Roadside Attractions

[+geodarts]

I often use RoadSide America to find quirky places along the way. Muffler Men! UniRoyal Girls! Giant Gnomes! Stonehenge Replicas! Oddities! But caching has also brought me to many such locations. Some listed on the roadside site, some not. Hub Cap Ranch. Cinderella. Sebastapol Sculptures. Boot Hill at Pioche. The list could go on. And hopefully it will continue to do so. Please post pictures of roadside attractions that you have found while caching. It might help us find new caches and attractions the next time we travel.

 

These were from a trip to Utah last week:

 

UFO Landing Site: This is (at the moment) not on the Roadside America list. so I never would have discovered it except that a log in another cache included a photo of this place, and I discovered that since that time it had been made into a listing here. A collection of Folk Art from a landing site to a rest stop for coyotes. On Highway 10 in Clawson.

 

 

 

Western Mining and Railroad Museum: Helper is definitely worth visiting if you find yourself in this part of Utah. An old mining and railroad town filled with history; a good place to eat, and a fun artist's studio. While the museum is worth looking at, the building next door caught my attention. A chapter house for E. Clampus Vitus. Not being a clamper, or seeing any clampers around, I could not get in. But even from the outside I thought it was worth a stop. And just a couple of blocks away is a Muffler Man type of guy.

 

 

[+Chrysalides]

I have used that website and enjoyed stops at quirky locations on road trips. As a bonus, there's usually a cache there (or nearby) as well.

 

Here's my contribution to this thread : the Leaning (Water) Tower of Groom, Texas.

 

 

http://coord.info/GC4DGHP

[Moun10Bike]

Awesome topic! I'll have to look at some of my past outings to find photos that might be appropriate for the thread!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Awesome topic! I'll have to look at some of my past outings to find photos that might be appropriate for the thread!

 

Not my photo but surely this one is appropriate for the thread:

 

 

 

[+geodarts]

Leaning Water Towers and Toilet Lid Art. I have been trying to get my wife to tour Texas with me for just these reasons. Unfortunately there are a lot of personal issues involved. Maybe I will have to work on Nebraska instead - any photos of Car Henge would be appreciated.

[+Chrysalides]

Leaning Water Towers and Toilet Lid Art. I have been trying to get my wife to tour Texas with me for just these reasons. Unfortunately there are a lot of personal issues involved. Maybe I will have to work on Nebraska instead - any photos of Car Henge would be appreciated.

I haven't been to Car Henge, but about 50 miles (or "round the block" as they call it in Texas ) from the water tower in Groom, you can find Cadillac Ranch. I need to find my photos from there. Didn't take too many photos as it was windy and I didn't want spray paint on my lens.

[+Chrysalides]

For those who like to take it easy, you can find this virtual in a corner in Winslow, Arizona :

 

 

http://coord.info/GC64F7

[+hzoi]

Leaning Water Towers and Toilet Lid Art. I have been trying to get my wife to tour Texas with me for just these reasons. Unfortunately there are a lot of personal issues involved. Maybe I will have to work on Nebraska instead - any photos of Car Henge would be appreciated.

I haven't been to Car Henge, but about 50 miles (or "round the block" as they call it in Texas ) from the water tower in Groom, you can find Cadillac Ranch. I need to find my photos from there. Didn't take too many photos as it was windy and I didn't want spray paint on my lens.

 

Here's some. The ones that looks like B&W were done with my infrared camera. Got these whilst caching in the area, of course: Cadillac Ranch.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's another roadside attraction that's lesser known in the Great Plains area, the Bowling Ball Art farm.

 

 

 

 

From another Oklahoma road trip, the windmill museum:

 

 

 

edited to add links!

Edited October 19, 2014 by hzoi

[+Chrysalides]

Thanks, hzoi. Great photos!

 

Driving west to Oklahoma City, I stopped at Okemah for gas (and a cache). At the entrance of Highland Cemetery is this very interesting memorial.

 

 

The parking meter says "Time Expired". It was put up according to the deceased's wishes.

 

The cache is a short distance away, at a corner of the cemetery, a short distance away from the burial plots. http://coord.info/GC1GQD4

[josephrichie99]

wow!!! wonderful pics...

[+hzoi]

Thanks, hzoi. Great photos!

Thanks for yours too! A little sad that I just found out about that Okemah cache -- we move to El Paso in a month and there's no way I'm getting out that way before the move.

