2025 Wrapped: A Full Year of Offbeat Atlas Obscura Exploration

South Dakota Atlas Obscura Sites

Historic 1888 Jail

This is the oldest wooden jailhouse in South Dakota and is easily found driving through downtown Hot Springs, South Dakota.

Mammoth Site

The Mammoth Site is definitely on my list of favorite Atlas Obscura sites we went to this year. Weirdly, this was the second covered dig site we visited in South Dakota. Inside the building is the open pit where researchers are still uncovering the remains of over 60 mammoths. It feels like visiting the elephant graveyard in the Lion King.

Homestake Open Cut

This pit was once part of the Homestake Mine, which was the largest and deepest gold mine in the Western Hemisphere. Now the former mine is used by Sanford Underground Research Facilities as the country’s deepest underground laboratory.

Mt. Moriah Cemetery

Deadwood’s Mt. Moriah Cemetery is probably one of the most famous cemeteries in the country. It’s the final resting place of Wild West legends Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Honestly, though, as a regular cemetery enthusiast, it was too touristy. Graves were fenced off and there was an admission charge.

Fish Car No. 3

Fish Car No. 3 is located the DC Booth National Fish Hatchery. We visit a lot of hatcheries, but this one was especially fun because they have some of the historic buildings. This vintage train car was restored and outfitted to look like the fish transport cars of the 1880s.

Rapid City Presidents

We always joke about how “it’s always Lincoln,” because we find Lincoln-related stuff everywhere we go (not just in our homestate of the Land of Lincoln), but in Rapid City, they have all the presidents! The statues are all around downtown and it’s fun to drive around and see them everywhere.

Firehouse Brewing Co.

Driving out to the Badlands, we saw at least 20 billboards for Firehouse Brewing, each with its own actual vintage firetruck next to it. It’s not only South Dakota’s oldest operating brewery, but it’s housed in a historic 1915 firehouse. I studied fire science in school, so of course we had to visit. We were warned by a local that the food isn’t good, and that was true, but the beer and atmosphere were worth a visit.

Art Alley

Just a block away from Firehouse Brewing is Rapid City’s Art Alley. The alley is a project of the Arts Council and is a (mostly) sanctioned place for street art. Artists are supposed to get a free permit from the Council for their murals, but there’s a good amount of regular old graffiti too.

Depression Era Dinosaur Park

Rapid City’s Dinosaur Park was the first dinosaur park we visited this year. It has less dinosaurs than Ogden’s, but these ones were built in 1936 and are still the original dinosaur statues- just with fresh paint. It really warmed my heart to see these vintage beasts still here.

Chapel In The Hills

Chapel in the Hills was built in 1969 and is a replica of the 1150 Borgund stave church in Norway. It’s free to the public to visit and is absolutely beautiful in person.

Hotel Alex Johnson

We didn’t actually go into the Hotel Alex Johnson, but it’s a 1927 hotel that is supposed to be super haunted. It was visited by multiple presidents, and famously was used in the filming of North by Northwest.

Delta-09 Minuteman Missile Site

This is one of two Atlas Obscura entries related to Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, and one of 3 locations within the NPS unit. The Delta-09 site is a missile silo with an original training missile inside to give you a peek into what the actual missile would have looked like.

Minuteman Missile Visitor Center

The visitor center for Minuteman Missile NHS has exhibits on the missile program and the Cold War in general.

Wall Drug

Of course we had to visit Wall Drug, it’s probably the most iconic tourist attraction in South Dakota. It was too crowded to really enjoy, but it was neat to actually see it- especially after seeing hundreds of billboards.

The Corn Palace

I LOVED the Corn Palace! We made it right in time for a free tour about the history of the corn palace and it was such a great tour. The giant murals made of corn are changed up every year and it is truly impressive to see in person.

Giant Prairie Dog

Prairie dogs were my favorite animals in South Dakota, and of course they’re memorialized in statue form.

Skeleton Man Walking Skeleton Dinosaur

We drove by the skeleton man walking his skeleton dinosaur on our drive out to Badlands National Park.

