Pull over for America’s best roadside attractions. Explore the world’s largest things, weird museums, muffler men, tourist traps, and more in these archives of roadside attractions across the country.
The Voyage Home History Center in Riverside, Iowa is officially a museum showcasing the town’s history…and future history. But most people would just call it a Star Trek Museum. So…why is there a Star Trek Museum in the middle of Iowa? Riverside, Iowa, where the center is located, is...
This roadside attraction is a home run. It’s big. It’s fiberglass. It’s repurposed. And it’s wonderful. Meet the Happy Chef Umpire in Ryan, Iowa. Happy Chef was a restaurant chain founded in 1963. It was then that the Frederick Brothers, — Sal, Bob, Bill and Tom — opened the first...
I love this roadside attraction BERRY much — and I hope you do too. It’s the world’s largest strawberry in Strawberry Point, Iowa. Strawberry Point, Iowa is billed as “The Sweetest Place to Grow” so it’s only fitting that they have a roadside attraction dedicated to their...
Paul’s Daughter is one of the oldest restaurants on the Coney Island boardwalk. It’s known for cold beer, clam strips, lobster rolls…and the fiberglass mama and papa A&W Burger Family statues on their roof. Paul’s Daughter in Coney Island New York with an A&W...
Celebrate comic strip artist and writer Mort Walker by visiting the Beetle Bailey Statue in Columbia, Missouri. Mort Walker (Addison Morton Walker, 1923 – 2018) was a well-known comic strip artist and one of his best-known creations was Beetle Bailey, a comic centered around a goof...
A must-see tourist attraction in West Virginia is the New River Gorge Bridge. While this road trip stop is far from the normal “world’s largest things” we write about here, it’s an impressive site and not to be missed if driving through the area. The bridge was...
One of the most popular roadside attractions in America is the Muffler Man: a broad, tall, fiberglass man who was originally created as a roadside advertising icon. But exactly what is a muffler man? How can you distinguish between one of these and any other roadside attraction? And what...
Built in 1896, the Katy Depot in Sedalia, Missouri was once a fully-functioning railroad station. Today, it serves as Sedalia’s official welcome center. The site offers historical exhibits that take you on a journey to the landmark and town’s past and is home to the Sedalia...
Cosmos Mystery Area in Rapid City, South Dakota is a phenomenon of a place where gravity and the laws of nature go out the window. Watch water flow and balls roll up a ledge. Switch places with a friend and magically grow. Walk dizzily through a house not knowing up from down. Stand...
This roadside attraction might be a shoo-in for best attraction in Casey, Illinois: the World’s Largest Wooden Shoes. These big wooden shoes measure 11 feet, 5 inches long by 5 feet 10 inches wide and 4 feet 10 inches tall. The pair was created by Jim Bolin (the man responsible for...