Ashford, Washington: Ex Nihilo: Recycled Spirits of Iron
Artist Jay Bechtold's outdoor sculpture park (partly of Dan Klennert's work) includes a dinosaur, a horse made mostly of horseshoes, a giant spider, and an X-rated section.
- Address:
- WA Hwy. 706, Ashford, WA
- Directions:
- Between Ashford and Elbe at the west entrance to Mt Rainier on south side of highway 706.
- Admission:
- Donation.
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
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Everything there indicates the artist is actually Dan Klennert. It is really astounding. The driftwood horse and llama are also something to marvel!
[Renee T, 07/26/2025]
It was quite a trek finding this place out in the woods, but so very cool. We spent at least an hour there seeing all the wonderful metal creations.
[Connie from Seattle, 08/02/2013]Artist Dan Klennert's outdoor sculpture park has been entertaining the adventurous since the 1990s.
Definitely a 3 or 4 stop! Huge sculpture garden with steampunk spider, driftwood horse herd with real skulls and genuinely touching memorial garden for his beloved pets. Nice gift shop and great place to picnic!
[Tamara Paris, 09/19/2011]Creative, extensive, comical, artistic, entertaining. A vast outdoor sculpture garden created from scrap metal, fallen deadwood, bones, and other items. Worth stopping by if you're in the area.
[Mitch Patrie, 10/13/2008]It's a sculpture park that's huge! It has an x-rated section (which actually was kind of weird) and a way cool horse. There is a skeleton on a Harley-Davidson too. There's a ton of stuff to see. I really enjoyed it. They ask for donations in a bucket. I really like the elephants.
[Kiki Barr, 06/19/2006]Page of 2 [Next 1 items]
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The park was started by Bechtold's father-in-law, Dan Klennert.