The Weirdest Large Roadside Attraction in Every State

Roadtrippers who love all things weird and wacky, you’ve come to the right place. The U.S. is full of strange roadside attractions; however, they usually aren’t advertised. More often than not, people simply stumble upon these roadside oddities. If you’re planning a cross-country road trip, we’ve compiled a list of stops you won’t want to miss. Best of all, almost all of them are free. To save money on your next vacation, keep reading for the wildest large sights in each state.  

Anniston

Would your desk job be better with a comfier office chair? Miller’s Office Furniture takes things to a whole new level with its colossal office chair. Built in 1981, it weighs over 10 tons and is 33 feet tall. While other chairs have since beaten this chair for the title of the largest in the world, we still think it’s impressive. 

North Pole

Did you know there's a real city in Alaska called North Pole, complete with a Santa’s workshop? That’s right, North Pole, Alaska, has let guests enjoy Christmas all year round for nearly 70 years. It is worth taking a quick detour to see Santa towering nearly 50 feet over the town. Don’t forget to bring your wish list.   

Camp Verde

The legend of Kokopelli is prominent in various Native American cultures. Kokopelli is a hunched flute player said to bring fertility to the land and people. Keep this in mind when visiting this colossal Kokopelli. Does his large size mean increased fertility? The jury is out on that one. If you want to see Kokopeli, you can find him in the Starbucks parking lot on Finnie Flat Road just off Interstate 17.   

Related: 30 Travel Hacks That Will Save You Money

Magnolia

If you’re a barbecue lover, you won’t want to miss this. You could bring all of your friends and family and still have room to spare when cooking on this grill. This grill was last reported to be 90 feet long. The grill is located right outside Big Boys Toys. You can view it as you drive by on Highway 82 or you can pull into the parking lot for a closer look. The owners keep changing the length, but no matter when you visit, it is a guarantee this grill will be enormous. 

Related: Bucket List Barbecue in Every State

McKinleyville

Soaring 160 feet in the air, this totem pole is a must-see in the world of weirdness. According to the plaque it proudly displays it weighs 57,000 pounds and was erected by the Pacific Lumber Co. The strangest thing is that it was constructed in 1962 to honor the opening of the McKinleyville Shopping Center. Most malls are lucky if they get a ribbon-cutting ceremony. 

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Colorado Springs

Be warned, if you are afraid of insects, you might want to skip this one. This massive Hercules beetle fondly nicknamed Herkimer will give you a good scare. Poor Herkimer, who was built in the 1950s, has seen better days. Signs of age, wear, and some cracks now riddle his buggy body. We still think he is worth a visit, though. Herkimer lives on the corner of Highway 15 and Rock Canyon Road, approximately 7 miles off Interstate 25. 

Related: 78 Weird Tourist Attractions Across America

Danbury 

"Larger than life" is an understatement when it comes to this 38-foot-tall symbol of America that stands outside the Danbury Railway Museum. It's said to be the world's tallest Uncle Sam statue.  

Wilmington

This Madonna is truly massive. No, we aren’t weight-shaming the Madonna. She simply stands 32 feet tall and overlooks Interstate 295. If you are traveling to Delaware from New Jersey, she will be the first one to greet you upon your arrival. The Our Lady Queen of Peace statue was dedicated at Holy Spirit Church in 2007.  

District of Columbia

Forget the Washington Monument, you’ve got to see this decked-out former church when in D.C. Alex Brewer, an Atlanta artist, transformed the once-abandoned church on Delaware Avenue Southwest into a colorful work of art in 2012. Now it's an art gallery called Culture House. You can’t miss it as you cruise by on Interstate 395.

Related: Holy Makeovers: 20 Former Churches That Have Been Born Again 

Christmas

People know Florida for its gators, but this is one you wouldn’t want to cross! Swampy, as his friends call him, is 200-feet-and-1-inch long. The Jungle Adventures animal park, which houses Swampy, is keen on not forgetting that last inch. If you feel like taking a longer pit stop, you can even see some real-life gators. But don’t worry, they aren’t as big as Swampy. 

