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Tijeras, New Mexico: Route 66 Musical Road

RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report

Address:
Route 66, Tijeras, NM
Directions:
West of town. I-40 exit 170, then drive east about 3.5 miles on Hwy 333/Route 66. Between mileposts 4 and 5, shortly after Route 66 crosses to the south side of I-40. The road is only musical driving eastbound. Look for the "pass with care" sign and a spray-painted spot on the road where the music begins. The rumble strip is narrow and easy to miss with your tire.
RA Rates:
Worth a Detour
Save to My Sights
Route 66 Musical Road

Paid for by the National Geographic Channel for its series, "Crowd Control," in 2014, the road plays part of "America the Beautiful" -- but only if you travel the speed limit: 45 mph. Signs removed and maintenance stopped in 2020, but it's still there, although easy to miss.

Roadsideamerica.com Report...

Visitor Tips and News About Route 66 Musical Road

Reports and tips from RoadsideAmerica.com visitors and Roadside America mobile tipsters. Some tips may not be verified. Submit your own tip.

Route 66 Musical Road

This attraction is still very much there. I drive over it at least once a week. The sign that used to signal the start is gone, although there is a "pass with care" sign that is almost exactly where the other sign was. The tire-width rumble strip is hard to see and easy to miss with your tire, but someone spray painted directly in front of the spot where it starts on the road, so look closely for that. You can only experience it going eastbound, and if you see a slightly more obvious tire-width section of rumble strip, you just missed it. That section also plays a small tune, but it's not America the Beautiful.

[Jessica Jakubanis, 12/28/2023]
Route 66 Musical Road, No More

Sadly, only two small pieces of the tune still remain at the very end of this song path. The road has been largely redone and paved over. We just drove down it on July 5, 2023, knowing exactly where it was (or had been) and how it worked. Sad to see this one go.

[Sarah berryman, 07/21/2023]
Route 66 Musical Road

Went through in June of 2023, followed the tips and directions, and nothing was there. It looked like there was a section that was part of it, but it seems to have been patched over.

[Dawn, 06/30/2023]

The "music" lingered as of March 2023, a barely visible path of grooves cut into the road just inside the white edge line on the right. A long stretch of Route 66 would have to be paved over to get rid of it.

Route 66 Musical Road

So neat! Still there as of December 2022 and worth visiting. Must be traveling Eastbound; between markers 4 and 5.

[Courtney Perez, 12/17/2022]

Nearby Offbeat Places

X-Ray MuseumX-Ray Museum, Albuquerque, NM - 4 mi.
National Museum of Nuclear Science and HistoryNational Museum of Nuclear Science and History, Albuquerque, NM - 7 mi.
Atomic CannonAtomic Cannon, Albuquerque, NM - 7 mi.
In the region:
Rattlesnake Museum, Albuquerque, NM - 14 mi.

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