Cars on the Route and Route 66 Kansas

Route 66 ran from Chicago to Los Angeles, and for a short span it crossed the far southeast corner of Kansas, linking Missouri to Oklahoma through the towns of Galena, Riverton, and Baxter Springs. It is the shortest stretch of the famous highway in any state, but it is real Route 66, complete with old alignments, bridges, and roadside stops.

When the interstates bypassed Route 66, towns like Galena lost the steady stream of travelers that had sustained their cafes and stations. In recent decades, though, the road's nostalgia has brought people back, and the Kansas stretch has been carefully cared for by locals who keep its landmarks alive.

Cars on the Route occupies a restored 1930s service station that had fallen into disrepair before a group of local women bought and revived it. They filled it with Route 66 memorabilia, opened a small shop and eatery, and made it a gathering point for travelers on the road.

The star out front is an old International boom truck, rusted and dented, whose face-like front end is said to have helped inspire an animated character in a famous film about the highway. Kids and adults alike stop to meet it, and the station leans happily into the connection.

Long before Route 66, Galena was a booming lead- and zinc-mining town, named for the lead ore galena that made it rich. In its heyday it drew miners and speculators from far away, and its streets were once far busier than they are now. The mining left behind chat piles and old workings, some of them still visible around the area.

This corner of Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma is sometimes called the tri-state mining district, one of the great lead and zinc regions of the country. When the ore played out and the mines closed, the towns shrank, and Route 66 tourism became one of the ways Galena kept its story going.

A short drive from Galena lies the point where Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma meet, marked so you can stand in three states at once, a small novelty that draws road-trippers off the highway. The wider district is dotted with old mining relics and small towns whose fortunes rose and fell with the ore.

For travelers, Galena and the Kansas stretch of Route 66 make a rewarding side trip, a chance to touch a genuine piece of the Mother Road and its layered history of mining, roadside culture, and small-town revival.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.