These Are Your Favorite Roadside Attractions

Cabazon dinosaurs, hands down.

Visiting them as a kid after seeing them in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure was akin to meeting an idolized celebrity. Amazing experience.

Suggested by: Sector 7G-Wagen

I used to stop at the Painted Desert dinosaurs whenever I would drive home from college. My dog never quite got the appeal.

Giant Superman statue at the county courthouse in Metropolis, IL. Lots of superman related shops as well.

Suggested by: David M. Packard III (Facebook)

Albert the Bull in Audubon, Iowa. Not only is Albert the largest Bull but he’s anatomically correct, so you also get the largest set of... Rocky Mtn. Oysters as well ;) Albert is also conveniently just 17mins from the Templeton Rye distillery.

Suggested by: RCook

Kansas Cosmodrome and Space Center. Both because it’s a nice break from Kansas and because they have the Apollo 13 command module.

Suggested by: Kamen Burton (Facebook)

Carhenge, in Alliance, Nebraska. Duh.

Suggested by: McMike

The Mystery Spot on US-2 west of St. Ignace, MI.

Suggested by: 4Motion

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Now that you have to specifically detour to get to it, probably Hoover Dam.

Suggested by: burner’down

Bonus points for the Archway in Kearney, NE. We’ve taken two family road trips, Wisconsin —> Colorado, and this stop surprised us. Clean (restrooms included), solid knick-knack gift shop, what looks to be a pretty neat museum (we didn’t go), and some great outdoor paths, statues, and a maze. We stayed there longer than any other stop on any other roadtrip.

Suggested by: fake-plastic-eye

Meteor Crater in Arizona. I doubt it technically counts, but it is in the middle of nowhere and operates on the border of cool museum/rock shop and a tourist trap from what I remember? Some kitch but a stellar rock shop, this was back in the early 90s though. It is a “National Landmark” and not a park, state park or otherwise, so I think it still has a similar vibe based on the website.

Suggested by:MarkOff8585