This is an interesting place to make a quick stop at to see the history about Route 66, especially since the route is turning 100 years this year. The people in there were very nice. It's a small place, but there are two other small museums in that lot to check out, too. read more

See all

What a fun stop! This is a small and well-curated collection that includes photos, cars, and antique appliances like washing machines, stoves, and refrigerators. There's a cool gallery at the end with Route 66-themed photography and artwork. We enjoyed it! Plan on about 30-60 minutes. There's a restroom. Located inside the old train station, ground floor on the other side from the railroad museum. Plenty of free lot parking. read more

See all

Museum is now OPEN again (since March 2025). Definitely worth a stop for Route 66 fans. Period memorabilia, FIFTY covers of the Route 66 song, friendly curator. read more

Route 66 Mother Road Museum - Museums Near Me - Barstow, California

See all

Nice stop as a side attraction with the Harvey House aka Amtrak station around the corner. Fans of Route 66, please stop by and help to buy some souvenirs to help the volunteer run the part time museum on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10-3pm. Like their social media says call to confirm or check social media if they updating the website. Small Museum packed with a lot of stuff. Lots of stuff crammed into gift shop. A Route 66 fan will be excited about this place. There's a video station in the back to watch some documentaries on Route 66. They sell DVDs, books, model cars, patches, stickers, shirts and etc. See some nice old trains outside this area and see real trains coming into the station as it's passing by. This is the benefits of doing road trips to see strange things on the roadside that you can't do by airplane. Amtrak does stop at this Harvey House station and if you have time you can check both this little Museum right behind the Harvey House and upstairs in Harvey House is a detailed NASA Museum. read more

See all

Located in the back of an old Harvey House building, this was a fun place to stop while going through Barstow. It pays a great tribute to the Mother Road, with lots of vintage stuff on display. They have a great gift shop as well, so take plenty of $ for souvenirs! The people (assuming they were volunteers) working there were nice and helpful. read more

Route 66 Mother Road Museum - selfie time - Museums Near Me - Barstow, California

Barstow is full of hidden gems if you know where to look for them. The Route 66 Mother Road Museum is one of them. To be honest, the museum is not technically on Route 66. It isn't far, though. It is located in the historic Harvey House, Casa de Desierto just up the road from 66. Its a free museum packed full of memorabilia from the glory days of the Mother Road. Plus some local history as well. Its a pretty cool place. There is also a solid gift shop here sort of melded into the front of the museum. Fair prices on most things that I saw. Like $4 for a shot glass. Not bad at all. I actually skipped the glass today and bought a fridge magnet. They had some cool T-shirts and license plates too. Good stuff. There are two other "museums" on site but this is the one with the most to see. The other two did not offer enough for me to review on their own but I will mention them here. There is a train museum and a NASA Goldstone space museum. Check them out if you stop by the Route 66 museum. Just don't expect much. read more

After spending an inordinate amount of time getting to the museum on August 31st at 11:05am, we discovered that no one was there. The place was locked up. No one answered the door and when I called the number no one answered and the voice mail system was not operational! Is it any wonder the place closed down once before?!! If you arent' going to be open on any of the regular days could you at least post that on your internet page?? I was both disappointed and angry. There were at least 4 other cars of people who came to see your exhibits and had to leave because you weren't open!! Shame on you! read more

Pleasant stop. Extremely gusty and windy outside at times. Free public parking lot in front was widely available. No heavy traffic. Small place, but very walkable inside. Feels low key. It doesn't feel crowded or popular during weekdays. One good size public restroom inside. It totally surprised me and I'm sure others have experienced something similar. The restroom was quite spacious, very organized, and well maintained. It even had a window. Comfortable visit. Great quality experience too. Lots to see. Route 66 is filled with historic sites and goodies if people take the time to relax and walk around. Owners are genuine and passionate. If you want to see some pieces of history on display, then definitely stop by. Antiques, collectibles, gifts, souvenirs, books, awards, cards, photographs, etc. There's something for everyone here, especially if you like California history and landmarks. The place is as good as it looks, as shown in my photos shared. I saw nice tote bags, military canvas bags, sweaters, hats, coins, flags, candy jars, tin cans, and more. Nice gift shop with very wide selections in products for this niche market. Military friendly town. Old veterans are common in the area. The layout inside was fascinating as it really is a tiny museum as you walk down the halls. Old gas pump was present. Absolutely loved it. Toy model of a drive-in stop was perfect on display. This is definitely a place for old collectibles. Unique. American vintage and California classic. Takes you back in time if you care to appreciate what it offers. Interesting place to stretch out during long road trips for sure. Not far from highways. It doesn't hurt to come back for the next restroom break next time. Good vibes. read more