Dignity of Earth and Sky

We stopped off at the rest area where Dignity of Earth and Sky is, and it was definitely worth the stop vs. trying to see it from the road. Photos don’t really do justice to the scale and it is an absolutely beautiful statue in person.

New Mexico Atlas Obscura Sites

Santa Fe Botanical Garden

Thanks to our American Horticultural Society membership, we were able to visit the Santa Fe Botanical Garden for free! It’s on Atlas Obscura because of its unique collection of desert plants.

Ethyl the Whale

Ethyl was originally created for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, then was bought be Meow Wolf and moved to Santa Fe. Ethyl is made from recycled plastic and is meant to bring awareness to plastic in the ocean.

Bart Prince Residence and Studio

We unexpectedly drove by the Bart Prince residence/studio in Albuquerque. The artist’s “spaceship house” can mostly be seen from the road and is definitely pretty interesting to drive by.

PistachioLand: World’s Largest Pistachio

We had a great time at PistachioLand. We did the orchard tour, a wine tasting, bought lots of gifts in the farm store, and of course took photos with the big pistachio.

White Sands National Park

We originally didn’t think we’d actually get to visit White Sands National Park because of the government shutdown, but during our 1 week in the area they happened to get temporary funding to open for just a few days- yay! It was so fun to sled the dunes.

Calabacillas Arroyo Artificial Fossils

We drove by these faux fossils a couple of times. It’s a large art installation designed to be a timeline of the natural history of New Mexico.

Pierotti’s Clowns Monument

Pierotti’s Clowns were a baseball team starting by the owners of a local soda fountain during the days of Los Alamos being a closed city. The team dressed as clowns and performed all kinds of antics while playing.

Main Gate Park

Main Gate Park was our fist stop in visiting Los Alamos, and one of many Manhattan Project related sites in town. Last year we visited Oak Ridge, TN- so now we just have to visit Hanford, WA to finish our Manhattan Project travels.

Fuller Lodge Art Center

Also in Los Alamos, Fuller Lodge was originally part of the Los Alamos Ranch School and then was later taken over the Manhattan Project.

Bradbury Science Museum

The Bradbury Science Museum is owned by Los Alamos National Laboratory. We didn’t get tickets in the lottery for the National Lab tour this year, but the museum is always open to the public. There are exhibits about the Manhattan Project, as well as other work done by the Lab.

Walatowa Slot Canyon

Walatowa Slot Canyon turned out to be an amazing hike. It’s on Jemez Pueblo and the rocks are incredibly red. We had the canyon itself to ourselves and it made for an incredible experience.

El Rancho de Las Golondrinas

Not only was this just a generally interesting living history museum, but it was also a big inspiration and reference for the Josefina American Girl books!

Roswell UFO Spacewalk

The Roswell UFO Spacewalk is small, cheesy, and so much fun. It’s a walk-through blacklight display and I smiled the whole time.

Roswell McDonald’s

Continuing with the alien theme in Roswell, this McDonald’s is actually shaped like an UFO.

International UFO Museum and Research Center

I’m a big sci-fi fan, so visiting the International UFO Museum was definitely a bucket list thing for me. Besides the museum, the Research Center is also incredible- multiple rooms full of UFO-related books, DVDs, journals, and boxes of artifacts.

Alamogordo Landfill

The former Alamogordo Landfill is also known as the Atari Landfill. When Atari stocks started falling, they buried hundreds of thousands of unsold games in the New Mexico desert. For decades it was just a legend, until a dig found buried treasure and proved it was true.

New Mexico Museum of Space History

The New Mexico Museum of Space was a fun stop. Besides the artifacts on display in the museum itself, it’s also home to the grave of Ham the astronaut chimp.

Bottomless Lakes State Park

This might be the first Atlas Obscura site we actually camped at, so that was pretty cool! The titular lakes are actually cenotes, and when they tried to measure them back in the early days they seemed bottomless because their ropes weren’t long enough to reach the bottom.

