Route 66, with enough freedom to leave Route 66

The anchors in the current ChargeQuest template

The full starting set includes Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, and St. Louis. CORE reorders and connects those intentions through usable charging stops based on the trip settings.

That is more than most people need in one loop. The list is meant to show possible branches. A purer Route 66 plan can begin in St. Louis and keep moving west. A larger southern loop can use the extra cities to make the journey round-trip shaped.

• Historic-road spine: St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, Los Angeles.
• Scenic departures: Santa Fe, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas.
• Optional loop builders: Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock, Dallas, Phoenix, San Diego.

Why Grand Canyon changes the route for the better

Grand Canyon is not on the historic alignment, but it is close enough to become one of the trip’s defining choices. It also creates an Iconic Charger badge target at Tusayan. I think that is a worthy detour, provided the schedule leaves time to see the canyon rather than only collect the stop.

From Flagstaff, the route can return west toward Kingman and Las Vegas or continue through other desert parks. This is where the planner should serve your priorities instead of enforcing a rigid theme.

Recalculate for heat, range, and the season you chose

Desert conditions can change practical range and the cost of a delay. Set CORE to your actual Tesla and a conservative range you trust. Then check the live route, road conditions, and charger status close to departure.

This page describes a route idea, not a turn-by-turn itinerary. The actual mileage, time, and charging sequence depend on your start, required stops, travel pace, and current network.

A fixed CORE example, so the numbers have context

To make this concrete, I ran the template through CORE on July 19, 2026 using the same fixed setup for all three examples: Chattanooga start, September 1 departure, 60-day Longest Trip target, Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD, 245-mile practical range, balanced pace, five target driving hours with a 6.5-hour maximum, automatic stays off, and U.S. Superchargers only. The run used 3,146 eligible stations from the Supercharge.info feed.

That run produced the snapshot below for Route 66 and Desert Icons. The relatively light daily average comes from designing a 60-day charging streak, not from claiming the full loop is a 60-day sightseeing itinerary. Park time, city time, weather, and live road routing still belong in the real plan.

Keep exploring

• Start with a road worth remembering
• The Grand Canyon badge belongs on more than a charging checklist
• Unique sites reward coverage, not a pretty line on the map