Ten of the weirdest roadside attractions in Wyoming beckon travelers with their quirky charm, tall tales, and oversized oddities. If you love offbeat road trips, these stops will add a dash of delightfully strange to any Wyoming journey.
1. World’s Largest Elkhorn Arch (Afton)
Towering over US Highway 89, the arch is built from more than 3,000 elk antlers and weighs over 15 tons. This photogenic marvel celebrates Wyoming’s wildlife heritage and is a must-snap for curious visitors.
2. Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument (Laramie)
A 12.5-foot-tall head of Lincoln sits atop a granite pedestal, marking the highest point along the old Lincoln Highway. The massive sculpture peers over I-80, and its stark presence surprises road-trippers.
3. The World’s Largest Jackalope (Douglas)
This mythical “Wyoming native” is immortalized in giant statue form all over Douglas—the official Jackalope Capital of the World. Snap photos with one of these rabbit-antelope hybrids, and maybe buy a jackalope hunting license as a quirky souvenir.
4. Buford: Smallest Town in America
Once home to only one resident, Buford stands as a roadside curiosity on I-80. Travelers stop to document the town’s tiny post office and quirky billboards—the ultimate “blink and you’ll miss it” community.
5. Tree in the Rock (Buford)
This solitary pine tree rises improbably from solid stone along the Union Pacific Railroad near Buford. An age-old symbol of perseverance, it’s an unexpected, living oddity just off the highway.
6. Woods Landing Bar & Cafe (Woods Landing-Jelm)
Dance on a hand-hewn log floor padded with old boxcar springs in this 1880s saloon. This relic of frontier days is both historic and a marvelously odd slice of old Wyoming.
7. Cheyenne Giant Coffee Pot Water Tower
Cheyenne’s water tower is shaped like a massive coffee pot, standing as a testament to creative civic engineering. Whether you’re a java fiend or a fan of roadside kitsch, it’s worth a quick stop.
8. Dug Up Gun Museum (Cody)
Among the Old West-themed attractions of Cody, this museum devotes itself solely to firearms found buried or lost for decades—many with wild stories attached. It’s as weird as it is fascinating.
9. The Quaal Windsock (Sundance)
Here, an antique Beechcraft airplane functions as a windsock, catching the blustery northern Wyoming winds atop a pole. Aviation buffs and fans of the bizarre will enjoy this windblown spectacle.
10. Smith Mansion (Wapiti Valley)
This weird, multi-story wooden structure was built entirely by one man over decades. Resembling a ramshackle haunted house or oversized tree fort, the locally legendary Smith Mansion is both architectural oddity and roadside enigma.
Wyoming’s highways are dotted with monuments to eccentricity—giant animals, mythical creatures, odd history, and pure cowboy ingenuity. Next time you find yourself on a long Wyoming stretch, hit the brakes and let these peculiar stops add stories to your trip.
Sources
[1] https://www.fiftygrande.com/50-weirdest-roadside-attractions/
[2] https://daytripnomad.com/weirdest-roadside-attractions-usa/
[3] https://wakeupwyo.com/a-map-of-wyoming-greatest-roadside-attractions/
[4] https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/wyoming/roadside-attractions
[5] https://mycountry955.com/spectacular-wyoming-roadside-attractions-that-you-must-see/