West Virginia Atlas Obscura Sites

Cathedral Café

This year we visited Fayetteville, West Virginia for our second time and loved it just as much. Cathedral Cafe is, like the name suggests, a cafe inside an old cathedral. Not only is the building cool, but the food was really good too!

JQD Saltworks

We visited JQD Saltworks during their annual Salt Fest. They had a small vendor fair, live music, and tours of the salt works. Unlike the Nin salt flats we visited in Croatia last year, the salt here is extracted from water pumped up from an ancient sea underground.

Congressional Fallout Shelter at the Greenbrier Resort

The Greenbrier’s Congressional fallout shelter has been on my bucket list for a while. While it was really cool to get to go in it at all, it is pretty disappointing that a large section is rented out for server storage and you don’t actually get to see much.

Greenbrier Ghost of Sam Black Church

The Greenbrier Ghost, Zona Heaster Shue, is known as the only ghost who’s testimony in a court case led to a conviction. We visited her grave after our tour of the Greenbrier bunker.

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was definitely a bucket list place for me, since it’s on like every list of haunted places in America. The asylum operated from 1864 to 1994 and now offers a variety of tours. We took the history tour and really enjoyed it, but would love to go back and take other tours too. Read our full review in our post Is the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Worth Visiting? Our Full Experience in Weston, WV

Blenko Man

Blenko Man resides at the Museum of American Glass in Weston, the same town as the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. The Blenko Glass Company is just one of many West Virginia glass companies highlighted in the museum. I enjoyed a solo visit to the museum while Josh took a work call. My full experience at the Museum of American Glass is on the blog at My Solo Visit to Weston, WV’s Most Fascinating Little Museum

West Virginia Bigfoot Museum

The West Virginia Bigfoot Museum is small, but it’s just a block away from the Flatwoods Monster Museum, so it makes for a perfect double feature. The museum mostly features casts taken of Bigfoot footprints in the local area.

Flatwoods Monster Museum

The Flatwoods Monster Museum also doubles as the area’s visitor center. The walls are lined with display cases with Flatwoods Monster memorabilia, including memorabilia from the local festival. I noticed in the guestbook that one of the recent visitors had cited Fallout ’76 as their reason for visiting the museum.

Nuttallburg

Nuttalburg was once a thriving coal town, and now just some foundations and the coal conveyor remain. The trails are part of New River Gorge National Park and hiking under the conveyor is a really cool experience.

Utah Atlas Obscura Sites

Eccles Dinosaur Park

Ogden’s Eccles Dinosaur Park was the second dinosaur park we visited this year. There’s a mineral & paleontology museum, and nearly 100 dinosaur statues throughout the park. This was definitely one of my top places we visited in Utah.

SR-71C Blackbird

This is the last SR-71C built and lives in the Hill Aerospace Museum. This is a free museum just outside the gates of Hill Air Force Base and is definitely worth a visit.

Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake

This is one of those places that was on our list even before I saw it was on Atlas Obscura. Not only did Josh visit it back in 2013, but at the time his grandparent’s best friend’s son was one of the live-in park rangers. The island has been home to all kinds of interesting characters over the years, and today still feels desolate in an almost eerie way.

I-80 Wildlife Overpass

The wildlife overpass on I-80 is the largest wildlife crossing in Utah. We drove under it a few times without realizing what it was- from the road it looks like a normal underpass.

Tropic Ditch

The Tropic Ditch was a late 19th century engineering project to divert water from the east fork of the Sevier River to Bryce Valley. The section we saw was in a subunit portion of Bryce Canyon National Park.

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon National Park is one of the most popular National Parks in the country. So why is it on Atlas Obscura? Mostly because of the hoodoos- which are pretty unique rock formations- but I don’t know that I agree with this being obscure enough for the site.

Bonneville Salt Flats / Bonneville Speedway

We had so much fun at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Josh is a racing fan, so it’s always been a dream of his to visit. We figured we’d go, ooh and ahh, and walk around a little. Instead, we ended up driving a good chunk of the raceway and Josh even got our 2005 Chevy 2500 up to 100mph on a couple runs.

