This monument marks one of the most evocative crossings on all 2,448 miles of Route 66: the Lake Overholser Bridge, a 1924 structure that not only lets you drive the Mother Road, but float under it.

Here, at the western border of Bethany and Oklahoma City, the highway rises over the North Canadian River–an ideal spot to explore where the city ends and plains begin to open wide on the journey west. It’s also one of the greatest points of the Mother Road to ponder one of American literature’s greatest masterpieces.

Lake Overholser Bridge: Dust Bowl Icon

Built in 1924, this 748-foot steel-truss bridge crossing the North Canadian River became part of the original 1926 alignment of Route 66. At the time, this marked the primary route west, used by thousands of Dust Bowl migrants including the first-night stop of the fictional Joads from John Steinbeck’s legendary The Grapes of Wrath. 

In the 1939 novel, Steinbeck wrote of the Joads’ journey to California that “they went through Bethany and out the other side” and found a spot to sleep by a culvert in a ditch, where “Grampa” suddenly has a stroke and dies. As Tom Joad writes at his makeshift gravesite, “his fokes buried him becaus they got no money to pay for funerls (sic).”

Steinbeck didn’t visit here, but it is tempting to imagine the grounds below Route 66 before this bridge marks the spot.

Paddling the Mother Road

Beyond literary and historic connections, Lake Overholser was created as Oklahoma City’s first water reservoir in 1919, getting its name from Henry Overholser, a local businessman and booster who helped give the city its first streetcar system and opera house. It’s been a great stopping point at least since 1946, when Jack D. Rittenhouse wrote in his iconic A Guide Book to Highway 66, “many tourists pull over to the side of the road here for a short rest in the shade, while they watch the water.” More recently, the lake has become part of Oklahoma City’s public waterways that are slated to make a cameo in the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Just south, along the western edge is the Lake Overholser Boathouse, which has a cafe and kayak rentals for exploring the lake. Best is passing under the bridge into the dense waterways of Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge, which encompasses nearly 1,000 acres of protected wetlands and forest filled with waterfowl, songbirds, deer, squirrels, and the occasional otter or turtle. There are also a couple of hiking trails to take in the scene from the oak and sycamore-lined riverbanks. (It’s easy going, but can get muddy after rains.)

At the boathouse, you can rent kayaks from March through October or sign up for the Saturday morning “kayak paddles,” which includes kayak rental, a guide, and a post-paddle coffee. Check the website for details on the trips, which are offered on many Saturdays from late May through early November.

Another rewarding walk is a mile south of the boathouse at the southeast corner of the lake, where you can walk across the 1,258 foot–long Overholser Dam. The structure was built in 1916 and centered with a quaint brick-walled pumphouse. On the lake’s west side is the alluringly named Route 66 Park, with plenty of vantage points to look over the water.

Lake Overholser Boathouse:

visitokc.com/listing/lake-overholser-boathouse/1124/

riversportokc.org/faqs/lake-overholser/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=313046098

Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge:

travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.16210

Saturday kayak paddles: riversportokc.org/adventures/group-paddle-excursions/

Airways over Route 66

Northeast of Lake Overholser sits Wiley Post Airport, named for the first aviator to circle the globe solo (Wiley perished with Will Rogers in a crash in Alaska in 1935).

The airport, which serves over 50,000 flights a year, was once home to the Aero Commander, an aircraft company that produced the twin-engine Blue Goose prototype in 1948 which made headlines when it flew from here to the nation’s capital. The feat impressed President Dwight Eisenhower enough to add one to his fleet. You can see a restored Blue Goose on display at Bethany’s Eldon Lyon Park.

Wiley Post Airport:

flyokc.com/wiley-post-airport/

Big City Borders

Incidentally, as you drive through this part of Route 66, you might notice you’re passing from Oklahoma City to Warr Acres and Bethany and… back into Oklahoma City, before reaching Yukon west of the Kirkpatrick Turnpike. The uniquely jagged boundaries of Oklahoma City resulted from the city’s high-energy annexation program in the 1950s, which saw the metropolis expanding from 80 square miles to nearly 500 square miles by the early 1960s.

At more than 620 square miles today, Oklahoma City’s sprawl fully envelops communities like Bethany, making it one of the USA’s largest cities by area.

More Information

Two miles east of the bridge, downtown Bethany is an ideal spot for more exploration, with eateries, vintage shops and murals to see. Check out our article on Bethany/Warr Acres for more options.

City of Bethany: cityofbethany.org

Visit OKC: visitokc.com