Description
This new issue of JRNY America travels the full length of America’s most myth-laden highway and far beyond it.
From the centenary of Route 66 and the stories it still carries, to desert wilderness, cowboy highways, neon-lit nostalgia and the histories too often left untold, Issue 6 explores the American road trip as both cultural icon and living landscape.
Across Arizona, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada and New Mexico, this issue blends epic drives with intimate places, big skies with small-town stories and classic Americana with deeper context from Indigenous histories and Black travel experiences to evolving cities and fragile desert ecosystems.
Cover Feature: The Total Guide to Arizona’s Route 66
Our definitive 22-page guide to the 385 miles of Route 66 that cross northern Arizona. From the badlands of the Painted Desert and the fossilised forests near Holbrook to the mountain town energy of Flagstaff and the desert curves of Oatman and Topock, this is the most detailed, practical and atmospheric guide yet to the state’s stretch of the Mother Road including towns, itineraries, classic motels, diners, photography stops and the weird and wonderful roadside icons that still define it..
What’s in this issue:
The road that still connects America – As Route 66 turns 100, we follow the highway from Chicago to California, exploring how this battered ribbon of tarmac still stitches together a divided nation, politically, culturally and emotionally. A journey through diners, murals, monuments and contradictions that asks what the Mother Road really means in 2026.
Black lives, white lines and The Green Book – A powerful examination of the realities Black travellers faced on Route 66, from sundown towns and segregation to the vital role of The Green Book in making travel possible and safer. A necessary counter-narrative to nostalgic Americana.
The Mother Road in Missouri – A richly detailed journey along Missouri’s stretch of Route 66, from the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge and the Gateway Arch to Cuba’s murals, Devils Elbow, Springfield and Joplin, tracing the small towns, diners, neon and landscapes that give this section its soul.
Tulsa: The Capital of Route 66 – A city profile of Tulsa as both historic crossroads and modern cultural hub where Art Deco architecture, food, music, LGBTQ+ life and new creative institutions sit alongside vintage neon and Route 66 lore.
The Cowboy Corridor, Nevada – Veer north of Route 66 and follow the Humboldt River across Nevada’s vast interior through ghost towns, mining history, Indigenous heritage and some of the most quietly dramatic landscapes in the American West.
Time, heat and pressure – Joshua Tree National Park – A lyrical, immersive portrait of Joshua Tree as a place of stillness, resilience and fragile beauty, where geology, ecology and human history converge under vast desert skies.
Neon nights in New Mexico – From Tucumcari to Albuquerque, a celebration of neon as folk art, science and cultural memory and the communities working to preserve the glowing symbols of mid-century roadside life.
Nearly a grand – Palo Duro Canyon, Texas – A deep dive into America’s second-largest canyon: its geology, Indigenous history, hiking trails and why it’s one of the most rewarding natural detours off Route 66.
A taste of the heartland – Kansas – From the legendary Z-Man sandwich to bierocks, burnt ends, chilli and cinnamon rolls, this is a journey into the flavours shaped by migration, agriculture and community along America’s plains.
Plus much more in this Route 66 special issue of JRNY America.
