Route 666 - The Devil's Highway

I hope you will like the info I research and the facts abour the Devil's highway.Enjoy it.

Evidently, the route was upgraded in 1926 to a U.S. Highway and name Route 666 per the numbering guidelines as the sixth spur along Route 66 by branching off at Gallup, NM. The number was assigned by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO).

Over time the route became known as the "Devil's Highway". This made the highway signs targets for thiefs.

in 2003, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson requested the change to Route 491 as part of his campaign he promised a plan to improve the highway and build relations between New Mexico and the Navajo Nation. Although traditional Navajo culture does not share the belief of 666 being an evil number, some Navajos had attempted for years to change the number as a way to raise awareness about the dangerous highway.There are many tales of people who either disappear along this route or suddenly appear out of nowhere. There are even tales of the same person, disappearing at one point along the highway and then reappearing at another location miles away, without having any recollection of where they have been or what they have been doing."Drive Route 666 at night, and you drive at your own risk," the signs should say. Even in the daytime some of the long, deserted stretches are enough to frighten drivers.

Hence, it being on the news lately. New Mexico was given money by the Federal Government, like most states, and now the Governor says he's using some of that money to repair the highway.

The Route666 highway runs through Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, as well as the tribal nations of the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Features along the route include an extinct volcanic core named Shiprock, Mesa Verde National Park.