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.
Moab, UT
One of the world's longest natural rock spans stretches improbably thin across Devils Garden. Large pieces have fallen in recent decades, emphasizing how temporary the delicate structure is.
Cushing, ME
The former home and studio property of Maine sculptor Bernard Langlais is filled with his large, rough-hewn wooden and outdoor artworks. Visitors can walk through an unusual landscape where the art, workshop, fields, and forest all blend together.
Thomasville, GA
Built for a survivor of the Great Chicago Fire, this wildly asymmetrical Victorian house contains odd angles, unusual windows, elaborate woodwork and design choices reportedly influenced by its owner's fear of fire. Guided access is limited, making advance schedule checks important.
Brookfield, CT
A giant waving Santa Claus stands year-round outside a storage property on Vale Road. The restored fiberglass figure has become an all-season roadside landmark where Christmas never really ends.
Ashland, VA
A roughly 30-foot-tall green shotgun shell stands outside Green Top as a giant tribute to the area's hunting culture. Built by Hudson Sheet Metal, the oversized shell is positioned along the store property and works as a quick roadside photo stop during normal access to the commercial site.
Barre, VT
Artist Chris Miller carved a 74-foot granite zipper into the ground along North Main Street, making it look as though the city itself is being unzipped. The piece, titled Unzipping the Earth, turns Barre's signature stone into an oversized piece of public art.
Woolwich, ME
A gigantic inflatable lobster named Larry sprawls across the roof of Taste of Maine Restaurant. The oversized crustacean has become a highly visible Route 1 landmark and one of the state’s easiest drive-by oddities.
Winston-Salem, NC
This restored 1930s service station is literally shaped like a giant yellow scallop shell. Quality Oil built several shell-shaped stations as advertising, but the Sprague Street building is the only surviving example and is now preserved as an architectural roadside oddity. Address: https://www.cityofws.org/DocumentCenter/View/25690
Beaver Dam, KY
Folk artist Donald Bray created a full Last Supper scene from concrete along with additional homemade sculpture and mural work on his rural property. The installation is visible beside Rochester Road, but there is little parking and the art is on private land, so OddWay visitors should remain roadside unless invited closer.
Laughlin, NV
A collection of large hand-built stone labyrinths sits on desert hills above Laughlin, intended for walking and contemplation rather than as ancient archaeological features.
St. Louis, MO
More than 100 acres of woods and lawns hold large-scale contemporary sculptures, including monumental works that can be walked around and through. The free outdoor collection makes an easy OddWay cluster of strange objects rather than a single conventional gallery visit.
Wharton Township, PA
Pennsylvania's largest cave system by volume extends beneath Chestnut Ridge in Fayette County. The underground caverns are open only from mid-April through late October for guided and self-guided experiences, closing each winter to protect hibernating bats.
Springfield, IL
A classic Muffler Man in a tire-shop uniform has stood in Springfield since 1978 and even survived a tornado that tore off his head.
Bend, OR
A classic cinder cone rises beside Lava Lands, with a seasonal summit road and trail overlooking black lava flows created roughly 7,000 years ago.
Bend, OR
Molten lava once flowed around living trees and hardened before the trunks burned away, leaving hollow tree molds preserved in the Newberry lava field.
Bend, OR
The Newberry volcanic visitor center sits beside Lava Butte and black lava flows, serving as a hub for interpreting central Oregon's recent volcanic history.
Flagstaff, AZ
A mile-long lava tube left by ancient volcanic activity forms a dark, rough underground tunnel in the Coconino National Forest. There is no installed lighting, and the floor is uneven and cold, so visitors need proper equipment and should check seasonal road conditions.
Bend, OR
A mile-long lava tube beneath Newberry's volcanic landscape is open for self-guided walking during its seasonal operating period; timed-entry rules can apply.
Pāhoa, HI
Tree trunks surrounded by a fast-moving nineteenth-century lava flow left behind hollow lava molds after the wood burned or decayed away. A short loop passes clusters of these strange upright forms, making volcanic processes visible at human scale.
Bisbee, AZ
A public overlook faces the immense terraced Lavender Pit, where copper mining carved a brightly colored artificial canyon beside Bisbee. The engineered void makes the scale of the town's mining history immediately visible.
Des Moines, IA
Inside the Capitol, a spectacular multi-level law library is lined with spiral staircases, ornate ironwork and packed book balconies. It looks more like a fantasy film set than a working government library.
New Brunswick, NJ
Faces and figures carved into stone appear near Lawrence Brook within the Rutgers Gardens area. The weathered carvings are easy to miss among the landscape and are accessible only during the gardens' normal public hours.
Enid, OK
Rust-colored steel hawks spiral upward at this gateway sculpture to downtown Enid. The title references Oklahoma! while the weathering steel echoes the color of red-tailed hawks seen over the plains.
Niles, IL
A half-scale 1930s recreation of Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa stands beside a suburban YMCA complex as one of Chicagoland's classic oddities.
