Which US highway is nicknamed the "Mother Road"?

U.S. Route 66 is nicknamed the “Mother Road.”

Established in 1926, Route 66 ran roughly 2,448 miles from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California. It connected communities across the American Midwest and Southwest and became one of the best-known roads in the first U.S. numbered-highway system.

The nickname became especially famous through John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath, which called Route 66 the “Mother Road.” During the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, migrants traveled west along the route toward California, giving the highway an enduring association with hardship, movement, and opportunity.

Route 66 was not the oldest or longest American road, despite its legendary reputation. It was removed from the U.S. Highway System in 1985 after being bypassed by newer interstates. Much of the original alignment survives as Historic Route 66, with preserved diners, motels, gas stations, bridges, and roadside attractions.