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.
Avery Island, LA
A centuries-old Buddha statue sits unexpectedly among subtropical gardens, bamboo and wildlife on Avery Island. The shrine is inside ticketed Jungle Gardens and should be treated as a contemplative site rather than a prop.
Fairfield, OH
Jungle Jim's is a massive international grocery store that doubles as a roadside attraction, filling its aisles with oversized decorations, animatronics, themed storefronts and deliberately bizarre displays. Travelers can shop normally while finding features such as singing characters and the famous faux portable-toilet entrance to the restrooms.
Memphis, TN
Elvis Presley's Jungle Room is an aggressively themed interior of green carpet, carved furniture, faux-waterfall décor and 1970s excess. It is accessible only as part of authorized Graceland admission rather than as a separate room visitors can enter freely.
Marshfield, WI
Clyde Wynia builds whimsical metal creatures from scrap and presents them as the fossilized remains of extinct creatures from the fictional Jurustic Age. Dragons, insects and impossible animals fill the outdoor property in a mix of sculpture and deadpan mythology.
Mount Tremper, NY
The Kaatskill Kaleidoscope is a roughly 60-foot silo converted into an immersive walk-in kaleidoscope at the Emerson Resort in Mount Tremper, not Shokan proper. It opened in 1996, and visitors today buy admission to stand inside while projected imagery and sound transform the silo interior.
Lake Powell, UT
This thick, relatively young natural bridge rises above White Canyon and bears nearby rock art and archaeological evidence. A strenuous trail reaches the span.
Columbus, GA
A roughly twenty-foot-tall fiberglass cow that once advertised Kinnett Dairies survives as a beloved Columbus landmark. The giant bovine has been moved and restored over the years, but the city continues to preserve her as a piece of local roadside identity.
Lānaʻi City, HI
The rusting hulk of a World War II-era concrete-hulled vessel sits offshore from Lānaʻi's north coast, giving Kaiolohia its modern Shipwreck Beach name. Reaching the area generally requires high-clearance or four-wheel-drive travel, and strong currents make it unsuitable for swimming.
Alpena, MI
This giant Paul Bunyan figure was assembled from pieces of old Kaiser automobiles, turning car fenders and body panels into a northern Michigan folk hero. The roughly 30-foot sculpture now stands at Alpena Community College as a particularly literal combination of auto history and roadside giant.
Oracle, AZ
The Mediterranean-Revival Kannally Ranch House stands unexpectedly in high-desert ranch country and preserves rooms, artwork and family history from an early twentieth-century cattle operation. It is the architectural centerpiece of Oracle State Park.
Kansas City, MO
The parking garage of the Kansas City Public Library is disguised behind a row of enormous book spines selected with community input. The oversized titles turn an otherwise utilitarian downtown structure into one of Missouri's most recognizable pieces of literary street architecture.
Elkhart, KS
A survey marker identifies the point where Kansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma meet. Reaching it requires rural roads near the edge of all three states, making the stop as much about standing on an abstract boundary as seeing a monument.
Benson, AZ
A living cave discovered in 1974 was kept secret for years while plans were developed to protect its delicate formations. Guided tours reveal enormous rooms and active mineral growth under strict conservation rules.
Cochiti Pueblo, NM
Cone-shaped volcanic hoodoos and a narrow slot canyon form one of New Mexico's most distinctive landscapes. In 2026 visitation requires advance reservation and Cochiti Pueblo/BLM access procedures; travelers must follow the official route rather than GPS shortcuts through tribal land.
Boone, IA
A massive railroad bridge spans the Des Moines River valley near the site associated with Kate Shelley's famous 1881 rescue story. The current bridge remains active railroad infrastructure, so OddWay travelers should view only from lawful public locations and never enter the tracks.
ʻEleʻele, HI
Wave-tumbled glass mixed into dark shoreline sediment records an unusual afterlife of discarded material near Port Allen's industrial coast. Conditions vary with tides and storms, and visitors should not remove remaining glass or wander into adjacent industrial/private areas.
Hilo, HI
A county park stairway descends into a lava tube created by the 1881 Mauna Loa flow. Only the publicly accessible sections should be explored; passages extend beneath mixed ownership, lighting is absent, footing is rough, and flashlights and head protection are sensible.
Lānaʻi City, HI
Wind and erosion have exposed a barren field of red, orange, and purple rock towers and boulders in northwestern Lānaʻi. The remote road is rough and conditions can shift after rain; this is a landscape stop for suitable vehicles, not a place to drive off established routes.
Kelso, CA
A restored Spanish Colonial Revival railroad depot stands almost alone in the Mojave Preserve, interpreting the vanished rail community that once surrounded it.
Washington, DC
A surviving tidal-marsh landscape and historic water-garden complex filled with lotus and water lilies inside the city limits.
Merritt Island, FL
Forest of historic rockets and missiles displayed vertically like technological monuments.
Kenova, WV
What began with a handful of carved pumpkins in 1978 has grown into an annual display covering the historic Griffith house and grounds with roughly 3,000 jack-o'-lanterns. It is a private residence transformed into a public attraction around Halloween, so this should only route travelers during the seasonal display.
Alexandria, LA
Kent House preserves one of central Louisiana's oldest surviving Creole plantation dwellings along with reconstructed and moved outbuildings. Tours interpret building methods, household life and plantation labor.
Frankfort, KY
Dedicated in 1961 behind the Kentucky State Capitol, this functioning clock uses a massive planted face that changes with seasonal flowers. The mechanism moves oversized hands across the living display while coins tossed into the pool below help support horticultural scholarships.
