Amboy, California: The Route 66 Ghost Town With the Sign Everyone Photographs

Amboy, California is a partially abandoned Route 66 town in San Bernardino County, in the Mojave Desert between Needles and Ludlow. It was established in 1883 as the first station in the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad's alphabetical series across the desert. It boomed when Route 66 opened in 1926 and collapsed when Interstate 40 bypassed it in 1973. By 2024, its permanent population had dropped to zero.

01Why Was Amboy Founded?

Amboy began as a water stop. The area had been first settled in 1858 by prospectors and ranchers, but the town itself was established in 1883 by Lewis Kingman, a locating engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (later Santa Fe). Kingman laid out a series of alphabetical station names across the Mojave — Amboy, Bristol, Cadiz, Danby, Essex, Fenner, Goffs, and on across the desert. Amboy came first in the alphabet and first on the westbound rail line.

Each station was essentially a water tower, a siding, and a handful of support buildings. The names were Kingman's whimsy — he reportedly just picked words that started with successive letters. But the stations became permanent marks on the California map.

02The Route 66 Era

Amboy's real prosperity came later, in 1926, when U.S. Route 66 was commissioned. The highway followed the rail line across the Mojave, turning desert railroad stations into highway stops. Amboy suddenly had traffic: motorists needing gas, food, water, and a motel room in an unforgiving desert crossing.

In 1938, Roy's Motel and Café opened. For the next thirty-five years, Roy's and the other Amboy businesses prospered as essential infrastructure for the tens of thousands of travelers crossing the Mojave each year. The 1959 Roy's sign — a boomerang-shaped Googie confection with a massive arrow, neon tubing, and the unmistakable mid-century font — became one of Route 66's iconic visual landmarks.

03What Happened to Amboy?

Interstate 40 opened in 1973, bypassing Amboy entirely. Route 66 traffic collapsed within months. By 1985, most Amboy businesses had closed. By 2000, only a handful of residents and Roy's remained. The 2010 census counted just a few people. By 2024, the permanent resident population had dropped to zero.

Amboy's survival has depended on Route 66 tourism and on the quirks of a single owner. Albert Okura, the founder of the Juan Pollo restaurant chain, purchased Amboy in 2005 for roughly $425,000. He committed to preserving Roy's and maintaining the town as a Route 66 landmark. The sign was restored. The café reopened. Gas is sold again.

04Can You Visit Amboy Today?

Yes — Amboy is a stop on nearly every Route 66 itinerary crossing California. Drive east from Twentynine Palms on National Trails Highway (historic Route 66). Roy's is open for photos, coffee, fuel, and souvenirs. The town serves as an unusual film location (Amboy appears in numerous movies and commercials) and a Mojave Desert waypoint for road-trippers.

Amboy Crater, a young volcanic cone just west of town, is a National Natural Landmark worth the additional stop.

05What Remains of Amboy Today

Roy's Motel and Café is the living core of Amboy. The restored 1959 sign. The café serving Route 66 travelers. A gas station. The buildings behind Roy's — workers' housing, motel units, other services — are preserved but not operational. The railroad still runs through town.