Regent, North Dakota: Enchanted Highway

Gary Greff's towering, fanciful metal sculptures appear every few miles along a lonely road to his way-off-the-beaten path town.

We stumbled across the Enchanted Highway and would say it is definitely worth the detour, especially if you're a fan of big stuff. I recommend staying on I-94 until exit 72 and then go straight south towards Regent. This is the best way to see the sculptures, as they face the north. Each one tells you the distance to the next and every pullout is large enough to be RV friendly. I was pleasantly surprised at how large these sculptures were. They have done a nice job of maintaining the area, and even some of the fencing is unique to the larger sculpture. The Jumping Deer pullout has a small but fun maze to walk through.

I was bummed the gift shop was closed but it looked like it would be worth the stop. I highly recommend this fun and leisurely drive. Next time I hope to stay at the Enchanted Castle and check out the tavern. It looks like a blast.

Sadly, we weren't able to make it the whole way with a four-year-old and six-month-old who were already tired out from visiting the Dinosaur Museum in Dickinson. We got to the giant Deer, only about five miles off I-94, and then the Grasshopper another 12 miles south of the deer. We were thankful that each stop has a sign stating how many miles the next attraction is down the road; we just wish everything had been set up as a loop or at least parallel to the Interstate so that we could have seen more without having to go too far out of our way. I do highly recommend it, and will definitely be back when the kids are a little older!

Gary Greff, builder of giant sculptures along The Enchanted Highway, plans to build his biggest yet: the World's Largest Motorcycle, 102 feet long and 42 feet tall (that's as long as a Blue Whale and twice the height of an average Muffler Man). Gary says he'll park it right in downtown Regent, and hopes to unveil it by the summer of 2012, in time for the annual Sturgis Rally in neighboring South Dakota.

And busy Gary is still on schedule to open his Enchanted Castle Motel this Fall, which is where he hopes people will stay who drive all the way to Regent to see his giant motorcycle and other sculptures.

Gary Greff has added two new giant metal sculptures to the Enchanted Highway. Geese in Flight appears at the exit for Gladstone (Exit 72) on Interstate 94, providing incentive for folks to make the detour south along the county road. The cost for the cranes to lift Geese in Flight was $20,000.

Deer Crossing, a sculpture of a giant deer bounding forward, went up September 9, 2002. Requiring two cranes to lift it, this sculpture weighs 35,000 pounds.

If you take the highway all the way to Regent, you can stop in at the Enchanted Highway gift shop and buy postcards, shot glasses, and t-shirts with pictures of the sculptures. Gary's dream is to turn Regent into a tourist destination. The town also boasts a Pioneer Museum.