Roadside oddities41.5848° N, 124.0859° W
Klamath, CA
A classic redwood attraction combining giant trees, unusual forest displays, a canopy gondola and decades of roadside mythology on U.S. 101.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
Roadside oddities
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Roadside oddities2,517
Suggest a stopGiant objects, odd monuments and things built for no clear reason.
- Roadside oddities41.4802° N, 91.5810° W
Riverside, IA
Public Star Trek-themed signs, props and festival installations around Riverside turn several downtown blocks into a playful fictional-history landscape. The displays vary over time but reinforce the town's Captain Kirk identity.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities36.6014° N, 83.6753° W
Middlesboro, KY
A marker atop Tri-State Peak identifies the meeting point of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Visitors reach it by trail from Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, allowing them to stand at the junction of three states on the same hike.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities42.5073° N, 96.4028° W
Sioux City, IA
This hilltop religious complex contains enormous statues of Jesus and Mary, shrines, chapels and devotional gardens. The monumental scale makes it one of western Iowa's most visually unusual sacred spaces.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities40.9519° N, 74.3919° W
Kinnelon, NJ
An enormous glacial boulder appears improbably balanced on three much smaller stones at Pyramid Mountain. The formation is natural, but its precise-looking supports have inspired repeated speculation about whether people altered or used it in the distant past.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities35.6178° N, 117.3681° W
Trona, CA
More than 500 tufa spires rise from a dry lake basin, creating an otherworldly landscape frequently used for science-fiction filming.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities36.0167° N, 111.0333° W
Tuba City, AZ
Dinosaur footprints are visible in exposed rock near U.S. 160 on Navajo Nation land. Local guides commonly interpret the site; visitors should follow current landowner/tribal expectations and avoid damaging or removing material.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities35.6581° N, 83.7742° W
Townsend, TN
These privately operated caverns take visitors beneath the Smokies through large rooms, unusual formations and an underground waterfall. The cave has been a long-running Tennessee roadside attraction and remains accessible only through posted tour operations.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities36.3893° N, 115.3202° W
North Las Vegas, NV
A protected desert landscape preserving one of the Southwest’s major Pleistocene fossil records, including mammoths and other Ice Age animals.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities36.1571° N, 96.0130° W
Tulsa, OK
Built in the 1920s as the Cave Garden Restaurant, this deliberately grotto-like house is tied to stories of Prohibition-era drinking and a now-sealed tunnel beneath the hill. Interior tours are by appointment only.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities37.5237° N, 88.8387° W
Tunnel Hill, IL
The trail's namesake old railroad tunnel cuts through the ridge along a converted rail line now used by hikers and cyclists.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities34.0072° N, 81.0325° W
Columbia, SC
Artist Blue Sky painted a remarkably convincing tunnel entrance on the flat wall of a downtown building. The perspective and painted roadway create an optical illusion that can briefly make the brick wall look like an actual passage through the structure.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities44.0685° N, 82.9193° W
Port Austin, MI
Wave erosion carved this Lake Huron sea stack into a top-heavy shape resembling a giant turnip, with trees growing from its narrow summit. The surrounding shoreline is private, so legitimate access is by water—most commonly kayak or boat—and visitors should never attempt to cross private land to reach it.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities36.3067° N, 93.7276° W
Eureka Springs, AR
This big-cat refuge rescues lions, tigers and other large animals from private ownership and roadside situations. Visitors can walk the habitat area and even stay overnight near the animals.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities24.7306° N, 81.0385° W
Marathon, FL
Former motel converted into a working sea-turtle hospital with educational tours.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities38.6315° N, 90.2924° W
St. Louis, MO
A family of gigantic concrete turtles forms an outdoor playground near Forest Park, with shells large enough for visitors to climb and sit on. The sculptures were designed as both public art and functional play structures, making the site stranger than a standard city playground.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities35.1619° N, 111.2692° W
Twin Arrows, AZ
Two giant arrows mark the remains of a once-famous Route 66 trading post. The commercial buildings are ruins and access can be restricted, so OddWay should use a safe public viewing point and never encourage entry into unstable structures.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities39.8778° N, 86.1438° W
Indianapolis, IN
Artist John McNaughton created this warped cedar sculpture to look like a small house twisting upward as though caught in a vortex. It stands on the grounds of the Indianapolis Art Center and can be viewed as part of the center's outdoor sculpture environment.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities41.4187° N, 73.4500° W
Danbury, CT
A roadside boulder has been painted as a cartoon dog with a different expression on each visible side. The rock was repainted in 2016, transforming one formerly snarling face into a sadder and friendlier-looking dog.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities43.4033° N, 84.9746° W
Cedar Lake, MI
Cedar Lake's famous double-decker privy traces back to an 1875 home and store whose upper floor was once connected to the outhouse by a walkway. The surviving structure is a reconstructed/restored version of the historic oddity and sits on private property, so visitors should view it from the roadside rather than attempting to use or enter it.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities41.7919° N, 87.5812° W
Chicago, IL
The only German U-boat captured by the United States during World War II is displayed indoors beneath the Museum of Science and Industry.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities35.0559° N, 78.8855° W
Fayetteville, NC
This large Army museum traces airborne and special-operations history through full-size aircraft, vehicles, weapons, parachuting displays, immersive scenes, and major artifacts. Exhibits include equipment ranging from World War II gliders to modern special-operations hardware. Official Army listing: https://history.army.mil/Army-Museum-Enterprise/Find-an-Army-Museum/Airborne-and-Special-Operations-Museum/
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities38.8914° N, 77.0106° W
Washington, DC
Frederick Law Olmsted's red-brick grotto-like Summerhouse provides a surprisingly secluded fountain retreat on the Capitol grounds.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities37.0099° N, 117.4498° W
Death Valley, CA
A broad volcanic explosion crater drops hundreds of feet below a rim reached directly from the park road.
- Access
- Open to visitors