Cumming

Giving directions to their business is simple for Flack’s Flooring Co. Just look for the enormous pink panthers out front. That’s right, Pink Panther and his Mrs. sunbathe just outside the flooring store. Mrs. Pink Panther is even sporting a bright yellow bikini with blue polka dots. It doesn’t get much weirder than that. 

Wahiawa 

The Dole Plantation claimed the title of the world’s largest maze in 2008. It has since been usurped but is still worth a visit. The maze covers over 3 acres and contains 14,000 native Hawaiian plants complete with a huge pineapple in the center. Be sure to give yourself extra time if you plan to meander through the 2½ miles of hedged trails. This maze isn’t for beginners, that’s for sure.  

Lewiston

Canoes are quite large on their own. When you weld 50 of them together, you’ve got some serious size. Christopher Fennell, an Alabama artist, created the 23-foot-tall Canoe Wave sculpture in honor of Lewis and Clark. When you stand next to it near the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers, it’s easy to imagine being swept away into the nearby rivers.

Related: Spectacular Outdoor Art You Can See for Free

Casey

Off Interstate 70, roughly halfway between Indianapolis and St. Louis, the town of Casey may be small, but its wind chimes are anything but. These wind chimes, which tower 55 feet, officially became the largest in the world in 2011. They weigh nearly 17,000 pounds. The best part is, you can even give the wind chimes a jingle yourself. Give yourself extra time in Casey, because there are even more world’s-largest items there.

Centerville

Warm Glow Candles isn’t your average candle shop. It can make over 15,000 candles in a single day in their 80,000-square-foot facility. Oh, and it's home to the world’s largest candle. This gigantic, although not real, candle is almost as big as the shop itself. Travelers also report they have excellent food and clean bathrooms. What’s not to love? 

Related: 50 Tourist Traps That Locals Still Love 

Avoca

The tiny town of Avoca has a big bug, but not just any bug. In a cornfield just off Interstate 80 is a Volkswagen beetle body sitting atop massive spider legs. Travis and Angela Campbell reportedly built the statue as a gift for their father. Not something we would have thought of as a gift, but hey, it’s the thought that counts, right?  

Goodland

Art lovers, this one's for you. Just off Interstate 70 is an 80-foot easel that weighs a whopping 45,000 pounds. It comes complete with a 32-by-24-foot Van Gogh replica. The sunflower painting atop the easel has significance to the locals. Kansas is the “Sunflower State” and Goodland sits smack dab in the middle of the sunflower industry. 

Radcliff

We hate to break it to the people of Radcliff, but a 17-foot-6-inch long pocket knife definitely won’t fit in your pocket. The world’s largest pocket knife has a real steel blade and weighs over 6,200 pounds. It contains all the mechanisms to be a real pocket knife, though. The blade can even open and close with the help of a crane. The owners of Red Hill Cutlery display the knife outside their store on Bourbon Trace just off Joe Prather Highway.  

Rayne

You might not know this, but there is a frog capital of the world. The town of Rayne proudly claims the title. Everywhere you look, you’ll find frogs. There are dozens of frog murals, but the most memorable sight is the enormous Monsieur Jacques. This frog statue is right next to the police station, only a short way off Interstate 10. 

Hancock

In the animal kingdom, it's eat or be eaten. Well, the giant lobster outside Ruth and Wimpy’s restaurant decided to do the eating. The 20-foot lobster is taking down a fishing boat to get his revenge. Don’t forget to stop in for a bite of (much smaller) lobster while you’re visiting. The restaurant is seasonal and only open from spring through late summer, so you may need to time your visit accordingly if you want a meal. 

