Date of Visit: June 26, 2026
Seeing the sign on Navy Pier was not on my original plan for our fall trip of Route 66 because it did not exist when I was making the schedule last summer. Of course, I had since added it to the schedule. However, I also keep finding other new things to add, so when I ended up with a few unexpected days in Chicago, I decided to go check out the different Route 66 begin/start signs and check them off our to do list now.
The Road Starts Here sign at Navy Pier is rather misleading in that Route 66 never went to Navy Pier, but it also never went to Santa Monica Pier where the End of the Trail sign has been for years.
Mom and I walked over and found the sign on our way to get some pizza for dinner at Navy Pier.
Inside Navy Pier there is a Route 66 themed souvenir kiosk, but I found it disappointing because it was pretty much just generic Route 66 things. Actually, overall I found the Chicago souvenir stores disappointing in that most of the Route 66 things were generic and not specific to Chicago or even Illinois. I could not find any Chicago Route 66 themed postcards at the Navy Pier shop or the two places we looked at on Michigan Avenue. I did finally manage to find some Illinois themed Route 66 postcards at a souvenir store on Illinois St.
Above is from when Mom and Dad walked over to check out the sign shortly after it was revealed in March.
See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.
Destination Info:
700 E Grand Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
