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Meridiela.

Enchanted Highway

Fifty-five kilometres of North Dakota back road lined with enormous scrap-metal sculptures, built by one man to save his town.

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Typesculpture route
WhereNorth Dakota
Nearest cityRegent at the south end; Gladstone on I-94 at the north
Best seasonMay to October
Time to allowHalf a day
Getting thereThe county road between I-94 at Gladstone and Regent
EntryFree

Gary Greff was a schoolteacher in Regent watching the town empty - population falling, school closing, businesses shutting - and decided in 1989 that giant roadside sculpture might give people a reason to drive the road. He had no art or welding training and learned as he went. Seven large works now stand along the fifty-five kilometres, made from scrap metal and oil-field pipe: Geese in Flight, listed by Guinness as the largest scrap metal sculpture, stands about eleven metres high and twenty-one across; there are also grasshoppers, deer, fish, a Teddy Roosevelt on horseback and a pheasant family. Each has a pull-off. Regent at the end has a themed hotel he also created.

What you actually see

  • Seven large scrap-metal works - spread over fifty-five kilometres.
  • Geese in Flight - listed as the largest scrap metal sculpture.
  • Pull-offs at each sculpture - on an otherwise empty road.
  • A project by one untrained man - begun in 1989 to save a town.

When to go

May to October. Half a day for the full route.

Honest expectations

It is a slow drive on a two-lane road with nothing else along it. Winter snow closes it. There are no services between the ends. Whether it saved Regent is debatable - the population has kept falling.

Nearby

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is west; Dickinson is north.

What to pack for Enchanted Highway

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Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.

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