Everything OddWay knows about. Narrow it down by what you're after, or where you're going.
Giant objects, odd monuments and things built for no clear reason.
New Orleans, LA
Dark Matter specializes in taxidermy, wet specimens, fossils, Victorian ephemera, medical objects and macabre art. Inventory changes constantly, but the shop remains one of the French Quarter's most concentrated cabinets of curiosities.
Arlington, VA
Artist Nancy Holt designed Dark Star Park as Arlington's first county-commissioned public artwork, and it was installed in 1984. Its concrete spheres, tunnels, poles and carefully placed shadows form a strange astronomical landscape, with a famous annual alignment occurring around 9:32 a.m. every August 1.
Florence, OR
A short boardwalk enters a bog filled with cobra lilies, carnivorous plants whose hooded leaves trap insects and give the site an almost alien appearance.
Davenport, IA
A glass-enclosed pedestrian bridge projects toward the Mississippi River and offers elevated views of the waterfront. Its curved, futuristic shape makes it one of downtown Davenport's most unusual pieces of public infrastructure.
Newark, OH
More than a thousand northern white cedars planted beginning in 1942 form enormous letters spelling out DAWES ARBORETUM across the landscape. Visitors can walk near the hedge and climb the arboretum's observation tower for a better view, with entry subject to the arboretum's current admission and operating hours.
Fulton, IL
A full-size working Dutch windmill built in the Netherlands and reassembled on the Mississippi Riverfront, complete with traditional milling machinery.
Kuna, ID
BLM overlook above the Snake River Canyon within the Birds of Prey conservation area, with a short interpretive trail and dramatic basalt cliffs. Stay behind barriers and on signed paths.
Sisters, OR
A lava-rock observatory built by the Civilian Conservation Corps sits in the middle of an immense black lava field, with viewing ports aimed at Cascade peaks.
Worcester, MA
In 1840, miller and Millerite believer Solomon Parsons Jr. carved a roughly 215-word deed into a boulder declaring ten surrounding acres conveyed to God. Parts of the inscription remain legible along trails in the city-owned God's Acre conservation land.
Gladstone, ND
A herd of towering metal deer appears to leap over a fence along the Enchanted Highway. The sculpture is one of Gary Greff's oversized prairie scenes built to turn the road to Regent into a destination of its own.
Bloomfield, KY
Inspired by Cadillac Ranch, Linda Bruckheimer planted ten John Deere tractors nose-first in a field north of Bloomfield in 2020. The machines progress from older to newer models and are intended as a tribute to the area's farming history; a roadside pull-off allows legal viewing without entering the private field.
Tucson, AZ
Artist Ted DeGrazia built this adobe gallery complex with desert materials, murals and an intentionally rough handcrafted aesthetic. The chapel, gallery rooms and surrounding cactus landscape feel like a self-contained artist-built village.
Seligman, AZ
Juan Delgadillo built this eccentric Route 66 drive-in from scrap lumber in 1953 and surrounded it with visual jokes, signs and deliberately corny gags. The family-run stop became one of Seligman's defining pieces of roadside culture.
Moab, UT
Utah's most recognizable freestanding arch stands alone on a sandstone fin above a natural bowl. The full trail is exposed and strenuous, while a separate viewpoint offers a lower-intensity option.
Wisconsin Dells, WI
Sandstone cliffs, narrow channels, pillars and side canyons line the Wisconsin River north of the tourist district. Much of the most dramatic scenery is easiest to see from the water, while protected natural-area lands require visitors to respect access rules.
Meridian, MS
A rare 1895 Dentzel menagerie carousel housed in its historic carousel building and long operated as a public attraction in Highland Park. As of September 2026 Visit Meridian lists the carousel as temporarily closed for renovations, so keep it in the database as `limited` until reopening is confirmed.
Denver, CO
A specialist museum devoted to dollhouses, miniatures, dolls and toys, with exhibits that compress domestic spaces and entire scenes into tiny scale. It is a niche collection rather than a general children's museum.
Detroit, MI
A former below-grade railroad corridor has been converted into a public greenway lined with large murals and layers of Detroit street art. The unusual sunken route lets walkers and cyclists move through the city inside what feels like a long outdoor graffiti gallery.
Des Moines, IA
Miles of enclosed pedestrian bridges connect downtown buildings above street level, creating a second indoor circulation network through the city. The system can feel like navigating an elevated maze through offices, hotels and parking structures.
Parker, AZ
A remote solar-powered bar built in the desert outside Parker is reached by an unpaved road and surrounded by recycled structures, metal art and a church-like facade. It operates seasonally and road conditions matter, making it a check-ahead destination rather than an ordinary restaurant stop.
Yucca Valley, CA
Dozens of large white concrete biblical figures stand across a desert hillside in an outdoor sculpture environment begun in the 1950s.
Freeport, ME
A broad expanse of exposed glacial sand sits unexpectedly among the forests of Freeport, creating one of Maine’s strangest landscapes. Despite the name, it is not a true climatic desert; the unusual sand deposit became a long-running roadside attraction.
Jacumba Hot Springs, CA
A stone observation tower and maze of hand-carved boulder figures overlook the Imperial Valley from the old highway above Interstate 8.
Grand Canyon Village, AZ
Mary Colter designed this 70-foot stone tower to resemble ancestral Southwestern architecture while functioning as a dramatic Grand Canyon overlook. Interior murals and the layered masonry make it one of the park's strangest constructed landmarks.
