Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center

The visitor center stocks a generous range of printed materials at no charge. The flagship piece is a Lebanon Route 66 driving guide that maps the original highway alignment through town, identifies surviving landmarks, and includes brief descriptions and contact information for each major stop. A separate city map shows downtown Lebanon along with major attractions, restaurants, lodging, and parking areas. Brochures from individual businesses fill a rack near the entrance, including materials from Munger Moss, Wrink's, the museums, Dowd Distillery, and most major restaurants.

A separate section focuses on the wider Laclede County and Ozarks region, with materials on Bennett Spring State Park (just minutes north of Lebanon and famous for trout fishing), the Niangua River for kayaking and float trips, and various agritourism and craft destinations in the surrounding countryside. Travelers extending their Lebanon stay into a multi-day Ozarks visit often discover regional attractions they had not previously known about by browsing these materials at the chamber.

Event calendars covering the current month and the upcoming season list car shows, music festivals, holiday events, and Route 66 community gatherings throughout Lebanon. The 2026 Centennial year will feature an expanded calendar with monthly programming from April through October. Pick up the latest event calendar even if you are passing through quickly, as the events scheduled during your visit may align serendipitously with attractions you would not otherwise have known were happening.

The visitor center staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and genuinely interested in making your Lebanon visit successful. Common questions they handle daily include: which Route 66 attractions are open today, which restaurants are most family-friendly, where to find the best photographs of vintage neon, how to reach Bennett Spring State Park, where to find a pharmacy or hardware store, and how to navigate to specific addresses. Staff carry city directories and can phone businesses on your behalf to confirm hours or check for availability if needed.

For travelers planning multi-day visits, staff can help build personalized itineraries based on your interests, the number of days available, and any specific landmarks you want to prioritize. They can recommend whether to book the Munger Moss versus the Holiday Inn Express based on your preferences, suggest the best order in which to visit the various museums and attractions, and warn about any seasonal closures or construction projects that might affect your plans. This level of personalized service is one of the genuine advantages of small-town tourism infrastructure over what major urban destinations provide.

Travelers with specialized interests can often be connected to local experts. For instance, photographers seeking specific historical sites can sometimes be put in touch with society museum volunteers. Genealogists researching family connections to Lebanon Route 66 businesses may be referred to library archives or society oral histories. Motorcycle and classic-car groups planning organized rides can coordinate route advice and group lodging through the chamber. Whatever your specific question or interest, asking at the visitor center is almost always more productive than searching online for the same information.

The chamber visitor center maintains standard weekday hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Saturday visits can usually be arranged by appointment with a phone call in advance to 417-532-6655. The center is closed on Sundays and on major federal holidays, so travelers arriving on weekends should plan to use the chamber's online resources at lebanonmissouri.org instead, where downloadable maps and a complete business directory are available.

Located at 186 North Jefferson Avenue in downtown Lebanon, the visitor center is easily found from any direction. From Interstate 44 take Exit 130 and follow signs north to downtown, or from the old Route 66 alignment along Elm Street simply turn north on Jefferson and watch for the chamber building on the right. Parking is free both directly in front of the building and on adjacent downtown streets. The center is fully accessible at ground level for visitors using mobility aids.

If you arrive in Lebanon outside chamber hours and need basic visitor information, several other resources work well. The Munger Moss front desk keeps a stack of Route 66 maps and is happy to provide recommendations to non-guests asking politely. The library museum stocks similar materials during its longer evening hours Monday through Thursday. And of course, smartphones with internet access can pull up the chamber's online resources at any time. But for the best, most personalized Lebanon orientation, time your visit to coincide with chamber hours and start your trip with a stop at the visitor center.