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.
Burlington, CO
A 1905 Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel with hand-carved animals and its original band organ, preserved on the eastern plains. It is a National Historic Landmark and still operates for riders during its public season.
Manistique, MI
Michigan's largest freshwater spring is a brilliant emerald pool about 40 feet deep, constantly replenished by thousands of gallons of clear groundwater. Visitors cross the spring on a hand-operated observation raft that provides views of trout, submerged trees and the bubbling bottom.
Eminence, MO
Klepzig Mill is a small historic turbine mill beside Rocky Creek in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The remote structure, shut-ins and creek setting create a strong backroad OddWay stop, but access roads can be rough after bad weather.
Washington, DC
I. M. Pei's East Building forms a 19.5-degree marble prow so sharp and tactile that architecture fans have turned the corner into a minor pilgrimage site.
Knoxville, TN
A vintage downtown weather kiosk preserves an era when public instruments displayed temperature and atmospheric information on the street. It is an easy-to-miss piece of civic technology surrounded by modern Knoxville.
Kokomo, IN
KokoMantis is a giant praying mantis assembled from salvaged industrial material, including World War II-era fuel pontoons and recycled traffic-light poles. The roughly 17-foot-high sculpture stands downtown at Washington and Sycamore Streets and is one of Kokomo's most recognizable modern roadside oddities.
Grand Canyon Village, AZ
The Kolb brothers built their photography studio directly on the canyon rim at the head of Bright Angel Trail, where they documented early tourism and river expeditions. The precarious-looking building now contains exhibits and a shop.
Hastings, NE
A large Kool-Aid Man figure outside the Hastings Museum turns the city’s claim as the drink’s birthplace into an easy public photo stop. It works well as a quick OddWay pin paired with the museum’s deeper Kool-Aid exhibit.
Troy, MT
A pedestrian suspension bridge above the Kootenai River near a broad series of powerful natural falls. The trail can be icy or hazardous in bad conditions.
Kernersville, NC
Artist and designer Jule Gilmer Körner created this wildly eccentric house as a showcase for his interior-design work. Its rooms differ dramatically in size and style, with odd stairways, decorative experiments, unusually low and high ceilings, and a private theater built into the house. Location source: https://www.wikizero.net/wiki/en/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Forsyth_County%2C_North_Carolina
Bethany, CT
The Kriz family’s enormous horseshoe pile is the accumulation of generations of farrier work, with the current pile begun after a 1955 flood washed away an earlier collection. It was moved to the Kriz Farm in Bethany in 1978 and continues to grow, but it is on a working private farm rather than a public roadside attraction, so visitors should not enter without permission.
Chitina, AK
The narrow former Copper River & Northwestern Railway bridge carries McCarthy Road high over the Kuskulana River gorge. Its early twentieth-century steelwork and exposed setting make the crossing itself one of the road's most memorable historic artifacts.
Anacortes, WA
The concrete-and-steel remains of the former schooner La Merced survive as a stationary breakwater at a working waterfront. View only from lawful public areas; the hulk is not an abandoned ship to board or explore.
Winslow, AZ
Mary Colter designed this elaborate railroad hotel as a romanticized Southwestern estate for Fred Harvey and the Santa Fe Railway. Restored rooms, art and active tracks preserve the strange overlap between luxury tourism and rail infrastructure.
Grants, NM
One of New Mexico's largest natural arches cuts through sandstone at the edge of El Malpais. A short BLM trail reaches the viewpoint without requiring travelers to cross fragile lava terrain.
Rhyolite, NV
Dr. Hugo Heyrman’s pixel-like cinder-block Venus rises from the Goldwell sculpture grounds as a deliberately anachronistic desert figure.
Anacortes, WA
This large waterfront figure depicts a woman carrying a ship, blending Anacortes's maritime identity with oversized public sculpture. It stands outside and can be viewed without entering a building.
Orlando, FL
Giant partially buried human figure appearing to emerge from the ground beside Lake Eola.
Lake George, NY
Stand on the marked X behind the Lake George Visitor Center and speak toward the lake; your voice returns as a strange focused echo that people standing only a few feet away may not hear the same way. The free public spot has accumulated both acoustic explanations and supernatural folklore and remains physically marked in Blais Park.
Lake Havasu City, AZ
Dozens of functioning lighthouse replicas line the lake and island shoreline, each modeled after a real American lighthouse. The desert setting makes the miniature maritime landscape deliberately surreal.
Lakehead, CA
A boat ride, bus climb and guided underground tour lead to large limestone chambers high above Shasta Lake.
Chocolay Township, MI
Artist Tom Lakenen has filled a large wooded property east of Marquette with more than 100 sculptures made largely from scrap iron and industrial leftovers. Visitors can walk or drive through the free outdoor art park at any hour, encountering everything from humorous figures to political and environmental pieces.
Minneapolis, MN
An ornate Byzantine-inspired chapel glitters with millions of mosaic pieces inside Lakewood Cemetery. Visitors should treat both the chapel and surrounding graves as active memorial spaces, checking cemetery access and any current chapel hours before entering.
Knowlton Township, NJ
Guided visits lead to observation areas overlooking packs of wolves, foxes, bobcats and other animals at this privately operated preserve near the Delaware Water Gap. Access is controlled by tour schedule and reservation rather than casual roaming through the property.
