Roadside attractions and oddities in California
Roadside attractions and oddities in California, each compiled from its own sources: where to pull over, hours, and who keeps it up. No ratings; every entry carries its status.
Point at a dot to see the place.Tap a dot to see the place. Road map of California.
- Cabazon DinosaursCabazon · Roadside attractionTwo concrete dinosaurs beside Interstate 10 in Cabazon, California, raised from cast-off freeway steel by a Knott's Berry Farm artist who began the first in 1964.
- Desert Christ ParkYucca Valley · Sculpture parkA hillside sculpture park above Yucca Valley, California, where a retired aircraft patternmaker set more than forty white concrete figures from Christ's life, meant to survive atomic war.
- East JesusNiland · Art museumEast Jesus, a 30-acre off-grid art museum built from discards on the edge of Slab City near Niland, California, keeps its founder's ashes in its music room.
- Elmer's Bottle Tree RanchOro Grande · Two-acre ranchElmer's Bottle Tree Ranch, on old Route 66 near Oro Grande, California, is a two-acre forest of 200 welded pipe trees hung with bottles and topped with salvaged signs.
- Galleta Meadows Sky ArtBorrego Springs · Metal sky art sculpturesRicardo Breceda's 130-odd welded scrap-steel creatures stand across Galleta Meadows outside Borrego Springs, California, among them a 350-foot serpent that dives under Borrego Springs Road.
- Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle VillageSimi ValleyA one-third-acre folk art environment in Simi Valley, California, built from dump bottles by Tressa "Grandma" Prisbrey, who began at 60 to house 17,000 pencils.
- Olancha Sculpture GardenOlancha · Sculpture gardenMade up of a dozen or so large, and often darkly humorous metal sculptures, the garden is the work of artist Jael Hoffmann.
- Salvation MountainNiland, California · Folk-art hillsideSalvation Mountain is a literal man-made mountain 28 years in the making, covered in half a million gallons of latex paint.
- The Mystery SpotSanta Cruz · Gravitational anomalyA gravitational anomaly located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz, California.
- Watts Towers of Simon RodiaLos Angeles · Masterpiece of folk artThe Watts Towers is a masterpiece of folk art; the only public access is a guided tour, with rotating exhibitions at the Watts Towers Arts Center.
- World's Largest ArtichokeCastroville · Concrete sculpture20-foot tall, 12-foot wide concrete version of an artichoke, erected at the front of the fruit stand and restaurant called the Giant Artichoke in Castroville.
Roadside Attractions in all eleven states; next door in Oregon and Arizona.