All trips

Route 66 On Screen

Drive the Mother Road across New Mexico and stop at the motels, diners, and desert towns Hollywood has been filming for decades — Easy Rider, No Country for Old Men, Wild Hogs, and more.

  1. The crew hotel

    Superman · 1978

    Hotel El Rancho, Gallup

    Start in Gallup. Hotel El Rancho was built by D.W. Griffith's brother and housed John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, and the Superman crew. The rooms are named after the stars who slept in them.

  2. 1 h 15 min drive

    The convenience store

    Logan · 2017

    Laguna 66 Pit Stop

    The roadside convenience store from Logan — where things go sideways for the family. Still open, still on Route 66.

  3. 20 min drive

    The Comanche 66 casino

    Hell or High Water · 2016

    Route 66 Casino Hotel

    The Comanche 66 casino from Hell or High Water. Jeff Bridges plays poker here while Chris Pine robs the bank next door.

  4. 25 min drive

    The picture palace

    Better Call Saul · 2015

    KiMo Theatre

    Downtown Albuquerque. The KiMo is a 1927 Pueblo Deco movie palace — one of the most photographed buildings on Route 66. Better Call Saul filmed here.

  5. 10 min drive

    Motel massacre scene

    No Country for Old Men · 2007

    Desert Sands Motel site (former), Central Avenue

    The motel from No Country for Old Men's massacre scene. Anton Chigurh walks these corridors. The original building is gone but the stretch of Central is unchanged.

  6. 40 min drive

    The mining town (Wild Hogs)

    Wild Hogs · 2007

    Madrid

    Detour south on the Turquoise Trail. Madrid is the biker-bar town from Wild Hogs — a former mining camp turned arts village. Grab lunch at the Mine Shaft Tavern.

  7. 1 h 10 min drive

    Soviet/Cuban command headquarters

    Red Dawn · 1984

    Hotel Castañeda

    Head east to Las Vegas NM. The Castaneda is a restored Fred Harvey hotel that became Soviet HQ in Red Dawn. Recently reopened — you can stay the night.

  8. 3 min walk

    Impromptu parade / arrest for parading without a permit

    Easy Rider · 1969

    Las Vegas Plaza

    Walk to the plaza. Fonda and Hopper rode through here in Easy Rider and got arrested for parading without a permit — both in the movie and almost in real life.

  9. 1 h 30 min drive

    The Route 66 town

    Hell or High Water · 2016

    Tucumcari

    End in Tucumcari — the neon-sign capital of Route 66. Hell or High Water filmed the small-town bank scenes here. Stay at the Blue Swallow Motel for the full Mother Road experience.