Pops 66 and the Arcadia Round Barn

Pops 66 is a soda emporium, gas station, and diner built along Route 66, and it is impossible to miss thanks to the enormous soda bottle standing beside it, a towering sculpture that lights up at night in shifting colors. It has quickly become one of the signature roadside images of modern Route 66.

Inside, the real draw is the sheer variety of soda pop, shelves and coolers holding a staggering range of flavors and brands from around the country and the world. Part gas station, part roadside spectacle, part candy-store of fizzy drinks, Pops is proof that Route 66 still knows how to charm travelers with something big and playful.

A short distance from Pops stands the Arcadia Round Barn, a genuine piece of nineteenth-century history built in the 1890s. Truly round barns are rare, and this one, with its curved walls and domed loft, is among the most famous in the country, a striking sight on the flat Oklahoma landscape.

The barn fell into disrepair over the years and was rescued and restored by a group of dedicated local volunteers, who rebuilt its distinctive roof and brought it back to life. Today it is a beloved Route 66 landmark, its loft admired for its graceful woodwork, and it stands as a testament to both frontier craftsmanship and community devotion.

Seeing the two landmarks together captures the layered spirit of Route 66. The round barn belongs to the era before the highway, a working relic of the settlement of the territory, later swept up in the romance of the road as travelers passed by. Pops belongs to the highway's modern revival, built to draw a new generation of road-trippers with a giant, glowing bottle.

That mix, old and new, historic and playful, is exactly what makes this stretch of Route 66 so appealing. Travelers can admire genuine history at the barn and then wander the aisles of soda at Pops, all within a few minutes, a perfect small slice of the Mother Road.

Arcadia lies just northeast of Oklahoma City, making these stops an easy detour for anyone in the metro or driving the historic route. Route 66 runs right through this part of Oklahoma, one of the states with the longest surviving stretches of the old highway, and the road is dotted with vintage motels, diners, and oddities.

This land, like all of central Oklahoma, lies on ground long traveled by Native peoples, and the wider state is home to many tribal nations whose histories shaped it. For the road-tripper, Pops and the round barn make a bright, easygoing pair of stops, one glowing and new, one weathered and historic, both quintessential Route 66.

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