See all

This is a fun place to explore for a few hours along with the railroad museum next door. The trip from Victorville taking Route 66 instead of I-15 is very pleasant and easy. The museum isn't on Route 66 but it is close by. The museum is in the building where the Harvey House used to be. Around the corner is the railroad station. There is a display inside the museum which describes the Harvey House and its long history with the railroads. There are so many interesting displays related to Route 66. This is not a big museum but has more than enough to see to make it very interesting. The adjoining gift shop will take a while to peruse so allow time for that. All in all, I get some nice, old energy vibes from this place and would have very much liked to have been around to have experienced the railroad station and the Harvey House during its heyday. read more

Recently Reopened Mother Road Museum in Barstow, CA is exhibiting Route 66 memorabilia, antique automobiles and a new Rt 66 Photo gallery showing photos from all along the route. read more

Sadly this place in Barstow is now closed. All the items have been sent off to other museum in the area. Victorville has a nice museum.

Vrooooom Small museum up in barstow by the harvey house. Has a small gift shop. The site itself is cluttered with artifacts, signs, paper clips, a mustang, couple old motor bikes and a pinball machine. Good for kids. Calling it mother is a stretch. Location: A 10 min from I-15. Roads/Parking: A Plenty and free. Cost: A Free. Overall: A Nothing to travel thousands of miles for. Ideal if your commuting to/from vegas or to/from grand canyons to so cal. Notable nearbys: Located at the Harvey House. Train museum and planet exhibition is walking distance. Back way to Big Bear, Morongo/Palm Springs and Fort Irwin. Nearby up the street is the Discovery/Geology Museum, Mojave River Museum and Historic DT Barstow where Roy's cafe and bunch of Rte 66 signs are. Barstow also has a huge outlets that is famous for Asian tourists. Safe traveling. Shameless IG plugs to check out: Cigar IG @cigarcpa. Food IG @cleeshyun. Travel IG @travelingtaxman read more

See all

Went for a visit here on 12-4-21 and enjoyed looking at the displays. The volunteers are very helpful and nice. This is a no cost museum so please support them by making a donation or purchasing some souvenirs. read more

See all

My review is based on one experience of in-store shopping, and two experiences of on-line shopping. My purchases were two coffeecups, two cloth patches (one with white background, one with pink background), and two small metal medallions each in the shape of a typical highway route sign. The cloth patches are in the shape of a highway route sign, and in large print say "BARSTOW CA U.S. 66." The website for doing on-line shopping is this: www dot route66museum dot org MY TWO COFFEECUPS FROM THE MUSEUM STORE. One of my cups is tan-colored with a huge drawing of a highway route sign with this writing inside the sign, "GET YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE 66" and with a row of half-inch tall colored pictures at the bottom of the cup. These pictures show, a teepee, Airstream house trailer, rabbit with antlers, gas station pump, sign reading, "66 MOTEL REASONABLE RATES," a 1956 Corvette Stingray, a round-bottom coffee cup filled with coffee, and a sign with a picture of a hamburger and an arrow, where the arrow contains the writing, "DRIVE IN." I bought this cup during my visit in 2011, when I was employed at a law firm in Orange County. My other coffee cup is called, "RETRO ROUTE 66 MUG." Today, I bought this mug from the on-line store. The mug has images in gray, black, and white, of a Corvette Sting Ray, a 1956 Chevy convertible, a 1930's roadster, and big writing, "MOTHER ROAD." MY OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT MOTHER ROAD MUSEUM. My in-store shopping experience was on a day when I visited Red Rock Canyon during most of the morning, and when I stopped at the museum during my afternoon drive to Mojave Preserve to the east. I have traveled 8 times to Red Rock Canyon State Park (160 miles to the northwest of Barstow) and twice to Mojave National Preserve (100 miles to the east of Barstow) for exploring and photography. Attached to my YELP review are a few of my photos from Red Rock Canyon. My point here, is that if you are planning a trip to Red Rock Canyon or to Mojave National Preserve, you should include a visit to Mother Road Museum as part of your trip. ITEMS AVAILABLE FROM THE ON-LINE STORE. Over a thousand items are available, and these are organized into the following groups: (1) Books and guides, (2) Maps, postcards, posters, calendars. (3) DVD's and CD's. One of the CD's is a compilation of songs that mention Route 66. Also, there are separate compilations of rock'n'roll for each of the years, 1956 to 1972. (4) Cups, mugs, spoons. (5) Hats, caps, bandanas. (6) Magnets and clips. (7) Key chains, lanyards, pins. (8) Bags, luggage, purses. (9) License plates and license plate frames. (10) Stickers and decals. (11) Metal signs, most about 12 inches wide. Half of these are shaped like a highway route sign, and most of these route signs say, "ROUTE U.S. 66." One of these signes is modified with smudges of orange paint that look like areas with rust. The rust marks look like real rust. THE APPEAL OF ROUTE 66. Route 66 is a national icon. When I was a kid growing up in California, I listened to renditions of the song, "Route 66," by Them (with Van Morrison) and by the Rolling Stones. My rock'n'roll band, Fellowship of the Ring, had a repertoire of 70 songs, and half of these were Rolling Stones songs, including Route 66. More recently, I watched the movie, THE FOUNDER, which is a biography of Ray Kroc and how he started the McDonald's restaurant chain. Route 66 plays a part in this movie, and Ray Kroc's character explains to the McDonald brothers that he took Route 66 from Chicago all the way to San Bernardino for visiting the McDonald brothers. read more

