9 Quirky Roadside Attractions To Plan Your Next Road Trip Around

Located just 20 minutes outside of Palm Springs (and a must-stop for those road-tripping from Los Angeles), pull off the I-10 for an up-close look at Dinny the Dinosaur and Mr. Rex towering over the road. The 150-foot (46-meter) Brontosaurus and 65-foot (20-meter) Tyrannosaurus rex, sometimes dressed up in seasonal gear, have greeted drivers for more than 35 years. They're also a familiar pop culture image and have appeared in music videos and movies, including Pee-wee's Big Adventure. (And upon paid admission, you can climb through Mr. Rex’s mouth, Pee-wee Herman–style.)

Insider tip: This roadside attraction is open daily, and while it’s free to view the dinosaurs from the parking lot, a ticket gains you entry into Dinosaur Park, which includes a museum, and a dinosaur walk, along with access to climbing to the top of the T Rex.

Take a detour off the Atlantic City Expressway to Margate City and climb inside New Jersey’s beloved 65-foot-high (22-meter) Lucy the Elephant, one of the oldest roadside attractions in the US. Lucy was the brainchild of a real estate speculator who commissioned the structure in 1881 to attract more tourists. It worked, and a hotel business grew up around her. Since then, she’s been home to a tavern, offices, and a restaurant, though today this curious roadside stop is now recognized as a National Historic Landmark.

Insider tip: There’s no charge to enter the grounds, but you’ll need to buy a ticket to take the guided tour through Lucy.

After touring the Strip, head to Goldfield, a Wild West boomtown-turned-ghost town (literally, the historic Goldfield Hotel is said to be haunted) for a peek at the International Car Forest, a roadside attraction and open-air art gallery/junkyard—and one of Nevada’s most bizarre roadside sights.

Home to more than 40 cars—some with their noses buried into the ground, others balanced atop one another—each one functions as an oversized canvas for visiting artists who adorn them with constantly changing artworks.

Insider tip: The International Car Forest is free to visit and open 24/7.

Make time for tea along US Highway 30—or at least time for a few photos of the Chester Teapot—which held the title of the world’s largest teapot from the 1930s until 2025, when it was dethroned by a larger rival in Texas. Chester, West Virginia, was also once home to the world’s largest pottery industry, which the 14-foot tall (4-meter) teapot was built to commemorate, before being turned into a concession stand selling teapots, snacks, and souvenirs. Nowadays, it's a free-to-access roadside attraction.

Insider tip: Visit on National Teapot Day in August for celebrations, snack vendors, and live music.

Opened in 2003, it took chainsaw artists over four years to create this 30-foot (9-meter) tall Sweet Willy—the world’s biggest beagle and home to the Dog Bark Park, an art studio and visitor center—and one of Highway 95’s funkiest highway sights. Located in Cottonwood, Idaho, Dog Park Park was once a bed-and-breakfast where you could stay inside the beagle, but you can still visit the on-site studio and the Dog Bark Park, which features chainsaw dog carvings by resident artists.

Insider tip: The visitor center is open year-round and free to enter.

After touring Palm Springs by bike, hop in a car and head south towards Niland, California, where the 50-foot-high (15-meter-high), 150-foot-wide (46-meter-wide) roadside attraction of Salvation Mountain can’t fail to catch your attention—after all, it’s one of California’s most unusual rest stops. Built by resident Leonard Knight, Salvation Mountain is a shrine dedicated to his faith that’s made of adobe bricks, tires, and car parts; covered in a jumble of hearts, birds, and flowers; and crowned by the words “God Is Love” and a white cross.

Insider tip: The site is open daily from dawn until dusk. Admission is free, but many visitors donate a can of paint to help with the upkeep.

You can't miss the World's Largest Picnic Basket on Ohio State Route 16, around 40 minutes east of Columbus. Standing 7 stories tall and more than 200 feet (61 meters) wide, the basket opened in 1997 as the headquarters of the basket-making Longaberger Company. Today the roadside attraction’s future is uncertain, as the company has since moved to new offices while plans to convert the basket into a hotel fell through.

Insider tip: While you can’t currently enter the big basket, the exterior is easy enough to spot on the southside of Route 16.

England’s prehistoric monument, Stonehenge, is a place of mystery that, thousands of years after its creation, remains almost as enigmatic as ever. Nebraska’s Carhenge, on the other hand, has few secrets to tell. Built by Jim Reinders in 1987 as a memorial to his father just outside the town of Alliance in the Western Nebraska Sandhills, Carhenge mirrors the layout of Stonehenge—to scale—using vintage cars, all spray-painted gray.

Insider tip: This whimsical road trip site is open year-round, from dawn to dusk. Visit at sunrise—or better yet, visit during the summer solstice—for that Stonehenge-Druid vibe.

Every president gets a library named for them, but only Jimmy Carter has been honored with a roadside attraction. The Indiana Democratic Party built this 13-foot-high (4-meter-high) peanut in honor of Carter's 1976 bid for the Presidency—he’s a former peanut farmer—then shipped to Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia, where it has since served as one of Georgia’s top off-the-beaten-path attractions.

Insider tip: Rumor has it that the 39th president is not a fan of the grinning goober—he’d probably prefer you visited the nearby Jimmy Carter National Historic Site instead.