This is a past tour. For a list of tours past and present, please see the Tours page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I sign up?
The deadline to sign up for the Official Lincoln Highway 100th Anniversary Tour has passed. We will be organizing more tours in the future.
  1. To register, print out the form, fill it out, and send it in to the address indicated, with your registration fee.
  2. At least one participant in each vehicle must be a member of the Lincoln Highway Association; alternately, a discount membership fee is included on the Tour Registration Form for your convenience.
  3. Once we receive your Tour Registration Form and payment, we will send you a Tour Information Package which will include discount hotel information and your password to access the driving instructions. (The online Tour Maps do not require a password.)
  4. Tote bags, tour shirts, name badges, car decals, and books will be distributed at the Pre-Tour dinners held the evening before we start the tours from New York City and San Francisco. Participants joining the tour after the first day will receive these items when they join the tour.
What does the registration fee cover?
The entry fees for both drivers and passengers include (per person):
  1. Password access to driving instructions
  2. Room rate discounts at the host hotels
  3. Free dinner every evening
  4. Either free lunch or lunch discount, depending on the day
  5. Free continental breakfasts at the host hotels
  6. Entry fee discounts for specific tourist stops along the routes
  7. Official tour tote bag
  8. Official tour shirt
  9. Name badge/events pass
The entry fee for the driver and vehicle includes these additional items:
  1. Two tour logo decals for your vehicle (magnetic or low tack)
  2. One Lincoln Highway Centennial Book written by LHA historian Brian Butko
Will I be able to receive a refund of my tour reservation if I decide later not to go?
Yes. The tour registration refund cut-off date was Wednesday, May 1, 2013 (the same as the registration reservation cut-off date). Any e-mail or US Postal mail request for a tour refund received (not postmarked) by May 1, 2013 was honored.
Will there be family, group, club or senior discounts?
No. Because space is limited on the tours, at the meals, and at the host hotels, we are not able to offer special discounts. Car clubs are welcomed to come, but each person, whether or not they are part of a family, group or club, or a senior, is required to register individually at full price.
Will vehicles be allowed to “tag-along” behind the tour vehicles without paying for the tour?
No. We anticipate heavy participation in our official tours. Tag-alongs will create unanticipated traffic problems and, because of limited space, will be prohibited from participation in any official tour stops or activities. Paid tour participants will be asked to show their tour name badges at all tour stops and activities to receive admission, meals and discounts. The tour stops are special events with only enough space and food planned for the paid tour participants.
How do I make my hotel arrangements?
See our Hotel Info page.
Will there be a tour guide?
Yes. Experienced Lincoln Highway guides Jim Peters and Paul Gilger will be leading the East and West Tours to Kearney, Nebraska. Both know the routes extremely well and will be conducting brief talks at various stops and at each night’s dinner in preparation for the next day’s events.
Will we be travelling in caravans?
  1. Generally speaking, no. In most states, it is illegal for cars to caravan in groups of 5 or more, without a police escort. Also, large caravans are nearly impossible to keep together when traveling through congested areas and business districts.
  2. We highly suggest that during the tour, people join up in small groups of 2 or 3 cars and take turns leading, so that everybody doesn’t have to have their heads buried in the maps all the time, and for immediate help in case of a breakdown.
  3. If you own a set of walkie-talkies, bring them along (with fresh batteries) as you will find them useful communicating with the other cars you’ve chosen to travel with.
  4. Morning stops, lunch stops and afternoon stops will be scheduled over a range of time (about 2 hours each) so that people may travel along at their own leisure.
  5. Dinner stops will be scheduled usually for 7:30 pm, as we want the tour groups to assemble each night to exchange stories of that day’s events and to hear the tour guide’s talk about the next day’s events.
  6. One caravan exception: On Wednesday, June 26, 2013 of the West Tour, we will travel together in one large caravan from Ely, Nevada to Tooele, Utah, which takes us on the original 1913 Lincoln Highway across the deserts of Eastern Nevada and Western Utah, through Fish Springs. The Lincoln Highway in this area is a very desolate gravel road for over 200 miles, with unmarked intersections, no services, and no cell phone reception. These gravel roads are well maintained and are passable by standard 2-wheel-drive cars. But, they are isolated, and if you get lost or stranded, it may be a day or so before another car comes along to help.
  7. For those who have very low-slung vehicles or for those not interested in traveling the original 1913 Lincoln Highway gravel route from Ely to Tooele, an alternate route on the 1928 Lincoln Highway has been set up, going through Wendover and Bonneville, keeping you on paved roads.
What happens if my vehicle breaks down on the tour?
On both the East and West Tours, we will have “Sweep Trailers” pulled by trucks, to carry vehicles that break down to the next available auto repair, as needed.
