America’s weirdest and most wonderful roadside attractions
Across the U.S., along highways and backroads, are attractions that range from the oddly charming to the downright puzzling. They’re the kind of stops that make you slow down, take a closer look, and wonder how they ended up there. This list brings together 50 of the most unusual ones worth checking out.
The Thing; Dragoon, Arizona
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Ever cruised through the Arizona desert and wondered if you’d spot something unexplained? Off I-10, “The Thing” teases drivers for miles with billboards before revealing a mummy-like mystery locked in a glass case. It’s part of a quirky roadside museum that’s been puzzling and entertaining travelers since the 1960s.
Giant Artichoke; Castroville, California
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If you’re craving something weirdly delicious, stop in Castroville, where a 20-foot concrete Giant Artichoke marks the so-called “Artichoke Capital of the World.” Built in 1948, it’s been a selfie magnet and veggie-lover icon ever since. Marilyn Monroe was once crowned Artichoke Queen here.
Salvation Mountain; Niland, California
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Salvation Mountain is Leonard Knight’s lifelong labor of love—literally. He spent decades covering a hillside in bright paint, religious messages, and folk art. It’s bizarre, beautiful, and biodegradable in spots. Seriously, even the hay bales are painted.
Giant Campbell’s Soup Can; Fort Collins, Colorado
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One might not expect a towering can of tomato soup outside a graphics company, but here it is—hearty and over 30 feet tall. This Giant Campbell’s Soup Can was once used to store water for firefighting. Andy Warhol would approve, and so would your Instagram.
The World’s Largest Beetle; Colorado Springs, Colorado
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Above a building in Colorado Springs, the World’s Largest Beetle is a massive sculpture of a Hercules beetle perched on top of a bug museum. It’s 40 feet long and captures attention with lifelike detail and immense scale. This roadside attraction celebrates entomology with a surreal twist.
Swetsville Zoo; Fort Collins, Colorado
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Thanks to one man’s wild imagination, this metal menagerie of welded scrap animals stands proudly on a former cornfield. The ironic Swetsville Zoo features dinosaurs, spiders, and fantasy creatures made from old car parts. It’s funky and whimsical, and sadly, it’s now closed to the public, but plenty of folks still sneak peeks from the roadside.
Lifesize Sperm Whale; West Hartford, Connecticut
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Yes, a full-sized sperm whale is breaching from a parking lot at the Children’s Museum. This concrete behemoth is Connecticut’s official state animal, which explains the tribute. Locals lovingly call him “Conny.” He’s been there since the 1970s and might be the only whale visible from traffic.
World’s Biggest Beagle; Dog Bark Park Inn, Cottonwood, Idaho
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If sleeping inside a 30-foot-tall beagle sounds like your kind of road trip quirk, you’re in luck. The Dog Bark Park Inn doubles as a bed and breakfast and a giant beagle-shaped building. Created by two chainsaw artists, it’s the ultimate pup-themed pit stop.
The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle; Collinsville, Illinois
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This giant, 170-feet high bottle isn’t full of ketchup, but it once disguised a water tower for a condiment company. It was built in 1949 and is quirky Americana at its sauciest. Locals spell it “catsup,” and they host an annual festival complete with a ketchup queen.
World’s Largest Ball of Paint; Alexandria, Indiana
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This roadside attraction started as baseball and is now a dripping, rainbow-streaked orb weighing over 4,000 pounds. A man began painting it for fun decades ago and never stopped. The World’s Largest Ball of Paint lives in its shed and continues to grow. Visitors can even add a layer themselves.
World’s Largest Ball of Twine; Cawker City, Kansas
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Started in 1953 by a man with time and a lot of twine, this roadside champ now weighs over 20,000 pounds and still grows every year. Cawker City hosts an annual Twine-a-thon where locals add more layers.
