The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(May 2009) |
This is a list of verifiably notable roadside attractions.
Allen Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 28,638.
Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately 169 km (105 mi) east of Lethbridge and 295 km (183 mi) southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are within Cypress County. Medicine Hat was the eighth-largest city in Alberta in 2021 with a population of 63,271. It is also the sunniest place in Canada according to Environment and Climate Change Canada, averaging 2,544 hours of sunshine a year.
Robert Pershing Wadlow, also known as the Alton Giant and the Giant of Illinois, was an American man who was the tallest person in recorded history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. He was born and raised in Alton, Illinois, a small city near St. Louis, Missouri.
Vegreville is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is on Highway 16A approximately 103 km (64 mi) east of Edmonton, Alberta's capital city. It was incorporated as a town in 1906, and that year also saw the founding of the Vegreville Observer, a weekly newspaper for the region.
A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboards. The modern tourist-oriented highway attraction originated as a U.S. and Canadian phenomenon in the 1940s to 1960s, and subsequently caught on in Australia.
There are multiple claims to the world's biggest ball of twine record, all within the United States. As of 2014, the ball of twine with the largest circumference is located in Cawker City, Kansas, measured at 8.06 feet (2.46 m) in diameter and 10.83 feet (3.30 m) in height.
Novelty architecture, also called programmatic architecture or mimetic architecture, is a type of architecture in which buildings and other structures are given unusual shapes for purposes such as advertising or to copy other famous buildings without any intention of being authentic. Their size and novelty means that they often serve as landmarks. They are distinct from architectural follies, in that novelty architecture is essentially usable buildings in eccentric form whereas follies are non-usable, purely ornamental buildings also often in eccentric form.
"Wahpper" is a 40-foot long fiberglass sculpture of a catfish beside the Red River of the North in Wahpeton, North Dakota, United States.
Alberta has been a tourist destination since the early days of the 20th Century, with attractions including national parks, National Historic Sites of Canada, urban arts and cultural facilities, outdoor locales for skiing, hiking and camping, shopping locales such as West Edmonton Mall, outdoor festivals, professional athletic events, international sporting competitions such as the Commonwealth Games and Olympic Winter Games, as well as more eclectic attractions.
The Kalyna Country ecomuseum is a heritage and eco-tourism district in East Central Alberta, Canada, named after the highbush cranberry plant, pronounced (Ka-lyn-na) in the Ukrainian language. The Ukrainian folklore states: "Without Kalyna, there is no Ukraina".
The Giants of the Prairies are a group of "world's biggest" roadside attractions found in Western Canada, especially in small towns populated mostly by Ukrainian Canadians.
The "World's Largest Dinosaur" is a roadside tourist attraction shaped like a modelTyrannosaurus rex, situated in the Town of Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. The World's Largest Dinosaur is one of several dinosaur-related attractions in Drumheller and the surrounding areas, including Dinosaur Provincial Park.
The world's largest axe is a sculpture of an axe located in Nackawic-Millville, New Brunswick, Canada. It was built in 1991, the year Nackawic was designated the Forestry Capital of Canada, as a monument to symbolize the significance of the forest industry in Nackawic and throughout New Brunswick. Additionally, the head of the axe contains a time capsule embedded within it. The axe sits in a park located off the Saint John River, which is the host location of the annual Big Axe Craft Beer Festival.
The Uniroyal Giant Tire was created by the United States Rubber Company for the 1964 New York World's Fair, where it functioned as a Ferris wheel. Since 1966 it has served as a static display in Allen Park, Michigan, alongside Interstate 94, between the Southfield Freeway interchange and Outer Drive overpass.
The Nevis Tiger Muskie is a sculpture located at 114-122 Bunyan Trails Rd, Nevis, Minnesota.
Since the folkloric hero Paul Bunyan's first major appearance in print, the character has been utilized to promote a variety of products, locations, and services. The giant lumberjack's mass appeal has led him to become a recurring figure in entertainment and marketing, appearing in various incarnations throughout popular culture.
The American Treasure Tour is a tourist attraction established in 2010 and opened to the public for guided tours. Visitors travel through a large private collection that encompasses an eclectic variety of smaller collections. Included is one of the world's largest private collections of automatic music machines: nickelodeons, band organs, calliopes, photoplayers, and music boxes. There are also classic cars, circus art, dolls and dollhouses, and a large assortment of popular culture miscellanea. It is located in the 422 Business Center in the community of Oaks, Pennsylvania, west of Valley Forge National Historical Park just off of U.S. Route 422.
Betsy the Lobster is a sculpture in Islamorada, Florida depicting a large Caribbean spiny lobster. Made out of fiberglass, it was anatomically correct and was completed in 1985. It is the second-most photographed attraction in the Florida Keys, after the Southernmost Point Buoy.