Metaphor: The Tree of Utah

We stopped at this quirky statue along the way to the Salt Flats.

Missouri Atlas Obscura Sites

Alley Spring Mill

Alley Spring is one of a handful of Atlas Obscura sites that are found in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. 81 million gallons of water flow through Alley Spring every day and the mill was constructed in 1893. We didn’t make it over when the mill was open because it was January, but it was still neat to walk around. Read all about what to do in Ozark NSR here: 8 Unforgettable Wonders to Explore in Ozark National Scenic Riverways

Round Spring

Round Spring is also in Ozark NSR, and is another beautiful bright blue spring. There’s also a cave here, but again we were out of season for taking a tour.

Welch Spring Hospital Ruins

Again, this site is in Ozark NSR, but was probably my favorite we visited. We drove a gravel mountain road, hiked a trail that involved a lot of ducking and dodging downed trees, and made it to the spring with the hospital ruins. This was a hospital built in 1913 for mostly tuberculosis, because it was thought that the spring water and air from nearby cave would be healing.

Johnson’s Shut-Ins

Johnson’s Shut-Ins is a super popular state park. The shut-ins are basically a natural waterpark in the river, and the coolest part is you can actually swim here. We didn’t swim, because again- it was Janaury, but it’s definitely on my bucket list to go back and swim there. Read more about Johnson’s Shut-Ins here: Visiting Johnson’s Shut-Ins? Here’s What You Need to Know!

Taum Sauk Mountain

Taum Sauk Mountain is actually the main reason we came to this part of Missouri, since it’s the official state high point. It’s a short walk on a paved path from the parking lot to the marker. The park is also home to Missouri’s tallest waterfall. Read more about Missouri’s high point in our post Missouri’s High Point: Taum Sauk Mountain- A Surprisingly Easy Summit

Elephant Rocks State Park

We spent two weeks in this area of Missouri and it ended up being accidentally geology-themed. Elephant Rocks is another popular state park, with some very cool rocks. Read more about our visit in our post Climbing Giants: How to Make the Most of Your Visit to Elephant Rocks

Missouri Mines State Historic Site

Missouri Mines was a really cool Atlas Obscura site to visit. Even though you can’t go in any of the old mine buildings (other than the museum in the powerhouse), it’s a great spot for taking photos if you love ruins. We have a whole post up already: Digging into the Past at Missouri Mines State Historic Site

Bonne Terre Mine

We didn’t know it at the time, but we ended up being some of the last people to visit Bonne Terre Mine for a tour because they closed indefinitely due to legal issues. Read about our visit, and why it’s currently closed, in our post Hidden Beneath Missouri: The Fascinating World of Bonne Terre Mine

Arizona Atlas Obscura Sites

Petrified Forest National Park

We did a one day visit to Petrified Forest National Park and I was in love. The petrified trees are so cool- some are huge, some are cool colors, and some have cool mineral deposits.

‘Highway of Dreams’ 1932 Studebaker

This Studebaker is inside Petrified Forest National Park and sits where the original Route 66 alignment crossed through. Not only did we stop here for a photo op, but there’s also a geocache!

Wupatki National Monument

Wupatki National Monument is one of three National Monuments in Flagstaff, and we visited all 3 in one day. Wupatki is an archeological site and we were able to visit the remains of several ancient pueblos.

Walnut Canyon

Walnut Canyon is another Flagstaff National Monument and is home to hundred of indigenous cliff dwellings. The trail into the canyon takes you right up close with some of them.

Coconino Lava River Cave

We visit a lot of caves, but a lava river cave was definitely a first for us! Maybe I’m dumb, but I had no idea there was lava like this in Arizona- I always think of lava as a Hawaii thing. The cave is basically just a tube, but you can see the lava flow on the ground and it is just really cool.

Tusayan Ruin

Tusayan ruin is the site of pueblo remains inside Grand Canyon National Park. We opted for the ranger-guided tour of the site, which was a great way to learn about the history of the site.

