Explore Iowa roadside attractions and other tourist traps, restaurants, stops, and detours to add to your Iowa road trip itinerary.
Why is there a Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, Iowa? Elk Horn and nearby Kimballton (home of the Little Mermaid fountain) make up the largest Danish settlement in the United States. In the 1940s the town raised over $30,000 to buy one for themselves and have it shipped over from Denmark. The Danish windmill was built in Norre Snede, Denmark in 1848. In 1976, it was...
If you’re driving on a road trip on Interstate 80 near the Iowa/Illinois border and find yourself needing gas, there’s only one choice for where to stop: Iowa 80, the world’s largest truckstop. In fact, you should probably stop even if you have a full tank. Because this gas station is a roadside attraction in itself. The World’s Largest...
Cheers from Des Moines! I always love a good “greetings from” postcard mural (like these in Chicago and Austin) so I just had to check out this Cheers from Des Moines mural in Iowa while stopping in town on a road trip. The mural, created by artist Ben Schuh, is located on the side of Exile Brewing Company. Along with the phrase “Cheers from Des...
Sculpture parks are always a roadside-attraction lover’s goldmine as they are often packed with weird and wonderful statues from a variety of artists around the world. As such, the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park in Des Moines, Iowa did not disappoint. Pappajohn Sculpture Park in Des Moines, Iowa The John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park is a 4.4 acre...
I’ve seen a lot of corny roadside attractions on my road trips around the United States. There was the Large Rotating Ear of Corn in Coon Rapids, Iowa. There was the Field of Giant Corn Cobs in Dublin, Ohio. And now there’s this: the Agri-Symbol, a 76-Foot-Tall Corn Stalk in Shelby, Iowa. Just off of I-80 in Iowa is Agri-Symbol Park, a small walking path...
One of the most popular and beloved tourist attractions in Denmark is the Little Mermaid statue that has sat on a rock in Copenhagen harbor since 1913. But, if you’re in the American Midwest and can’t make it all the way across the ocean to check it out, have I got a treat for you: there’s an exact replica Little Mermaid Fountain in Kimballton, Iowa...
There’s no bull about it: Albert the Bull, the World’s Largest Bull in Audubon, Iowa, is one fine roadside attraction. You might even say he’s adora-bull! Albert the Bull has been an icon of the Iowa town of Audubon since he was dedicated on October 21, 1964 at the 14th annual Operation T-Bone. He was conceptualized to represent the booming local...
Do you have a big garden that needs some planting or weeding? Then I just might have the tool for you. The giant garden trowel (AKA the Plantoir Sculpture) in Des Moines, Iowa is so big it could dig up all your soil in one fell swoop. Plantoir (the French name for the garden tool) was the vision of pop artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Sculpted in 2011...
What do you get when you mix a spider with a beetle? A giant Volkswagen Beetle Spider, of course! I’m not sure this car/arachnid hybrid is quite what you normally think of when you think Volkswagen bug…but, this Iowa roadside attraction stands heads and shoulders… and eight giant legs… above the rest! This giant VW beetle spider in Avoca, Iowa...
As you drive across America, each city, each state, proudly welcomes you into its borders with some sort of greeting signpost. Many are standard issue billboards announcing the town name or state name, the motto, the population, the fact that their girls softball team won the championships in 1972, that a president was born there, that they are the home of tax free...
