trip. The reason for this trip was to actually see more of the Museum and see more of the displays. Our previous trip was more of a Photographic trip. There is always something you miss or probably didn't see on a previous visit. This was the case. We looked more into the old photos to learn more about the history. Thankfully we had some much needed help from several of the volunteers such as Delvin Roy Harbour and Benita Morgan-Bushop. There was one other volunteer at the museum but unfortunately I did not get her name. Delvin showed us some older photos and what building were there at that time period. It was fantastic looking at these photos and listening to its history. Of course we still manage to take lots of photos in the museum..
The Museum is a great place to visit. There are lots of photo opportunities especially for selfies or with family and friends. Take a seat in The VW bus or take a photo by the classic car or even take a photo in front of the Victorville Outhouse. With several rooms and displays you can learn so much about this Route 66 Town and history. The museum also has a gift shop with great merchandise. We have added a few photos of the merchandise in this post.
We definitely will be returning in the near future. It's a fun place to visit with great volunteers and lots of fun...
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We stopped at this "museum" because of its positive reviews but were left seriously puzzled. This could be most nicely described as a botched antique sale, and at worst, a firetrap.
We particularly enjoyed the assortment of personal scrapbooks and photos that were clearly donated by disgruntled relatives or by the dedicatees themselves. Although we cannot comment on their sentimental value, their historical value seems inconsequential. In the final analysis, we weren't very sure we had learnt anything about Route 66 (but we did enjoy the blue camper).
Without exception, ALL of the machines were out of order, and you weren't allowed to touch any of the exhibits. There were limited picture opportunities, but I'd be embarassed to show my friends and family how I spent my time.
This isn't to say that this attraction is meritless. The docents were clearly excited to be there, and it's clear that they aren't responsible for the museum's decline.
Oh, and watch out for the riffraff in the...
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