Shrine of the Ages

Shrine of the Ages is the chapel inside Grand Canyon National Park. We just saw it from the outside, but did spend some time exploring the cemetery next to it. The cemetery is the resting place of early pioneers to the canyon, as well as park staff throughout the park’s history.

Powell Memorial

Also during our Grand Canyon trip, we visited the Powell Memorial on Hermit Road. Major John Wesley Powell was the leader of the first crew of white settler to travel the entirety of the Grand Canyon.

Oregon Atlas Obscura Sites

Devils Punchbowl

We first learned about Devils Punchbowl just from driving by it, and were intrigued by the name. We made sure to time our visit for low tide so we could walk from the beach into the punchbowl, which was a really cool experience.

Octopus Tree of Oregon

the Octopus Tree is a really cool tree at Cape Meares with a ton of different trunks. In another part of the park is also the state’s largest tree.

Silver Falls State Park

We visited Silver Falls State Park to hike the Trail of 10 Falls, which, like the name suggests, has 10 waterfalls. This was a highlight of our trip to Oregon and we still compare other falls to it now. Read more about how to hike the Trail of 10 Falls in our post Guide to the Trail of Ten Falls: Oregon’s Best Waterfall Hike

Evergreen Aviation Museum

We were pleasantly surprised by how large and cool the Evergreen Aviation Museum is. One huge building is dedicated to aviation and planes and another huge building is dedicated to space exploration. You could easily spend a whole day here.

The Spruce Goose

The Spruce Goose was basically a giant flying boat. It was built by Howard Hughes and you can go partly into it at the Evergreen Museum.

Tillamook Creamery

This Atlas Obscura site visited spawned a new obsession. We already knew we liked Tillamook ice-cream, but after visiting, we’re now on a quest to try every flavor!

Michigan Atlas Obscura Sites

The Hallmark Collection at the Henry Ford Museum

This is the first of three Atlas Obscura entries we saw at the Henry Ford Museum. The Hallmark Collection has around 7,000 Christmas ornaments from the Hallmark Keepsake collection. It’s organized partly by year and partly by themed. It was really fun looking for ones our family has and finding favorites.

Dymaxion House

Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion House was the highlight of the Henry Ford Museum for me. I’ve written previously about our visit to Fuller’s dome home in Carbondale, Illinois, and I’ve been a big fan since them. This is the sole remaining Dymaxion house, now on my bucket list is to see the last Dymaxion car!

Edison’s Last Breath

Apparently there’s actually a couple Edison’s last breaths at the Henry Ford. As Edison was dying, a rack of test tubes was placed at his bedside to capture his last breath. We saw the one in the main museum.

Belle Isle Aquarium

Belle Isle Aquarium in Detroit has been on my bucket list for a while. I barely noticed the fish, because I was so busy staring at the absolutely gorgeous tile ceiling. Learn more about Belle Isle in our post Belle Isle Park Guide: What to See, Do & Know Before You Go

Alabama Atlas Obscura Sites

Anniston Museum

The Anniston Museum of Natural History was an unexpected gem. We did not expect a small town natural history museum to be so big or so good! I wrote all about it, plus the Berman Museum, in this post: Explore the World Without Leaving Alabama: Anniston Museums and Gardens

Berman Museum of World History

The Berman Museum itself was actually kind of disappointing, the story behind it is way more interesting than the actual museum. It was started by a pair of former spies who collected interesting objects from around the world.

The Gigantic Chair of Anniston

Not only did we stop and see the giant office chair in Anniston, but then we also saw a giant chair in Georgia just a year later- what a weird year.

Cheaha Mountain

Cheaha Mountain is Alabama’s high point. We were able to drive up to the actual high point, but did also do some hiking on the mountain. Read more in our post Cheaha State Park for Highpointers: What to Expect at Alabama’s Highest Peak

Tennessee Atlas Obscura Sites

Historic Hales Bar Dam Powerhouse

I’ve already written a full blog post about our tour of the historic (and haunted!) Hales Bar Dam, which you can read here: We Dared to Uncover the Haunted Secrets of Hales Bar Dam

Cast Iron Cookware Man

This statue is outside of the Lodge Factory Store and Museum of Cast Iron. We were excited to shop at the factory store since we’re long-time Lodge fans, and were very impressed with the museum- it was way better designed than we expected for a corporate museum.

