Genoa, Colorado: Wonder View Tower

On private land. Shabby and decaying. It helps to realize how different life was: cars must have been moving slowly for the original owner to identify the car license plates in advance.

Wonder Tower is closed and crumbling, but still standing.

My husband stopped at the Genoa Tower in CO and was surprised to find it boarded up. He chatted with the owner's son, who has no intention of reopening it. His dad died last fall. Though we only got there once many years ago, it has always been my intention to return. Such a loss to the roadside attraction community.

We loved this! What a great way to spend an afternoon -- and a dollar! We went ahead of tourist season, so we had the whole place to ourselves. The owner was more than happy to show us some of his favorite items, and let us guess at what they could possibly be. I think we might've guessed one almost correctly. The place is full to the brim with rocks, bottles, and a variety of antiques, not to mention the oddities like the two-headed calves, animal bones, and rooms made of petrified wood.

The tower itself was fun to go up into. Wear good shoes, because the stairs are almost like a ladder going up to the top level. I don't know if we saw six states, but we sure had a wonderful afternoon. Bring a few extra dollars to spend on rocks or antique bottles. We wish we had!

We talked quite a bit with the man running the place and, sadly, this is going to be his last year running the place -- so if you've been thinking about visiting the Wonder Tower, get there by September!