Related: 20 Amazing Seafood Shacks Across America

Annapolis

Yes, you read that title correctly. If you’ve ever said you would do something when pigs fly, the time has come. The Red Hot & Blue barbecue restaurant has flying pigs on their towering red windmill. As if that wasn’t weird enough, the pigs are also jammin’ on guitars. The restaurant also has excellent reviews, so if you love barbecue, it’s worth a stop. 

Related: Best Hole-in-the-Wall BBQ Joints Across America

Boston

Got milk? This 40-foot structure would hold nearly 60,000 gallons' worth if that was its purpose. Conveniently located near the Boston Children's Museum and the Boston Tea Party Museum, the building originally started in a different town as a roadside stand for an ice cream maker and was later moved to its current location where it houses an ice cream stand.  

Related: 20 Things You Never Knew About New England

Bessemer

When most people think of skiing, they picture the West or the East. Michigan is hardly ever on their minds. But Michigan is second only to New York in its number of ski resorts. It is also home to one enormous ski bum. The skier, who sports retro ski attire, is there to welcome you to Powderhorn Mountain. This resort is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near the Wisconsin border. You can see the ski bum as your drive by on Highway 2. 

Related: 50 Best Small Towns to Visit in Winter

Akeley

Many places claim to be the birthplace of the mythical Paul Bunyan. The small town of Akeley took it one step further by officially declaring it so in 1949, and you can find him there today. Many states have Paul Bunyan statues, but the one in Akeley is special: Bunyan is kneeling and visitors can step onto his outstretched palm. 

Brookhaven

Can you really have too much coffee to start your morning? Coffee lovers will probably tell you, “no way.” The Coffee Pot Inn takes getting caffeinated to a whole new level with their two-story coffee pot on the roof. They originally built the coffee pot in 1931 when the building was a drive-in restaurant. It’s now an official historic site and a source of pride for the townspeople.  

Nevada

This 30-foot-tall morel mushroom used to be an advertisement for a mushroom company. It appears the company has since ceased operations. However, the enormous mushroom remains. This fabulous fungus is quickly becoming overgrown by trees and shrubs. So if you want to see it in all its glory, don’t wait. The magnificent mushroom is located off Highway 71 just 3 miles outside of town. 

Hobson

To see this enormous roadside attraction, you need to time your trip right. Each fall, farmers all along Highway 239 have a hay sculpture contest called “What the Hay.” What started as a joke in 1989 has turned into a beloved tradition. You never know what you’ll see on the Montana Bale Trail. A giant crab, a Medusa head, Pepé Le Pew, and more have made previous appearances.  

Omaha

The folks at Russell Speeder's Car Wash in Omaha wanted to stand out from the crowd. The company mascot, a man wearing a yellow rain jacket, is super-sized outside the store. The giant stands 20 feet tall and slowly rotates to welcome everyone to the carwash. He’s a little creepy, but he certainly catches your attention. You can visit him at the Russell Speeder’s located at 11212 Wright Circle just off Interstate 680. 

Gerlach

The intersection of humankind and nature can produce some pretty remarkable phenomena. Several alien-like cones off of State Route 34 formed when workers attempted to drill wells in the area. They got more than they bargained for as water up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit shot out up to 5 feet in the air. Calcium deposits have created cones that range from 6 to 12 feet tall. 

Related: 35 Stunning Landscapes That Make Earth Look Like Another Planet

Concord

A 92-foot Redstone rocket replica stands in commemoration of the first Americans to launch into space. Production of the real Redstone rockets stopped after the 1960s, but this replica is from 2009. You can see the rocket from Interstate 93, but for an even better view, pull into the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center parking lot.  

Egg Harbor Township

This 20-foot-tall California raisin with an ice cream cone hoisted in the air is more than a little odd. He was originally part of a mini-golf course. When the course closed in the 1990s, the colossal dried fruit moved to its new home at Little’s Dairy Bar. Because of the weird sculpture, locals call the ice cream shop “The Raisin.” 

