Byways annual Great American Roads issue features Route 66, The Mother Road, in California, Arizona and Oklahoma. This 2,448-mile, two-lane blacktop road transported Dust Bowl migrants to California during the 1930s, eager WWII GI’s and their war equipment in the 1940s, and swarms of tourists seeking to discover America during the 1950s.
The National Road is less well known, but played an equally significant role in the growth of the U.S. It is often called the road that built the nation. We focus on the 164-mile leg in Illinois.
Many a song has been written and sung along the back roads of America. So it is no surprise that travel, roads and music are intertwined in so many parts of the country. We follow 4 music trails throughout the South. There’s much more in this issue of Byways!