[+Traveler_on_a_Whim]

"Godzilla Attacks Okinawa" (GC2CHCY)

They say it's Godzilla, but I think it looks more like a T-rex.

 

Edited December 21, 2014 by Ruidealmeida
Making the picture visible.

[+geodarts]

Pink Lady in Red brought us to a rare Uniroyal Girl, the counterpoint to the famed Muffler Men. I had remembered seeing the Roadside America listing for this lady, and the cache made it easy to find. A nearby sign proclaims Pearsonville to be the hubcap capital of the world, but clearly that did not take into account The Hubcap Ranch.

 

[+geodarts]

Rhyolite, Nevada, is worth visiting as a ghost town for its ruins, but the artwork just down the road is a roadside attraction in itself. Goldwell Geode and Sit Here focused on this aspect of the area - including a ghostly rider and the Last Supper.

 

 

Edited April 21, 2015 by geodarts

[+AustinMN]

I'm guessing that this giant prairie chicken is on the list:

 

[+AustinMN]

This is another that is probably on the Roadside America list:

 

Voyageur

 

[+Mr Kaswa]

Pinto MacBean is in Bow Island Alberta. The cache I found there is gone, but GC2XD0R is there now. His six shooter was missing then, but I believe it is back now.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Mr Kaswa

[+Mr Kaswa]

Sammy and Samantha in Vauxhall, Alberta.

 

Edited May 5, 2015 by Mr Kaswa

[+lumbricus]

Two funny guys!

[+Ambrosia]

Paul Bunyan and Babe, in California. Babe

 

 

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Paul Bunyan and Babe, in California. Babe

 

 

I was born in a town about 200 miles south of there that has an annual Paul Bunyan days festival with "lumberjack" events all weekend. It's kicked off with a parade that has similar looking statues. My grandfather, who was also born there, worked for many years as a lumberjack.

[RuideAlmeida]

Roasting flour, just in front of Cristo.

 

[+Ambrosia]

 

I was born in a town about 200 miles south of there that has an annual Paul Bunyan days festival with "lumberjack" events all weekend. It's kicked off with a parade that has similar looking statues. My grandfather, who was also born there, worked for many years as a lumberjack.

That's interesting!

[+geodarts]

Having been to the inner circle of the original Stonehenge on a couple of occasions, visited Stonefridge before Santa Fe removed it, and stopped at a Stonehenge replica in Utah, I have a soft spot for such things. So when we saw that Stonehenge was close to where we were visiting on the Columbia Gorge, it was worth a stop:

 

[+lumbricus]

I waymarked this ginormous sled 7/7/2011 the geocache GC3CD4E was published 02/11/2012 so I didn't find it yet. It's one of my favorite Waymarks.

 

 

[+MtnMutt-ProDuckShins]

Hmmm? I wonder if this would count? GC1N0B9 - ALIENS AMONG US, West Side of Spokane.

Edited July 29, 2015 by MtnMutt-ProDuckShins

[+geodarts]

Hmmm? I wonder if this would count? GC1N0B9 - ALIENS AMONG US, West Side of Spokane.

 

It looks like my kind of place if fate ever brings me to Spokane. Did you take any pictures there?

[+Ambrosia]

Hmmm? I wonder if this would count? GC1N0B9 - ALIENS AMONG US, West Side of Spokane.

I've seen that, but had no idea that it was open to the public, or that there was a cache there. Just drove by there a couple of days ago. I'll have to see if it's open next time I'm there, next weekend.

[+MtnMutt-ProDuckShins]

 

After numerous tries to load image it at last worked...

[+geodarts]

As a genuine roadside America attraction, Salvation Mountain is many things: an attraction, an important piece of folk art, and for some, a religious experience.

 

[+thomfre]

Carhenge (GCGN58) in Nebraska:

[+thomfre]

Cool thread! I love roadside attractions like this!

I have a lot of pictures to post here, I just have to remember which caches to get them from

 

Here's one from New Salem, North Dakota. Salem Sue, the world's largest Holstein Cow (GC1BBR9):

[+niraD]

Sometimes the line between "public art" and "roadside attraction" gets a bit blurry, and I've got a lot of photos of public art in my geocaching.com gallery, but here's one I think is solidly in the "roadside attraction" camp:

 

The virtual cache The World's Largest Artichoke is located at the Giant Artichoke restaurant, which features (surprise) a giant artichoke as part of the building:

 

[+AustinMN]

Cool thread! I love roadside attractions like this!

