News from the offbeat tourist attraction landscape of Roadside America.
Sightings Vol. 13, No. 6 - June 22, 2017
Sightings

Paul Bunyan: Nearly 50 Feet Tall, And He Won't Shut Up

Giant Paul Bunyan is the chatty greeter of tourists at the magnificent Trees of Mystery, home to corkscrew redwoods and arboreal mutants. His mighty ax is ready to level forests, but for now the Tall Tale talking woodsman is content to wave his motorized hand, rotate his head, and pick you out of the crowd. He's not mean (perhaps reserving his sharpest japes for Cathedral Tree open mike night). But big Paul is persuasive.

Okay, okay. We'll sit on your boot. Story

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Evel Knievel Museum

Evel Knievel Museum

The world's largest collection of Evelabilia includes the Skycycle X-2 that nearly jumped the Snake River Canyon, and a "Bad to the Bones" interactive exhibit linking daredevil Evel's injuries with his x-rays. Story

 

New Geographic Center of North America

New Geographic Center of North America

The tiny town of Robinson thought the old Geographic Center of North America was bogus, claimed the title in 2015, and had it confirmed by the Feds in 2016. It's the only U.S. center that also serves beer. Story

 

Lunch Date at Yellowstone Bear World

Yellowstone Bear World

Totally surrounded by bears. And they look so cuddly. See 'em out in drive-thru nature from your own vehicle, or stand on a mobile platform and toss food to the agreeable bruins. "C'mon bears!" Story

 

Wigwam Village Motel No. 7

>Wigwam Village Motel No. 7

Sleep in a concrete teepee like America's rugged roadside pioneers. Float in the kidney-shaped pool, marvel at your spacious conical accommodations. Built in the 1940s, it's the westernmost teepee motel, right along Route 66. Story

 

The Gum Wall. Ewww.

The Gum Wall

You can smell it before you see it: the minty, sugary scent of massed mastication. The Gum Wall has been a wad magnet for gum chewers for decades, despite repeated attempts to scrape it clean. Story

 

The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss

The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss

Painted in Dr. Seuss's familiar crazy colors, the Amazing World has activity areas for kids and quirky relics for adults. Outside, a sculpture garden freezes Seuss's most famous characters in impish bronze. Story

 

Dearly Departed Tours and Museum

Dearly Departed Tours and Museum

This small museum associated with an LA driving tour company recently careened to fame when it acquired the Jayne Mansfield Death Car. Other worthy relics include Divine's motel door of death and Karen Carpenter's bathroom sink. Story

 

Coat of Many Feathers

Coat of Many Feathers

What would you do with 450 dead duck heads? Ruby Abel yanked out all of their feathers and sewed them into a coat. It took her 600 hours. A mid-1960s hobby-out-of-control, now enshrined in a museum. Story

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The Great Emancipator... of Fashion

Losing his stovepipe hat, gaining a pair of shades, anchoring his slipping forehead with duct tape, 2017 robot Abe Lincoln continues his sartorial evolution at 1880 Cowboy Town.

Robot Lincoln.

Watch our 2008 video

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Have a Bunyan-sized summer!
The RoadsideAmerica.com Team

Spotted by Tipsters

Spotted by Tipsters

Scientists Fail To Explain An Unusual Concentration Of Roadside Attractions. But if they're so smart, maybe they can decipher this puzzling tombstone in Canada.

Latest Tips

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Apps & Tools

Roadside America iPhone app Roadside America (iPhone)
12,000+ USA/Canada offbeat attractions, research targets, interactive Near Me maps. New places and "research targets" added frequently! Quirky categories, top-rated recommendations. Navigate with Waze, Google or Apple Maps.

$2.99 on the App Store (includes access to 1 of 7 regions); addtl. regions or "All Access" unlock is optional in-app purchase.
iPhone, iPod touch (iPad compatible)

*****

Roadside Presidents iPhone app

Roadside Presidents App for iPhone
US Presidents, VPs, First Ladies, even dastardly assassins -- visit where they lived, worked, played, died! Updated for faster performance, with place maps, a new President, and turn-by-turn directions via Waze, Google or Apple Maps.

$2.99 iPhone, iPod touch, (iPad compatible). Available on the App Store.

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Roadside America My Sights Planner My Sights Route Planner - Save places you read about on Roadside America, create a trip, and then email it to friends or export a .cvs file to upload onto a GPS device (Garmin, TomTom, etc.). Learn more and try it!

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Main image: Trees of Mystery, Klamath, California.