What types of vehicles are eligible for the tour?
We encourage any type of vehicle from any year – cars, trucks, motorcycles, RVs, rentals, antiques, classics, hot rods, modern, foreign and domestic vehicles are all welcomed. In fact, the more diverse, the merrier. We treat everybody with the same respect and consideration. We have one requirement, that your vehicle is capable of maintaining legal highway speeds, as some portions of our tour will take us onto US Routes 30, 40, and 50, as well as Interstate 80.
How many vehicles will be on the tours?
We have 270 people travelling in 140 vehicles.
Can I do just part of the tour?
Yes. You may join the tour anywhere along the route, but it must be for at least two days. Your “a la carte” entry fee for the two days will cover the cost of the items you receive on your portion of the trip. See the special instruction on the Tour Reservation Form.
What happens when the tours get to Kearney, Nebraska?
  1. The day we arrive in Kearney, Sunday, June 30, 2013, a parade and car show is planned. The tour cars will be featured in the parade and then lined up on the streets of Kearney, by decades, block-by-block, joined by other classic cars. There will be food and music, in the style of each decade, planned by the Festival Committee in Kearney. An evening wrap-up event for both tours is planned at the Kearney Holiday Inn so that the participants from both tours can meet and share stories and photos of their journeys.
  2. Sunday night, June 30 marks the end of the official tours from New York City and San Francisco to Kearney. Discount hotel rates for tour participants will be available that night in Kearney.
  3. If you decide to stay on in Kearney for either the Centennial Celebration or the Lincoln Highway Association conference, your continued discount hotel rates would then be arranged through those events. You can access the information for those events at the Lincoln Highway Association home webpage.
  4. The Official Lincoln Highway Centennial Celebration will be held in downtown Kearney on Sunday, June 30, with formal festivities and an evening gala held at the Great Platte River Road Archway Museum in Kearney on Monday, July 1. Both events are open to the public; however, any fees for the Centennial Celebration are not included in tour fees.
  5. Monday, July 1 is also the start of the annual Lincoln Highway Association conference, to be held at the Kearney Holiday Inn, and lasting until noon on Friday, July 5.
What happens after Kearney, Nebraska?
or: How do I continue onto the other coast?
or: How do I return back where I started?
  1. There are self-guided Return Tours available. The itineraries and driving instructions (requires password) are available on our website.
  2. Unlike the tours from New York City and San Francisco to Kearney, the Return Tours are self-guided, with only the hotel discounts available. No meals, stops, or special events are planned for the Return Tours. The reason is that some people may decide not to stay in Kearney the entire week of the Lincoln Highway conference. Others may also want to use the Return Tours as an opportunity for additional sightseeing, thus putting them on different schedules.
  3. The host hotel discounts will be remain good to paid tour participants for a set period of time (to be determined), but will not remain available in perpetuity.
  4. If you have paid for the original tours from New York City or San Francisco to Kearney (full or partial), then there is no additional charge for your participation on the Return Tours, no matter which one you decide to take.
  5. If you have not paid for the original tour from New York City or San Francisco to Kearney, there is a reduced fee for your participation on the Return Tours, which will allow you password access to the driving instructions, as well as receiving the tote bag, tour shirt, name badge, and car decals.
How do I get a map and/or driving instructions for the tours?
  1. Tour map (does not require password)
    1. For those who prefer printed maps: Before the tours, print out the online maps at whatever zoom level you prefer and assemble a notebook for your use as you travel along.
    2. The maps show the tour routes, tour stops and all of the points of interest, in map, terrain, satellite, and street-level views.
    3. When viewing the map, zoom in close. From far back, the tour routes may look like they are on US Route 30 and Interstate 80 (at times they are), but in fact, many times we are taking the original 1913 Lincoln Highway alignments which parallels these roads on one side or the other.
    4. Each Holiday Inn has a business center if you want to print out more maps along the way.
  2. Tour driving instructions (requires password)
    1. For those who prefer printed driving instructions: Before the tours, print out the online driving instructions and assemble a notebook for your use as you travel along.
    2. The driving instructions give specific turn-by-turn directions.
    3. Each Holiday Inn has a business center if you want to print out more driving instructions along the way.
  3. IMPORTANT NOTE We recommend bringing printed driving instructions.
    1. Many tour participants will be bringing iPads to access the online maps and driving instructions electronically.
    2. However, there are stretches of the Lincoln Highway where cell phones and iPads have no reception, particularly on the West Tour. This makes accessing the online maps and driving instructions through these devices unpredictable while on the road.
    3. Therefore, we highly recommend that you bring printed driving instructions as a backup.
If I have any additional questions, who do I contact?
Please email all questions to the Tour Committee at:

Thank you!