ROUTE 66: SANTA FE TO ROMEROVILLE TOUR
Saturday, September 20, 2025
9 AM - 5 PM

CANCELLATION POLICY
A full refund for the tour will only be given if canceled on or before August 4, 2025. If there is a cancellation after August 4, 2025, the participant(s) will be issued a tax-donation for the amount retained at the Foundation.

ABOUT THE TOUR

From downtown Santa Fe east to Romeroville, join Willie Lambert as he shares the fascinating history of the development of Route 66 while traveling along this storied road. On this tour, Lambert will discuss the history of Route 66, including its original 1926 alignment and the 1937 realignment famously known as “Hannett’s Joke,” a politically motivated rerouting that bypassed Encino and Santa Fe. Traveling mostly on two-lane roads—both paved and dirt—with only a few miles on Interstate 25, the route from Santa Fe to Romeroville often overlaps with the historic Santa Fe Trail. Along the way, the tour will stop at several sites where participants can step off the bus and learn about the rich history of the area.

Lunch will be provided by Historic Santa Fe Foundation. Afterward, the tour continues through or near small New Mexico towns such as Rowe, San Jose, Bernal, Tecolote, and finally Romeroville. This stretch of Route 66 is dotted with a variety of attractions, including town plazas, old churches, defunct bridges, a Civil War battlefield, roadside memorials to veterans, motor courts, general stores, and ranches.

Throughout the journey, Lambert will thread in historical tidbits about the eastern migration sparked by the railroad and later the automobile, which both expanded and eventually diminished the tourism industry along Route 66. He points out spots where he has confirmed or believes the original alignment of the road once ran—some hidden on private land or visible only as faint scars in the landscape. The tour offers a unique opportunity to experience a living piece of American history, blending storytelling with exploration of the communities and landmarks that shaped the iconic highway.

With Route 66 approaching its 100th anniversary, Lambert’s tour is not only a fun and informative journey but also a call to preserve the original road and the communities that once thrived along it. Join us for an unforgettable day tracing the footsteps of travelers past, guided by one of the most passionate and knowledgeable voices dedicated to keeping the spirit of Route 66 alive.

ABOUT THE GUIDE

As former HSFF Executive Director Pete Warzel describes him in the introduction to an interview,“Willie is an abidingly polite man. An itinerant worker his whole life he is obsessed with hischosen task now, on his own time — the documentation of every inch of the famed Route66 in New Mexico.”

Lambert’s research has led him to create numerous journals/binders with hand-drawnmaps of his travels along the difficult alignments through the state. Lambert’s then-and-now photographs from decades of traveling the route along with his personal collection of over 1,000 postcards illustrate the changes in the road. He has driven the extant route ofRoute 66 numerous times, both to the east and west, and is very familiar with the route asit intersects with current roadways.

Lambert has a diverse career background having worked on the railroad, for the U.S. Forest Service, and as a firefighter, bus driver, poker and blackjack dealer, fly tyer and fleamarket vendor. He has created over 30 binders that document his 19 years of exploration of Route 66 and include his personal photography, nearly 500 hand-drawn alignment maps of Route 66, and a significant portion of his collection of over 1000 NM Route 66 postcards. He has resided in Santa Fe, NM for about 50 years.