World’s Largest Baseball Bat; Louisville, Kentucky
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Lean back, and you’ll still struggle to fit the whole 120-foot aluminum bat into one photo. This colossal Louisville Slugger replica beside the Louisville Slugger Museum is hard to miss. It weighs 68,000 pounds and pays homage to America’s favorite pastime. The museum is also genuinely awesome.
Paul Bunyan Statue; Bangor, Maine
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Bangor swears it’s Paul Bunyan’s birthplace, and they’ve got a towering 31-foot statue to back the claim. It was built in 1959 and even survived Stephen King’s imagination by popping up in “It” as a creepy cameo.
Jolly Green Giant Statue; Blue Earth, Minnesota
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At 55 feet, this green colossus stands proudly with its hands on its hips, overlooking Interstate 90. It was created in 1979 to honor the town’s connection to the Green Giant brand and has been standing here since. You’ll find it near a gift shop that sells peas.
Garden of One Thousand Buddhas; Arlee, Montana
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This peaceful garden is filled with exactly 1,000 hand-cast Buddha statues arranged in a circular mandala. It was built on an Indian reservation by volunteers and Tibetan Buddhists. Even non-believers admit it’s serene and surreal.
Carhenge; Alliance, Nebraska
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This is Stonehenge, but made of cars. Carhenge features vintage autos painted gray and arranged in the same formation as the ancient stone site. It was built in 1987 by a man honoring his dad, and has become Nebraska’s most wonderfully odd landmark. It’s open 24/7 and free.
Seven Magic Mountains; Las Vegas, Nevada
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You’ll spot them from the highway: seven stacks of neon-painted boulders rising from the Mojave Desert. Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone created them in 2016. These bright, vibrant stone towers make zero sense, and that’s exactly why people love them.
The Largest Chili Pepper in the World; Las Cruces, New Mexico
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Spicy pride gets big in Las Cruces, where a 47-foot-long bright red chili pepper of 2.5 tons of concrete stretches across the sky. New Mexico takes its chiles seriously, and this fiberglass monster proves it. The sunsets behind it are chef’s-kiss perfect.
World’s Largest Pistachio; Alamogordo, New Mexico
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This 30-foot-tall pistachio nut stands outside McGinn’s PistachioLand, built in memory of the farm’s founder. It’s goofy, charming, and surrounded by real nuts, too. You can take a nut-themed tour, eat pistachio ice cream, and leave wondering why more states don’t sculpt their snacks.
Four Corners Monument; Shiprock, New Mexico
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There’s something hilariously satisfying about standing in four states at once. At Four Corners Monument, your limbs can stretch into Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona simultaneously. The actual marker’s been debated for accuracy, but hey—bragging rights are bragging rights.
Enchanted Highway Sculptures; Regent, North Dakota
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What do giant grasshoppers, massive pheasants, and a towering Tin Family have in common? They all line North Dakota’s Enchanted Highway. These world’s largest scrap-metal giants were built to draw traffic to a tiny and otherwise open town, and they succeeded.
World’s Largest Basket; Newark, Ohio
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This is a seven-story building shaped like a picnic basket with handles. The World’s Largest Basket is different and elegant for something so ridiculous. The building measures 192 feet long and 126 feet wide at the base and 208 feet long and 142 feet wide at the roofline.
Mr. Potato Head Man; Pawtucket, Rhode Island
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This grinning spud stands 15 feet tall outside Hasbro’s former HQ, arms outstretched and mustache gleaming. The gigantic Mr. Potato Head was the first toy ever advertised on TV, and Pawtucket takes that legacy seriously. Locals affectionately call him “Big Spud.”
Parthenon; Nashville, Tennessee
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A full-scale replica of Athens’ Parthenon sits smack in the middle of Nashville. It was built in 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial Expo, and is as dramatic and unexpected as it sounds. There’s even a massive gold Athena statue inside.
Cadillac Ranch; Amarillo, Texas
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Ten Cadillacs buried nose-first in a Texas field make up this roadside art piece, which has become a graffiti lover’s paradise. Visitors and passersby bring spray paint to leave their mark. It was originally installed in 1974 and is covered in layers of highway history.
