Clinton: Discover Route 66 and Parks

Clinton brings together the history of Route 66 and several parks. To choose what to visit, you can start by deciding whether you are most interested in the road’s historical development and its buildings, or would rather focus on nature trails and recreational activities. Both perspectives are part of Clinton’s character. The Route 66 Museum, the historic Y Service Station and Café, and the parks each offer a different focus; these distinctions can help you plan your stay around your interests.

Route 66: Museum, Road Alignment, and Architecture

The Oklahoma Route 66 Museum offers visitors a personal journey through the history of Route 66. Rotating special exhibitions add to this perspective and focus on the Route 66 experience. The museum is in Clinton, at Interstate 40, Exit 65. For travelers considering Clinton in relation to Interstate 40, its location is a useful landmark.

The Y Service Station and Café highlights a historic road junction. It was built in 1937. At this location, Tenth Street followed Route 66: the route turned west there, while U.S. Route 183 headed south. The building was designed in the Southwestern Mission Revival style and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

The two places offer different perspectives: the museum focuses on Route 66 as a subject, while at the Y building, the year it was built, its architecture, and the historic road alignment come together in a specific location. If you want to understand the road’s history, you can distinguish between its thematic presentation and its local alignment.

Parks: Historic Projects and Activities

At McLain Rogers Park, historic projects and recreational activities sit side by side. The park is home to several historic WPA projects. Its outdoor amphitheater has 400 seats and is one of only two remaining amphitheaters of its kind in Oklahoma. The park also has an 18-hole miniature golf course.

Acme Brick Park has a different focus: a nature trail, ponds, and a train ride. The one-mile nature trail loops around ponds in the park; there are also two ponds stocked for fishing. The C. P. Huntington replica takes visitors on a ride that is also one mile long, across a bridge over the lake and through a dark tunnel. Although the two routes are the same length, they are quite different: the trail loops around the ponds, while the train ride crosses the bridge and goes through the tunnel.

Restaurant in Clinton

The family-owned Route 66 Cafe at The Market serves classic American dishes. If you plan to visit, check the menu and operating details beforehand, as they may change.

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