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.
Antonito, CO
A towering self-built complex faced with beer cans, hubcaps and scrap metal, created by Vietnam veteran Dominic 'Cano' Espinoza. It is best treated as a public-road viewing stop; the structures are private property and were damaged by a 2022 fire.
Nederland, CO
A restored historic carousel populated with hand-carved animals created over decades by Vietnam veteran Scott Harrison. The combination of folk sculpture, moving figures and a century-old carousel mechanism makes it unusually personal.
Lakewood, CO
A sprawling pink Mexican restaurant built around indoor cliffs, waterfalls, divers, caves and theatrical spectacle. Entry is controlled by the restaurant's current reservation/ticket system, so this is a planned stop rather than a casual walk-in.
Mosca, CO
A geothermal-water fish farm that evolved into a reptile rescue filled with alligators, crocodilians, snakes and other unusual animals in the San Luis Valley. The improbable high-desert setting is a major part of the appeal.
Bailey, CO
A restaurant inside a giant hot-dog-shaped building that has moved around Colorado before settling in Bailey. The building itself is the attraction, with food service providing a legitimate reason to stop rather than just photograph it from the road.
Denver, CO
A specialist museum devoted to dollhouses, miniatures, dolls and toys, with exhibits that compress domestic spaces and entire scenes into tiny scale. It is a niche collection rather than a general children's museum.
Sapinero, CO
A trail in Curecanti National Recreation Area approaches eroded volcanic spires rising above Blue Mesa Reservoir. The pinnacles are the remains of ash and breccia from ancient eruptions, creating one of the state's stranger roadside-accessible geologic landscapes.
Dotsero, CO
Colorado's youngest volcano is a maar-and-scoria volcanic complex only a few thousand years old, with Interstate 70 crossing its old lava flow. BLM provides public access, but the approach is rougher than a normal developed attraction.
Florissant, CO
The monument preserves an Eocene lake ecosystem with enormous petrified redwood stumps and exceptionally detailed fossil insects and leaves. Trails begin near the visitor center, and collecting fossils or petrified wood is prohibited.
Dinosaur, CO
At the end of Dinosaur National Monument's Colorado-side scenic road, a trail reaches a high peninsula above deeply cut canyons and dramatic folded rock. The overlook exposes the strange geology of the monument far beyond its dinosaur fossils.
Colorado Springs, CO
A 48-times-scale Hercules beetle named Herkimer has marked the Highway 115 turn for the May Museum since the 1950s. Restored in 2022, it is a legitimate giant roadside landmark rather than a temporary promotional prop.
Indian Hills, CO
The Indian Hills Community Center sign is locally famous for a rotating stream of groan-worthy puns and one-liners. The sign is visible from the public road; the community center itself is not an attraction unless an event is open to the public.
Denver, CO
A former Lutheran church transformed by the Elevationists into a brightly painted immersive art space with a psychedelic interior. Public experiences are separate from the congregation's religious services, so visitors should use posted tour/event access.
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.
Colorado Springs, CO
A dense one-sixth-scale cityscape built by sculptor Michael Garman, packed with tiny rooms, alleys, characters and optical effects. The miniature streets reward slow looking and feel more like an inhabited model city than a normal sculpture gallery.
Golden, CO
Colorado School of Mines maintains a geology museum packed with minerals, meteorites, fossils and mining artifacts. The combination of unusual specimens and Colorado mining science makes it a useful OddWay indoor stop.
Calhan, CO
Bands of pink, orange, white and purple clay form hoodoos and sculpted gullies used by Indigenous peoples for pigments. Visitors must remain on designated trails because the formations and archaeological resources are fragile.
Lamar, CO
A 1930s former filling station faced with enormous quantities of petrified wood, built specifically to stop highway travelers. The structure survives along Main Street and is best treated as an exterior roadside stop.
Fruita, CO
A remote concentration of large natural sandstone arches hides in McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area. The upper access road is seasonal and high-clearance dependent, while hiking approaches are long, so conditions should be checked before routing.
Morrison, CO
A long-running miniature village filled with roughly one-sixth-scale buildings plus a small-gauge railroad. Its tiny streets and architecture make it a literal scaled-down town rather than a standard amusement park.
Boulder, CO
A university museum with paleontology, geology and anthropology collections used for research as well as public exhibits. Fossils and Southwest cultural material give it a stronger OddWay fit than a general campus museum.
Creede, CO
Remote volcanic tuff has eroded into towers, fins and narrow passages that once formed Colorado's first national monument. Reaching the formations requires a long hike or difficult high-clearance route, so the pin represents a backcountry destination rather than drive-up access.
Creede, CO
A roughly 40-foot aluminum fork created by local artists to out-measure an earlier giant fork in Missouri. It is pure oversized-roadside-object territory and an easy add-on while exploring Creede.
