Methods, systems, and computer readable media for managing the flow of signaling traffic entering a signaling system 7 (SS7) based network having a plurality of gateways for connecting the SS7 network to a non-SS7 network are disclosed. According to one aspect, a method for managing the flow of signaling traffic entering the SS7 based network includes generating, at a signaling node within the SS7 network, a route management message including information for identifying one of the plurality of gateways as the preferred gateway for traffic into the SS7 network. The message is sent to a node in the non-SS7 network for directing traffic into the SS7 network via the identified gateway.