Roadside oddities41.0939° N, 88.4396° W
Dwight, IL
A beautifully restored 1930s gas station and visitor center preserves the look of early Route 66 automobile travel.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
Roadside oddities in Illinois
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Roadside oddities71
Suggest a stopGiant objects, odd monuments and things built for no clear reason.
- Roadside oddities42.0744° N, 87.6844° W
Wilmette, IL
One of only a handful of continental Bahá'í temples worldwide, with an elaborate white dome covered in intricate symbols and lace-like ornament.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities37.5519° N, 89.3464° W
Alto Pass, IL
A 111-foot white cross crowns a high point above the Shawnee hills, creating a stark landmark visible across much of southern Illinois.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities38.9615° N, 89.7637° W
Livingston, IL
A towering fiberglass beach-guy Muffler Man joins the mall's collection of giant animals and Route 66 photo props.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities42.0342° N, 89.3332° W
Oregon, IL
Lorado Taft's colossal concrete figure towers above the Rock River at Lowden State Park; ongoing preservation work can affect close viewing.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities40.9363° N, 90.3659° W
Galesburg, IL
The poet's tiny birthplace, museum, grave, and memorial grounds preserve the Midwestern roots of one of America's most recognizable literary voices.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities39.8675° N, 89.6266° W
Springfield, IL
A newly accessible trail reaches a rare abandoned stretch of early Route 66 pavement hidden in Carpenter Park woods.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities39.2993° N, 87.9931° W
Casey, IL
Casey’s Big Pencil is a deliberately oversized teacher-style pencil created as part of the town’s Big Things Small Town project. The city explicitly says it is often mistaken for the world’s largest but is only a supersized replica, and visitors can see it free at 8 West Main Street along with Casey’s cluster of giant objects.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities39.2994° N, 87.9921° W
Casey, IL
Casey’s Big Yardstick is a 36-foot-long yardstick with every inch enlarged to a foot, built as part of Jim Bolin’s town-wide Big Things project. It is not presented by Casey as a current Guinness record holder, but it remains a free outdoor stop at 3 East Main Street within walking distance of the town’s other oversized objects.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities38.7608° N, 90.1733° W
Madison, IL
This old Route 66 bridge crosses the Mississippi with an unusual 22-degree bend in the middle and is now open to pedestrians and cyclists.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities39.1076° N, 88.5712° W
Effingham, IL
A 198-foot white cross rises beside Interstates 57 and 70, visible for miles and surrounded by smaller religious monuments.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities39.7941° N, 89.6514° W
Springfield, IL
Frank Lloyd Wright's extraordinary Prairie-style house contains more original Wright furniture and art glass than nearly any other site.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities41.8672° N, 90.1685° W
Fulton, IL
A full-size working Dutch windmill built in the Netherlands and reassembled on the Mississippi Riverfront, complete with traditional milling machinery.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities37.5996° N, 89.1934° W
Makanda, IL
A mushroom-shaped sandstone formation rises from the forest near Giant City, one of the park's most recognizable erosion-sculpted rock forms.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities42.4171° N, 90.4270° W
Galena, IL
Built in 1826, this rough limestone trading house is one of Galena's oldest surviving structures and feels dramatically older than the city around it.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities38.7313° N, 90.1237° W
Granite City, IL
A vintage-style mechanic Muffler Man stands along Nameoki Road as another oversized addition to Granite City's growing giant-statue collection.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities41.9312° N, 88.7528° W
DeKalb, IL
A rare 1929 Egyptian Revival movie palace filled with scarabs, pharaoh motifs, hieroglyphic decoration, and an atmospheric auditorium.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities41.4516° N, 87.7187° W
University Park, IL
A 1977 sculpture by Jene Highstein: concrete over a steel frame, a dark oval sitting in the prairie grass like something that landed and settled. It is part of the permanent collection at Governors State University's Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, which is free, has free parking, and is open dawn to dusk every day of the year. Walk out to it — just don't climb on it.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities39.2995° N, 87.9926° W
Casey, IL
Casey’s giant knitting needles were created by Jim Bolin and officially held the world-record title from 2013 to 2017. They are 13.75 feet long and are now presented as the former world’s largest, displayed with the town’s giant crochet hook at 2 East Main Street.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities36.9852° N, 89.1449° W
Cairo, IL
At Illinois' southern tip, visitors can stand where the muddy Mississippi and Ohio rivers visibly meet at a site once fortified during the Civil War.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities41.7867° N, 87.6077° W
Chicago, IL
A massive procession of 100 human figures marches past Father Time in one of the city's strangest and most imposing public sculptures.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities38.9612° N, 89.7633° W
Livingston, IL
A rare UFO-shaped Futuro house sits beside the Pink Elephant complex, creating one of Illinois' strongest retro-futurist roadside sights.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities37.6034° N, 88.3845° W
Herod, IL
Wind and erosion sculpted dramatic sandstone formations into strange profiles, overhangs, cliffs, and balanced-looking shapes above Shawnee National Forest.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities41.3062° N, 88.1497° W
Wilmington, IL
The iconic green-suited Muffler Man has been restored and moved to South Island Park, preserving one of Illinois Route 66's defining roadside figures.
- Access
- Open to visitors