Demon of Corpus Christi; Corpus Christi, Texas
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This metal demon statue lurks in a mechanic’s yard and has become a roadside legend. With red eyes and massive horns, it looks like it escaped a heavy metal album cover. It’s staring down every passing driver while holding a pitchfork made of aluminum beer cans.
World’s Largest Cowboy Boots; San Antonio, Texas
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Standing 35 feet tall outside North Star Mall, this pair of boots is wildly oversized, delightfully Texan, and weirdly stylish. Made of concrete and rebar, they’ve been strutting their stuff since 1979. At night, they even light up. Locals swear they’re good luck if you high-five the heel.
Prada Store; Marfa, Texas
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In the middle of the West Texas desert, a pristine Prada storefront appears like a mirage. It’s, however, not real. It’s a permanent locked art installation stocked with right-foot shoes and lonely handbags. After being built in 2005, it’s become a surreal photo stop and the most fashionable fake store you’ll ever not shop at.
Fremont Troll; Seattle, Washington
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Under a bridge in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood lurks a massive cement troll gripping a real VW Beetle. He was built during the 1990 Halloween, and has become a beloved local oddball and selfie must. His one good eye glares at you, but it’s moodier than mean. People decorate him for holidays, and he even wears scarves.
Mothman Statue; Point Pleasant, West Virginia
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The Mothman Statue honors the local legend of a red-eyed cryptid said to haunt this town. It’s part of a larger Mothman mania that includes a museum and annual festival. With wings spread and abs of steel, it’s the superhero West Virginia never asked for.
World’s Largest Six-Pack; La Crosse, Wisconsin
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You’ll spot it from a distance: the world’s largest six beer tanks painted to look like La Crosse Lager cans. Each “can” holds 350,000 gallons of brew. Installed outside the City Brewery, it’s both absurd and oddly celebratory. Locals joke it’s the only six-pack you won’t finish in one weekend. Or ten.
Lucy the Elephant; Margate City, New Jersey
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Lucy, initially named “Elephant Bazaar,” is a wooden elephant-shaped building originally created to sell real estate. Today, it’s a quirky national landmark you can walk through. With its long lashes and howdah on top, Lucy is eerie, proud, and the queen of Jersey’s roadside royalty.
The Beer Can House; Houston, Texas
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John Milkovisch didn’t want to mow his lawn, so he covered his entire house in flattened beer cans, over 50,000 of them. It started in the 60s and became a shimmering monument to aluminum and personal style. Even the fences and wind chimes are beer-themed.
The UFO Watchtower; Hooper, Colorado
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In the San Luis Valley—known for UFO sightings—you’ll find a raised metal platform, alien-themed decorations, and hundreds of unfamiliar visitor offerings. The UFO Watchtower is part observation deck and part remote shrine. Even if you’re a true believer or just tagging along, this place makes stargazing feel slightly more extraterrestrial.
The Shark Girl Statue; Buffalo, New York
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Shark Girl is impossible to ignore. She was originally created by artist Casey Riordan Millard in 2013, but was moved to Buffalo after outgrowing her gallery life. Locals were confused at first, then fell in love. It is now one of the city’s most photographed figures.
The Toilet Seat Art Museum; San Antonio, Texas
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Over a thousand toilet seats, decorated with photos, quotes, or trinkets, line the walls of this garage-turned-gallery. Barney Smith, a retired plumber and true creative, created the collection over decades. Some seats commemorate birthdays, and others include tributes to Michael Jackson.
The World’s Largest Crayon; Easton, Pennsylvania
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At the Crayola Experience, you’ll find one massive blue crayon, officially named “Bluetiful.” It’s 15 feet long and weighs 1,500 pounds. It’s made from leftover bits of regular crayons, holds the title of World’s Largest, and is displayed in a glass case.
