Amarillo Convention & Visitor Council

The visitor center stocks an extensive range of printed materials covering Amarillo and the broader Texas Panhandle region. The flagship piece is the official Amarillo Route 66 Driving Guide — a multi-page printed booklet covering the full Texas stretch of the Mother Road from Texola at the Oklahoma border (about 100 miles east) through Shamrock, McLean, Groom, Conway, Amarillo proper, Adrian (the official Route 66 midpoint, 50 miles west of Amarillo), and Glenrio at the New Mexico border (75 miles west of Amarillo). The guide includes specific driving directions, attraction descriptions, historical context, and recommended stops for each town.

Beyond the Route 66 driving guide, the center provides specific tactical guides for the major Amarillo attractions — Cadillac Ranch directions and spray-paint tips (including specific guidance on where to buy paint cans in Amarillo, what time of day produces the best photography, and how to access the gravel parking pull-off from various interstate exits), Big Texan reservation guidance (whether reservations are needed, how to time visits around 72-oz challenge attempts, and how to access the free shuttle from various area hotels), 6th Avenue Historic District walking tour maps (with numbered building markers and brief historical descriptions), and Palo Duro Canyon trail maps with hiking recommendations.

Free promotional materials include Route 66 stickers and postcards, Amarillo-branded items (occasionally including t-shirts during specific promotional periods), Texas Panhandle wildlife identification cards, regional event calendars for the next 3-6 months, and various smaller brochures for individual attractions and businesses around the area. The cumulative material from a single CVB visit is genuinely useful trip-planning content rather than disposable marketing fluff.

The most common visitor question at the Amarillo CVB is some variation of "how do I get to Cadillac Ranch?" The center has refined its answer across decades of repetition. The official guidance: Cadillac Ranch is located at 13651 I-40 Frontage Road, about 8 miles west of downtown Amarillo on the south side of I-40. From the CVB, drive west on I-40 for approximately 12 minutes to Exit 60 (Arnot Road), exit the interstate, and follow the I-40 frontage road on the south side. The cars are clearly visible from the frontage road; the small gravel parking pull-off is about 200 yards east of the cars themselves.

Beyond the directions, the CVB provides specific tactical guidance that's not always obvious from online research. Spray paint can be purchased at the Walmart Supercenter on Soncy Road (approximately halfway between the CVB and Cadillac Ranch) or at the Lowe's Home Improvement off I-40 near the western Amarillo exits — both stores stock affordable spray paint in a wide range of colors. Bring water and wear sturdy shoes (the path from the parking lot to the cars crosses an active wheat field and can be muddy in wet weather). Photography is best at dawn or dusk; mid-day light is flat and harsh.

The CVB also provides specific guidance on combining Cadillac Ranch with other Amarillo stops as part of a full-day itinerary. The standard recommendation: morning visit to Cadillac Ranch (8am-10am for dawn photography), drive back to the 6th Avenue Historic District for late-morning shopping and lunch, afternoon at the Amarillo CVB or other downtown attractions, early dinner at the Big Texan with optional 72-oz challenge entertainment, and overnight at the Big Texan Motel or one of the chain options near I-40.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park is the secondary destination that the Amarillo CVB consistently recommends to visitors with more than one day in the area. Located approximately 30 minutes south of Amarillo, Palo Duro is the second-largest canyon in the United States after the Grand Canyon — roughly 120 miles long, 20 miles wide, and 800 feet deep at its maximum. The canyon was carved by the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River over approximately one million years and has become known locally as "the Grand Canyon of Texas."

The CVB provides detailed trail maps and hiking recommendations for the canyon's eight major trails — the Lighthouse Trail (the canyon's signature hike, a 5.75-mile round-trip route to the iconic 310-foot stone column called "The Lighthouse"), the Rock Garden Trail, the Capitol Peak Trail, and several shorter family-friendly options. Park admission is separate from the CVB visit ($8 per adult, free for kids under 12) and is paid at the state park entrance; the CVB provides current pricing and operating-hours information.

For visitors interested in a less-strenuous Palo Duro experience, the CVB recommends the Palo Duro Canyon Scenic Drive — a 16-mile loop drive through the canyon with multiple overlook stops and short walking trails accessible from the road. The scenic drive takes 1.5 to 2 hours including stops and is appropriate for travelers who want the canyon experience without the substantial hiking commitment. During summer evenings (typically June through August), the outdoor amphitheater hosts the long-running "TEXAS" outdoor musical drama — the CVB sells tickets and provides showtime information.

The CVB provides detailed walking-tour maps for the Amarillo Historic Route 66 District along Southwest 6th Avenue between Georgia and Western Streets — the 13-block stretch that's the most intact section of the original 1926-1953 Route 66 alignment through Amarillo. The walking tour map identifies all major buildings with their original Route 66-era business histories, marks the most photographable neon signs and murals, and includes recommendations for specific shops, restaurants, and live music venues along the corridor.

Beyond the walking-tour map, the CVB stocks individual brochures for specific 6th Avenue businesses including the Golden Light Cafe and Golden Light Cantina (the oldest continuously-operating restaurant on Texas Route 66, opened 1946), Antique Mall 6 (the district's largest antique shop, 8,000 square feet of multi-vendor space), various vintage clothing shops, and the live music calendar for the Golden Light Cantina and other district venues. The cumulative material from a CVB visit equips visitors to navigate the 6th Avenue district efficiently and find specific shops or events of interest.

The CVB staff are particularly knowledgeable about live music scheduling at 6th Avenue venues — the Golden Light Cantina alone hosts four to six nights of live music per week, and matching your visit timing to a specific show requires either the published calendar or the kind of insider staff knowledge that the CVB provides. Texas country, Americana, blues, and singer-songwriter acts rotate through the district's venues; the CVB can recommend specific shows or genres depending on your interests.

For Route 66 road-trippers continuing east or west from Amarillo, the CVB provides comprehensive driving guidance for the broader Texas Panhandle stretch of the Mother Road. Eastbound travelers heading toward Oklahoma encounter Conway, Groom (home of the 190-foot Cross of the Wheatlands), McLean (with the preserved Devil's Rope Museum and the restored Phillips 66 station), Shamrock (with the iconic U-Drop Inn / Conoco station from the Pixar Cars movie), and Texola at the Oklahoma border — roughly 100 miles east of Amarillo.

Westbound travelers heading toward New Mexico pass Vega and reach Adrian, the official Route 66 midpoint — Adrian is exactly 1,139 miles from both Chicago and Santa Monica, making it the geographic center of the Mother Road. The Midpoint Cafe in Adrian is the iconic Route 66 midpoint photo stop and serves a famously-good "Ugly Crust Pie." Continuing west, travelers encounter Glenrio at the Texas-New Mexico border (about 75 miles west of Amarillo) — a substantial Route 66 ghost town with preserved 1940s and 1950s commercial buildings on both sides of the state line.

The CVB also provides driving guidance for non-Route 66 Texas Panhandle destinations including Palo Duro Canyon State Park (30 minutes south), the Don Harrington Discovery Center (downtown Amarillo, a science museum popular with families), the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum (Amarillo, the official QHHA institution), and various smaller attractions across the broader region. For visitors with multiple days in the Panhandle, the cumulative CVB-provided guidance covers a substantially more comprehensive itinerary than any single online resource.