I have a lot of pictures to post here, I just have to remember which caches to get them from

 

If you go to your "Public Profile" (from your profile, there is a link on the right), you can open the tab "Gallery" to all of your posted photos. The photos can lead you to the cache listing.

[+geodarts]

I read about Wild Bills and the Yugos on Roadside America but signed the log for Nostalgia as long as I was there. A hippie junk collector and purveyor of more things than you can imagine.

 

 

 

And if you are in the area, then another Roadside America attraction is Holy Land, which had a Cache outside its gates. The no trespassing signs at the gate made my wife nervous, so I stayed close to the edges. A decision that I somewhat regret.

 

 

Edited June 29, 2016 by geodarts

[+geodarts]

Not quite on the Roadside since it involved a hike up the hill, but the Hidden Treasures Above Bisbee were certainly an attraction, with shrines dedicated to the Virgin, Buddha, Che, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

Edited February 20, 2017 by geodarts

[One90proof]

When geocaching in In Elberta, Alabama there's no telling what you might find in the woods. Full scale replica of Stonehenge ("Bamahenge"), Roman columns, Knights, dinosaurs.....all sorts of fun stuff! You can read about Bamahenge HERE on Roadside America and find links to the other close by attractions.

[+geodarts]

On 7/29/2015 at 7:41 AM, MtnMutt-ProDuckShins said:

Hmmm? I wonder if this would count? GC1N0B9 - ALIENS AMONG US, West Side of Spokane.

Ever since reading about it here (and then on Roadside America) I knew I would have to visit.   We finally found ourselves in Spokane and made this our first stop.  We talked with the owner, saw a second Alien craft, and enjoyed meeting Betty.  

 

Edited September 19, 2017 by geodarts

[+threenow24]

I see Ambrosia posted a photo of Paul and Babe from California earlier in the thread, and I know there's another similar attraction in Maine. This is in my home state of Minnesota, Bemidji to be exact. It's old, 1937 according to the sign. A tornado blew it apart once IIRC, it was rebuilt with much stronger anchoring. Babes eyes are taillights from some old car and they could light up, not sure if they do anymore.

There aren't any caches right by it, we did a Wherigo that was close by. I thought it might make a decent Virtual Reward cache.

Edited October 3, 2017 by threenow24
add cache/lack of cache info

[+Ambrosia]

I never did post my follow up for Aliens Among Us. As my log says, some cachers came by the cache just an hour before we got there, and bought the aliens. The owner expressed regret that he had sold both of them. My log.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[+Goldenwattle]

Coober Pedy, SA. So many more photographs I could have added.

Edited February 21, 2019 by Goldenwattle
Added more photographs

[+Goldenwattle]

Woomera, SA. First two photographs, spotted driving past the junkyard. The last is a display area.

Edited February 21, 2019 by Goldenwattle

[+Goldenwattle]

Victoria, Australia.

[+Goldenwattle]

Stuart Hwy, headed for Woomera, SA.

[RuideAlmeida]

These griffins are all over... even here in the Amazonas.

 

Edited February 21, 2019 by RuideAlmeida

[+geodarts]

As I wrote on my log, I am not sure what to make of Thunder Mountain:  I discovered it through Roadside America.  Frank van Zant stayed where his car broke down and became Chief Rolling Thunder Mountain, creating a monument that encompassed a crazy white guy, genius, art, appropriation, obsession, creation, apocalyptic visions, hippie acolytes, transformation, history, cement shamanism, discordian sculptures, indigenous people.  

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2019 by geodarts
Typo

[+MtnGoat50]

Elmer's fountain a little west of Mullan Idaho is a cool place to stop. 

 

[+geodarts]

 

A trip that included the old Route 66 through Arizona had many attractions, both current and the ruins and remains   We stayed at the Wigwam in Holbrook and stopped for dinosaurs, the ruins at Two Guns, Meteor City and the corner at Winslow where caching combined with roadsides.

 

I decided to revive this topic because of how familiar this phrase is to this game   Jackrabbit. 

Edited November 1, 2022 by geodarts
Add link to cache

[+hzoi]

19 hours ago, geodarts said:

I decided to revive this topic

 

No objections here. It's a good thread. Maybe I'll add to it after my big road trip next summer - we'll be moving from northern Virginia to Texas, and my rute will be, shall we say, less than direct so I can cross some caches like Mingo and Arikaree off my wish list.