The World’s Largest Chest of Drawers; High Point, North Carolina
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High Point is big on furniture, and nothing proves it more than this 38-foot-tall dresser with two giant socks hanging out of the drawers. It was built in 1926 and later revamped. It’s a marketing gimmick and civic pride. Visitors stop for the novelty but stay for the selfies.
The Giant Rocking Chair; Casey, Illinois
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Casey has a thing for big stuff, and their rocking chair stands over 56 feet tall. Certified by Guinness, it’s surrounded by other oversized objects like pencils and pitchforks. You can’t climb it, but you can gawk. It looks like it belongs to a friendly giant with serious front-porch goals.
The Museum of Clean; Pocatello, Idaho
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This isn’t an average mop-and-bucket showcase. The Museum of Clean explores the concept of cleanliness in everything from homes to habits. It spans 75,000 square feet and includes old vacuums, vintage toilets, and art installations about clean living. Even the air feels fresher somehow.
The Blue Whale of Catoosa; Catoosa, Oklahoma
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Though originally built as a surprise anniversary gift, this giant blue whale now lounges in a pond along Route 66, welcoming road-trippers. It once served as a swimming hole. Kids played here in the ’70s, and now it’s all about nostalgia and selfies.
The World’s Largest Frying Pan; Rose Hill, North Carolina
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At 15 feet across, this giant frying pan once helped cook up thousands of chicken legs at town festivals. Now it’s permanently displayed in a small park to honor the area’s poultry heritage. If you’ve ever dreamed of a pan big enough to feed a county, here it is.
Bigfoot Statue; Remer, Minnesota
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Remer calls itself the “Home of Bigfoot,” and they’ve got the statue to prove it. This hairy sentinel attracts fans of the legendary cryptid year-round. There’s even a Bigfoot Days Festival. Snapping a photo with Sasquatch is practically a requirement.
The World’s Largest Talking Cow; Neillsville, Wisconsin
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Chatty Belle, a 16-foot-tall fiberglass Holstein cow, greets visitors with pre-recorded moos and dairy facts. It was built for the 1964 World’s Fair, and now stands proudly at a Wisconsin visitor center. Push a button, and it’ll talk to you.
Jimmy Carter Peanut Statue; Plains, Georgia
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A 13-foot peanut monument with a giant Jimmy Carter smile welcomes visitors to his hometown. The monument was created during his 1976 presidential campaign in reference to his former career. The statue’s toothy grin is either endearing or nightmare fuel, depending on your angle.
The Giant Peach Water Tower; Gaffney, South Carolina
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Drivers along I-85 often do a double-take when they spot what looks like a giant peach mooning the highway. This 135-foot water tower holds over a million gallons and is shaped and painted like a peach, complete with stem and dimple. Locals lovingly call it the “Peachoid.”
The Giant Penguin; Cut Bank, Montana
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In this chilly Montana town, a 27-foot-tall concrete penguin stands with a thermometer claiming it’s the “Coldest Spot in the Nation.” The towering bird is more cheerleader than statue and celebrates the town’s frosty fame. Tourists flock here for photos, even in summer. It’s probably the happiest penguin in the continental U.S.
The Big Duck; Flanders, New York
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This 20-foot-long duck-shaped building was initially built in 1931 by duck farmer Martin Maurer to sell ducks and eggs. It helped popularize “duck architecture”—apparently, that’s a thing. The eyes are tail lights, and you can still walk inside to buy souvenirs.
Magic Forest Theme Park’s Giant Uncle Sam; Lake George, New York
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This massive Uncle Sam statue once watched over a now-closed amusement park filled with fairy tale characters. Though Magic Forest is gone, the monument remains and points toward the sky in star-spangled style.
Giant Soda Cans; Allentown, Pennsylvania
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What’s better than one oversized soda can? A stack of them outside the former A-Treat Bottling Company. These towering steel cans showcase old-school soda brands and serve as a bubbly tribute to local fizz history.