Roadside oddities24.9513° N, 80.6038° W
Islamorada, FL
Walk through exposed fossilized coral quarries once used to build the Overseas Railroad.
- Access
- Open to visitors
Roadside oddities
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Roadside oddities2,517
Suggest a stopGiant objects, odd monuments and things built for no clear reason.
- Roadside oddities35.6773° N, 109.0527° W
Window Rock, AZ
A large natural sandstone arch gives the Navajo Nation capital its English name, and the adjacent park contains a memorial honoring Navajo veterans. The site combines a striking geologic formation with living governmental and cultural significance.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities39.0572° N, 84.9014° W
Aurora, IN
Artist Cindy Crofoot transformed boarded windows on a deteriorating downtown building into a series of painted faces and characters rather than leaving the facade blank. The installation became part of Aurora's broader public-art effort and can be viewed from the public sidewalk without entering the building.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities32.0719° N, 84.2339° W
Americus, GA
A massive 1892 Victorian hotel fills an entire city block with towers, balconies and a dramatic interior atrium. The building remains a functioning hotel, allowing travelers to experience the ornate architecture as a living property rather than a sealed historic house.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities36.5828° N, 95.6516° W
Talala, OK
A cement mixer barrel left after a 1959 crash was later painted to resemble a NASA space capsule. The result looks like a tiny spacecraft that landed beside a rural Oklahoma highway.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities45.2043° N, 123.1496° W
McMinnville, OR
A real Boeing 747 sits on the roof of a waterpark, with enclosed waterslides beginning inside the aircraft and spiraling down into the building.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities42.7879° N, 71.0637° W
Haverhill, MA
A Victorian stone castle rises above Kenoza Lake inside Winnekenni Park. Built in the 1870s as a private summer retreat, it now serves as an event and community space while the surrounding trails remain public. Check ahead if seeing the interior matters.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities44.9253° N, 70.0225° W
New Portland, ME
This rural bridge combines a wooden deck and towers with an unusual wire-cable suspension system dating to the 1800s. It is commonly described as the last surviving bridge of its particular construction type in Maine.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities45.6714° N, 90.3904° W
Phillips, WI
Fred Smith spent years covering concrete figures with glass, mirrors, stones and found objects, creating a roadside environment populated by lumberjacks, animals, historical figures and scenes from local life. The preserved sculpture park is one of Wisconsin's major vernacular-art environments.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities34.1709° N, 118.0574° W
Sierra Madre, CA
Sierra Madre’s enormous Chinese wistaria vine began as a one-gallon plant purchased by Alice Brugman in April 1894 and eventually spread across neighboring residential properties. Because the vine grows on private homes, travelers normally see it only during the city’s annual Wistaria Festival/open-house period rather than as a daily walk-up attraction.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities44.9689° N, 93.2127° W
Minneapolis, MN
The 1914 Prospect Park water tower is capped by a steep green-tile roof that gave it the nickname Witch's Hat. The surrounding park is public, but the tower interior is normally closed and traditionally opens only for a rare neighborhood event.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities43.6674° N, 89.7887° W
Wisconsin Dells, WI
A narrow slot-like sandstone gorge winds through mossy walls, boardwalks and unusual erosion forms. The property is generally experienced through Upper Dells boat tours rather than as a free independent hiking destination.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities27.8749° N, 81.8339° W
Bartow, FL
Hand-built four-story concrete home with underground levels, homemade inventions, secretive design touches, and early climate-control experiments.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities29.8793° N, 97.9391° W
San Marcos, TX
A historic commercial cave formed along the Balcones Fault, marketed for generations as a show cave and earthquake-created geological curiosity.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities44.2738° N, 103.5013° W
Nemo, SD
This privately operated cave sends visitors down hundreds of steps through narrow passages and chambers in the northern Black Hills. Its long history as a roadside cave attraction adds another layer to a region where underground tourism developed alongside mining.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities28.4337° N, 81.4715° W
Orlando, FL
Iconic upside-down laboratory building housing an interactive odd-science attraction.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities33.7169° N, 78.8843° W
Myrtle Beach, SC
WonderWorks looks as though a giant laboratory was ripped from the ground, flipped upside down, and dropped onto Broadway at the Beach. The inverted facade leads into an interactive science-and-amusement attraction filled with optical illusions and hands-on exhibits.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities33.9460° N, 79.9929° W
Olanta, SC
This state park protects one of the mysterious elliptical depressions known as Carolina bays. The origin of the thousands of similarly shaped wetlands scattered across the coastal plain has inspired scientific debate and fringe theories for generations.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities40.8894° N, 77.3882° W
Haines Township, PA
Woodward Cave contains large limestone rooms, active cave formations and the roughly 14-foot Tower of Babel, described as Pennsylvania's largest known free-standing stalagmite. Guided tours operate seasonally, and visitors cannot enter the cave outside the attraction's tour schedule.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities41.9761° N, 87.6690° W
Chicago, IL
Taxidermy, bones, medical pieces, strange antiques, and unconventional art make this long-running Andersonville shop feel more cabinet of curiosities than store.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities41.2036° N, 81.7188° W
Hinckley Township, OH
Hidden among sandstone ledges in Hinckley Reservation are faces, animals, religious imagery and other figures carved into the rock by Noble Stuart in the mid-twentieth century. The carvings are reached on a short wooded trail, so this is a hike rather than a roadside pull-off.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities39.8814° N, 123.7526° W
Piercy, CA
Rooms carved into the base of a giant redwood create a tiny walk-in tree dwelling. The long-running Highway 101 attraction reopened to visitors in 2025.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities41.5857° N, 93.6226° W
Des Moines, IA
The restored former Des Moines Public Library now functions as an ornate ceremonial hall devoted to global agriculture and food security. Murals, stained glass and restored Beaux-Arts spaces make the interior unexpectedly elaborate.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities39.0923° N, 84.4957° W
Newport, KY
Cast in 1998 and installed for the arrival of the year 2000, Newport's enormous World Peace Bell weighs roughly 66,000 pounds and is about 12 feet across. It was the world's largest functioning free-swinging bell when dedicated and remains an outsized downtown monument.
- Access
- Open to visitors