Related: 20 of the Oldest Ice Cream Shops in America

Las Cruces

Roadrunners, New Mexico’s state bird, frequently run across the highways, but none is nearly the size of this statue. A massive metal roadrunner keeps watch over Interstate 10 in southern New Mexico. The artist made it entirely of recycled material including metal, plastic, and leather. You can see it from the highway between mile markers 134 and 135, or for a better look, pull into the nearby rest area. 

Buffalo

Drinking this massive six-pack of beer is not something we recommend. After all, each can is 100 feet tall. These massive beer cans are home to the RiverWorks Brewing Co., so there actually is beer inside of them. Not only is it a humongous six-pack, but it is probably the most expensive, too.   

High Point

If you hate laundry day, be thankful you don’t have to fold everything in this chest of drawers. The 36-foot-tall drawers complete with two enormous socks are a sight to see. Strangest of all, they are tucked between two houses on North Hamilton Street about 2 miles off Interstate 74. High Point prides itself on being the Home Furnishings Capital of the World, hence the dresser. It also has a long history in the hosiery industry, which is why the socks were included. Clearly, furniture is big business in the Tar Heel State. Not far away in Jamestown, North Carolina, Furnitureland South, which bills itself as the world's largest furniture store, has a facade featuring an 85-foot-tall highboy dresser, but without socks. 

Steele

Kidder County is one of the top birding destinations in the world. Bird watchers get more than they bargained for with a 40-foot-tall sandhill crane statue in one of the local parks. The crane, fondly named Sandy, was reportedly built between 1988 and 1989.   

Cleveland

Located at 70th Street and Carnegie Avenue, this roadside attraction is truly one of the wackiest out there. The 15-foot-tall “Lot Ball” is a giant sphere designed to look like a parking lot. As if that wasn’t weird enough, the artist, Lars Fisk, was inspired to make the piece by his local Costco. It's said he sees everything in the world as a sphere. He reflects this strange feature in his artwork.  

Arcadia

Whether you drive by in the day or at night, this colossal pop bottle is a sight to see. That’s because, at night, the 66-foot-tall bottle lights up. It changes color so you never know what you’re going to see. We also think the 66 feet was a clever design detail since the pop bottle is on Route 66. 

Related: Route 66: Then and Now

Aloha

All aboard. Harvey the giant rabbit is decked out in his sailor’s gear waiting to greet you. This fiberglass rabbit is 26 feet tall and weighs 2,500 pounds. He is outside what used to be a boat repair shop that has since closed. Even so, the town has embraced Harvey, and he isn’t likely to go away. He even holds seasonal decor for most major holidays. You can see him along Southwest Tualatin Valley Highway just over 12 miles outside of Portland.

Duncannon 

Why is there a building-sized purple dragon outside a lumberjack-themed restaurant? According to Roadside America users, the restaurant was previously Burgundy’s Innovative Cuisine. So maybe you could eat dragon there. It seems those days are gone and now the dragon’s presence is just another roadside oddity outside the new restaurant, Lumberjack’s Kitchen. It makes for a fantastic photo-op, though.

Providence

Big might be an understatement for the mascot of Big Blue Bug Solutions. The pest control company is home to a termite that could eat an entire house. The Big Blue Bug stretches out on the roof for 58 feet. It is 9 feet tall and weighs a whopping 4,000 pounds. If you visit near the holidays, you might even see the bug wearing a festive outfit. 

Summerville

The world's largest sweet tea needed a 15-foot-tall Mason jar to hold it all. Most of the “world’s largest” items are simply replicas. Not in Summerville. The townspeople filled this jar to the brim with real sweet tea. The jar, which itself is a replica, held 2,524 gallons of tea to be exact. Summerville set the world record in 2016 on National Iced Tea Day. You can still visit the giant tea in the historic downtown right next to the Town Hall. 