International Towing and Recovery Museum

The International Towing and Recovery Museum was a really fun activity in Chattanooga. We started with a video on the history of tow trucks and the museum, and then wandered the gallery spaces looking at all kinds of different vehicles from all different decades.

Georgia Atlas Obscura Sites

The Zoo, Groovy Yard Art

We drove by The Zoo, which is really a yard full of eclectic homemade yard art.

Brasstown Bald

Brasstown Bald was our main reason for visiting Georgia this year, since it’s the state highpoint. We walked the short but steep trail to the top where there’s great views and a small museum.

Babyland General Hospital: Cabbage Patch Kids

Babyland General Hospital is an attraction all about Cabbage Patch Kids. It’s set up like a hospital, complete with staff in doctor & nurse uniforms, and really leans into the bit. There’s also the magic crystal tree where Cabbage Patch Kids are born, and if you’re lucky (we weren’t) you can witness a live birth of a Cabbage Patch kid. I have a whole post on Babyland too: Yes, Cabbage Patch Kids Are Born Under a Crystal Tree- And We Went There.

Washington DC Atlas Obscura Sites

NASA Full Scale Wind Tunnel Propeller

Located inside the National Air and Space Museum, this propeller came from NASA’s Full Scale Wind Tunnel, which was used to test actual airplanes, unlike most wind tunnels which only test models.

Starship Enterprise NCC-1701

This model of the Starship Enterprise is also located in the National Air and Space Museum and is the actual model used in Star Trek the original series.

Arkansas Atlas Obscura Sites

Bachman-Wilson House

Located at the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bachman-Wilson house was originally built in New Jersey, and was taken apart, transported, and re-assembled in Arkansas.

Thorncrown Chapel

I’ve wanted to visit Thorncrown Chapel in person for years and it lived up to my expectations. It is absolutely beautiful in person and is such cool architecture.

Oklahoma Atlas Obscura Sites

Pops

Pops 66 is a fun Route 66 attraction not far from Oklahoma City. There’s a giant pop bottle that lights up at night, the walls are full of glass shelves of pop bottles, and they sell every flavor of pop imaginable.

Grave of Elmer McCurdy

Elmer McCurdy was an outlaw who was killed by a sheriff’s posse in 1911. But his story only began then. The local coroner charged people to view the preserved body, until eventually carnival workers claimed him by posing as his brothers. Then the story goes dark for a while… until a 1976 filming crew for The Six Million Dollar Man discovered that a prop in a funhouse was actually a real human body- it was Elmer.

Texas Atlas Obscura Sites

Helium Time Columns Monument

This unique monument commemorates the discovery of helium and has four time capsules inside it.

Palo Duro Canyon

Palo Duro Canyon is known as the Grand Canyon of Texas and was a really great park to spend a day in. We hiked some of the shorter trails to get a variety of views and drove the whole park road.

Wyoming Atlas Obscura Sites

Little America

Little America is a travel center with some quirky offerings and lots of billboards. We ended up camping out in the truck stop when we got caught in I-80 wind closures.

Iowa Atlas Obscura Sites

Hawkeye Point

We had a theme of visiting state high points this year, and I think they’re all on Atlas Obscura. Hawkeye Point is the highest natural elevation site in Iowa… and it’s basically just a farm field. It was really fun though- there’s an observation tower, walk-through museum, antique farm equipment display, and a bunch of different photo ops. Read more about Hawkeye Point in our post Camping at Hawkeye Point: What to Know About Iowa’s Highest Spot

Nebraska Atlas Obscura Sites

Panorama Point

Panaorama Point continued our highpointing theme of the year, since it’s Nebraska’s official state high point.

Mississippi Atlas Obscura Sites

Woodall Mountain

This is yet another state high point, this time in Mississippi. Woodall Mountain is a drive-up high point, which we talked about more in our post Mississippi: High Points, History & the Natchez Trace