See all

The museum was closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday, so this review is only for the trains outside. They have about maybe 8-10 old trains display outside the museum. Kids and kids alike may climb up the trains and take lots of pictures! It's a fun little stop for families! read more

I give this an extra star - FOR PAIN! Wow - come here to see how the interstate highway destroyed an entire community. The ghosts of past business and a good life are everywhere on this strip of dead roadway. If you can stomach it - eat at one of the diners. The ancient waitress will tell it all. read more

had so much fun! my boyfriend and I meet in Barstow every once and awhile as we live in Cali and Nevada so it's the perfect middle spot! And the workers are so nice! read more

This museum was very informative. It was FREE! The place is small and cozy but it's definitely worth the trip. They have the Harvey House and the Railroad Museum all next to eachother and they are free as well. There's a really cool gift shop inside. My son, husband and I enjoyed ourselves! read more

See all

This was a pretty neat small museum. There was a lot of cool stuff out in the racks and they had a few rooms worth of stuff to look at and plenty of cool souveneers you could buy. It's free to get in, so that's a big plus, and you can see a lot of old west stuff out on display here. I went to a museum in Kingman that was bigger than this but this is the next best Route 66 museum I've seen, and it was probably a tie for the best museum in Barstow. Come check it out, it won't take long and you won't be dissappointed, and the train museum is right next door. read more

This is a diamond in the rough great exhibits with great people to give great information to those who stop by.

I went to the Route 66 Mother Road Museum in Barstow, CA on 1/16/2015. It was my 1st time there. Route 66 started in Chicago, IL and ended in Santa Monica, CA. Barstow was a stopping point on Old Route 66 and this museum does a good job in honoring Barstow's contribution to that era. read more

Set next to the railway track, in what use to be a Harvey House, it's a lovely museum about Railroad history. It is free entrance, they do ask for a donation, but up to you to pay what you choose. Its easily done, ( I would say I move at a slightly faster than average pace) in less than a hour. I needed my guy to explain what many of the tools and engine parts were. It is connected to the Route 66 museum which was a trip down memory lane for the over 50 crowd. There are about 12 old train cars to walk around outside and look at. A beautiful old building, and interesting history lesson. read more

Is an amazing museum lots to see. A good look at history of Route 66 Barstow and of course the historic Harvey house that houses this great museum. read more

Loved it. Lots of super-cute exhibits. I spent too much on books in the gift shop. I enjoyed talking to the proprietors.

They have a lot of nice pictures of historic Barstow and Route 66, but typos prevail on the explanatory signage. I found it interesting halfway through, but then it dawned on me that many of the exhibits are just old junk with tags. It's worth a visit if you're looking to use up time, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it. read more

I wouldn't go out of my way to get here. But if you're on Route 66 you'd have to stop.