Brookings

It turns out Weary Will is the hobo king of Hobo Day, a homecoming tradition for South Dakota State University students since 1912. Weary Wil, who appeared in the 1940s, became the subject of a 9-foot-tall bronze statue by SDSU alumnus David Anderson in 2011, and was joined by a statue of female hippie, Dirty Lil, in 2013.

Bluff City 

There may not be monsters under the bed, but this home has dinosaurs in the backyard. When Chris Kaster couldn’t afford his own dinosaur sculpture, he decided to make one instead. That led to an entire park complete with more than 50 prehistoric (and life-sized) statues. The first dinosaur is visible from Walnut Grove Road a few miles off U.S. 19E. If you want to enjoy more dinosaurs, you can enter the Backyard Terror's Dinosaur Park and see even more for free. They accept donations to continue expanding the park. 

Amarillo

Celebrated by a Bruce Springsteen song, Cadillac Ranch is one of the wackiest roadside attractions out there. It comprises 10 Cadillacs standing on end with their noses buried in the sand along Route 66 just off Interstate 40. A group of hippie artists installed the Cadillacs in 1974. Since then, the work of art has continued to develop. Visitors may add to the artwork with graffiti, and you can practically smell the spray paint as you drive up.  

Orem

This blender could make one gigantic smoothie. That’s because it is 37 feet tall and even taller than the building behind it. The blender company Blendtec revealed the epic appliance in honor of their founder’s 40th year in the industry. The 3-story-tall blender also serves as the entryway to the Blendtec building. 

Salisbury

Kampy, the Kampersville Campground mascot isn’t your average squirrel. When we spoke with park employees they estimated Kampy to be 10-12 feet tall and said she has been around for at least 40 years. You can find this stylish squirrel off State Route 53 right outside the campground entrance. 

Newport News

The Auto Muffler King repair shop has its own king. The giant king presides over the store from his rooftop perch where he has been since 1965. The Muffler King has a bright yellow crown and cradles a larger-than-life muffler in his outstretched hands. According to updates from the store’s owner on Roadside America, the business has been family-owned since 1957. 

Long Beach

Long Beach has some long chopsticks. At 30 feet long, these chopsticks are said to be the longest in the world. They haven’t been certified by the Guinness Book for World Records so the title is still officially held by a pair of chopsticks in Japan which measure 27-feet-6 inches. That record was set in 2009. In 2010, then high school senior Zhuang Zhuang Zhao, made his senior project chopsticks even longer. He engraved them with “Long Beach Peninsula” in both English and Chinese as a tribute to the town. The Chopsticks are on display in front of Marsh’s Free Museum as you drive by on Pacific Avenue about a mile off U.S. 101.  

Related: 50 Most Beautiful Highway Drives in America

Williamson

Williamson is home to a house made entirely of coal. The coal house, built in 1933, weighs 65 tons and has walls 2 feet thick. The builders harvested all the coal from nearby areas in West Virginia. The strange building isn’t just for decoration, though. Rather, it houses the Tug Valley Chamber of Commerce office.  

DeForest

What is stranger than a roadside elephant? Why a pink, spectacle sporting roadside elephant, of course. The owner of the nearby Shell gas station installed Pinkie the Elephant outside the store in the 1960s. The goal was to draw in more customers and Pinkie certainly seems to be doing the trick. You can even buy Pinkie souvenirs to commemorate this unique experience. You can see this roadside oddity on County Road V just moments from the junction of Interstate 90, I-94, and I-39.  

Afton 

If you ask a kid in Wyoming what they did over the weekend, they might tell you they went “horn hunting.” The city of Afton takes horn hunting to an entirely new level. When you drive into town, you will see the world’s largest elkhorn arch. It spans four lanes of traffic so you can’t miss it. Over 3,000 naturally shed antlers make up the arch, which weighs over 15 tons. 

Related: 30 Stunning Photos of Iconic Landscapes in the American West