Wyoming is an odd state – when you’re out in the middle of nowhere and pretty disconnected from the world, there’s no way to gauge what “normal” even is! That being said, there are a few Wyoming roadside attractions that truly show off our strange state, and you should stop by to see them next time you drive by.
- Fossil Cabin, Medicine Bow
Flickr / Jeffrey Beall This strange cabin was built almost entirely out of dinosaur bones from a nearby dig site. It was intended to get travelers off of the Lincoln Highway near Medicine Bow, so that they would then head into town and buy gas from nearby pumps. I’m not sure how well it worked when it was built in 1932, but it’s a pretty popular roadside attraction now!
- The World’s Largest Elkhorn Ranch, Afton
Flickr / Clinton Steeds This strange arch is a sight to see when you drive up Main Street in Afton! Hop out and take a picture, because this is truly a piece of art. It spans the entirety of the street and stands high above the roadway with plenty of room for trucks to pass underneath.
- The Ames Brothers Pyramid, Buford.
Flickr / Derek Bruff Considering the town maintains a population of… one… there’s rarely a reason to visit Buford. It is worth driving through to see the strange Ames Brothers Pyramid, which was built to help improve the image of two disgraced railroad brothers. When the train line moved south, their railside attraction was left literally in the middle of nowhere.
- The (Former) World’s Largest Jackalope
Flickr / Jimmy Emerson, DVM. We don’t tell this fellow that his title has been usurped. Instead, people visit what was formerly the World’s Largest Jackalope in Douglas, near a fascinating train museum.
- The Wapiti Big Boy
Flickr / Derek Bruff This fast food icon appeared in the middle of the Wapiti Valley without explanation in 2013. Could it be that Dr. Evil was trying to make a comeback? I don’t think we’ll ever know the story of this mysterious roadside attraction.
- Tree Rock, Albany County
Flickr / Kent Kanouse I’m not sure what’s stranger - that this tree grew straight up out of a rock, or that a Wyomignite found it and convinced the state to build a fence around it and erect a sign explaining that this is the spot where a tree grew up out of a rock.
- Giant Head of Abe Lincoln, Laramie
Flickr/Derek Bruff The Giant Head of the Great Emancipator stands tall, looking out over the Lincoln Highway as it lays across Albany County.
- The Greater Green River Intergalactic Spaceport
Google Local / Pat Richardson In 1994, the Green River city council named this 400 acre primitive airport (which is a large empty field with a windsock) as the Spaceport, for inhabitants of Jupiter who may seek refuge in Green River. If the largest planet in our solar system is threatened with destruction, I have a feeling Earth won’t be in great shape, either.
- Parting of the Ways - Sort Of
K. Magaraci Along a desolate Wyoming highway (WY-28), you’ll find a big stone monument marking the Parting of the Ways - where the emigrant trails divide, with the right fork taking travelers to Idaho, and the left fork heading down to Salt Lake City.The only problem is that this isn’t the “Parting of the Ways”. In fact, this interpretive site is about 10 miles from the actual Parting of the Ways, but by the time Wyoming realized it had misidentified wagon tracks, it was easier to just put up a sign explaining the mishap, and keep the site as it otherwise stood.
What’s your favorite strange site in Wyoming? One that didn’t quite qualify as a roadside attraction but still deserves some attention is the Parting of the Waters, which is the only place in the world where you can stand in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans at the same time. Yup, that’s right here in Wyoming! Read about the Parting of the Waters here.
Flickr / Jeffrey Beall
This strange cabin was built almost entirely out of dinosaur bones from a nearby dig site. It was intended to get travelers off of the Lincoln Highway near Medicine Bow, so that they would then head into town and buy gas from nearby pumps. I’m not sure how well it worked when it was built in 1932, but it’s a pretty popular roadside attraction now!
Flickr / Clinton Steeds
This strange arch is a sight to see when you drive up Main Street in Afton! Hop out and take a picture, because this is truly a piece of art. It spans the entirety of the street and stands high above the roadway with plenty of room for trucks to pass underneath.
Flickr / Derek Bruff
Considering the town maintains a population of… one… there’s rarely a reason to visit Buford. It is worth driving through to see the strange Ames Brothers Pyramid, which was built to help improve the image of two disgraced railroad brothers. When the train line moved south, their railside attraction was left literally in the middle of nowhere.
Flickr / Jimmy Emerson, DVM.
We don’t tell this fellow that his title has been usurped. Instead, people visit what was formerly the World’s Largest Jackalope in Douglas, near a fascinating train museum.
This fast food icon appeared in the middle of the Wapiti Valley without explanation in 2013. Could it be that Dr. Evil was trying to make a comeback? I don’t think we’ll ever know the story of this mysterious roadside attraction.
Flickr / Kent Kanouse
I’m not sure what’s stranger - that this tree grew straight up out of a rock, or that a Wyomignite found it and convinced the state to build a fence around it and erect a sign explaining that this is the spot where a tree grew up out of a rock.
Flickr/Derek Bruff
The Giant Head of the Great Emancipator stands tall, looking out over the Lincoln Highway as it lays across Albany County.
Google Local / Pat Richardson
In 1994, the Green River city council named this 400 acre primitive airport (which is a large empty field with a windsock) as the Spaceport, for inhabitants of Jupiter who may seek refuge in Green River. If the largest planet in our solar system is threatened with destruction, I have a feeling Earth won’t be in great shape, either.
K. Magaraci
Along a desolate Wyoming highway (WY-28), you’ll find a big stone monument marking the Parting of the Ways - where the emigrant trails divide, with the right fork taking travelers to Idaho, and the left fork heading down to Salt Lake City.The only problem is that this isn’t the “Parting of the Ways”. In fact, this interpretive site is about 10 miles from the actual Parting of the Ways, but by the time Wyoming realized it had misidentified wagon tracks, it was easier to just put up a sign explaining the mishap, and keep the site as it otherwise stood.
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