What's with Santa Monica? Santa Monica is where America's road runs out — the beach city at the end of Route 66, wrapped around a wooden amusement pier over the Pacific. It is the Westside's front porch: bluffs and palms above a wide state beach, the Ferris wheel turning on sunlight, and the sign every road-tripper drives two thousand miles to photograph.
Then the century's greatest road arrived. Route 66 was commissioned in 1926, carrying the country west from Chicago through eight states — and in 1936 the route was extended to Santa Monica, bringing America's Main Street to the edge of the continent. Dust Bowl migrants, GIs, vacationing families in station wagons: for decades the road delivered the nation to this beach, and the "End of the Trail" sign on the pier now marks the ceremonial finish line of the most famous drive on Earth — the official historic terminus sits a few blocks inland at Lincoln and Olympic, a fine piece of trivia for the road-trippers who made it all the way.
Why People Visit Santa Monica
Santa Monica rewards visitors with a rare mix — a historic amusement pier, the western end of Route 66, miles of state beach, and one of America's great walking downtowns, all on a bright Pacific bay. People come for the pier and the End of the Trail, and stay for the sunsets off the bluffs and the easy, salt-aired grace of California's beach city.
