Explore Minnesota roadside attractions and other tourist traps, restaurants, stops, and detours to add to your Minnesota road trip itinerary.
On a road trip from Chicago to Mount Rushmore, my friend and I went in search of this tiny church, Blue Mound Wayside Chapel in Luverne, Minnesota. As we pulled up Joan Osborne’s “What if God Was One of Us” was playing from the radio on my old black Saturn Ion and it felt pretty appropriate. I looked at the door to this tiny chapel and said to my...
Cock a doodle blue! This big blue rooster is an newly iconic sculpture at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden at Walker Art Center in Minnesota. Titled “Hahn/Cock” it’s the work of German artist Katharina Fristch…and it might just have you seeing double! “Hahn/Cock” is named using both the German and English words for rooster (but not...
They say that life is a bowl of cherries, and, when you catch a glimpse of this whimsical cherry, you just might agree. Meet one of Minnesota’s most famous roadside attractions: the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture in Minneapolis. Spoonbridge and Cherry is a giant pop art sculpture that depicts a big cherry resting on a big spoon. Let me spoon feed you some...
Have you ever had a dilly bar? It’s an iconic Dairy Queen novelty treat that consists of a disc of soft serve coated in hardened chocolate (or cherry or butterscotch candy) served on a stick. On a hot summer day I could probably eat ten of them. Or, I don’t know, maybe one GIANT one like the world’s largest Dilly Bar in Moorhead, Minnesota. The...
While Fergus Falls, Minnesota might be known best for it’s world’s largest otter statue (AKA Otto the Otter), that’s not the only roadside attraction in town worth pulling over for. Take a gander at “Super Goose,” a large Canada goose sculpture in Fergus Falls, that is also worth the pit stop. “Super Goose” is a big steel...
Who can turn the world on with her smile? Mary Tyler Moore. And the Mary Tyler Moore statue in Minneapolis, Minnesota might just turn your world on with its smile too. The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. It starred Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards, a thirty-something woman who moves to Minneapolis after a breakup and...
What sound does a chicken make? Cluck. What sound does a Booming prairie chicken make? Boom! What sound does the World’s Largest “Booming” Prairie Chicken make? BOOM! Meet the World’s Largest “Booming” Prairie Chicken in Rothsay, Minnesota. This 9,000 pound big bird statue stands at 13-feet tall. It was created by artist Art Fosse...
Have you met my significant otter? No? Well let me introduce you! This is Otto the Otter, a giant otter statue who lives at Grotto Park in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Trust me: this roadside attraction is like no otter you will ever see! This big otter was constructed in 1972 by students at Fergus Falls High School, with the help of local metal artist Steve Jaenisch...
A 30 foot giant metal cowboy sculpture stands outside of Nodine Culvert Sales in Nodine, Minnesota. The Culvert Man is made out of corrugated steel culvert pipes, giving his outfit a corduroy look and his cowboy hat a crimped flair. His eyes look up at the pipe he holds above his head with a furrowed expression as if to either say, “I’ve got this,”...
In the 1970s the Jolly Green Giant made a new friend: Little Green Sprout. Since 1972 this little green guy has been the giant’s apprentice and right hand…well, little green guy! This little green guy (well, littler that the giant statue) from the Green Giant brand hangs out at a gas station in Blue Earth, Minnesota, holding a (root) beer and a pizza. Why...
