Colorado is weird, wild, and wonderfully unpredictable.
From giant forks to UFO watchtowers, this state takes roadside stops to a whole new level. Every twist of the highway hides something that makes you pause, scratch your head, and laugh out loud.
Road trips in Colorado aren’t just about mountains and rivers—they’re about stumbling across the bizarre, the quirky, and the “what-the-heck-is-that?” moments that no map can prepare you for.
Strap in, keep your camera ready, and get ready to chase oddities that turn ordinary drives into unforgettable adventures.
Because in Colorado, even the pit stops are legendary.
UFO Watchtower — Hooper
Somewhere between the Great Sand Dunes and the middle of nowhere, a humble observation tower invites you to stop, look up, and wonder.
The UFO Watchtower in Hooper, Colorado, sits in the heart of the San Luis Valley, a region that locals and investigators alike have long associated with mysterious lights and unexplained aerial activity.
The owner, Judy Messoline, opened the site in 2000 after hearing so many strange stories from neighbors.
Visitors climb the small platform and scan the horizon with hopeful eyes, though the real fun is on the ground. The healing garden surrounding the tower is filled with odd gifts, crystals, and hand-painted signs left by believers from around the world.
Two energy vortexes are said to exist on the property, which adds an extra layer of intrigue.
Even if you are skeptical about extraterrestrials, the gift shop alone is worth the stop. Alien plushies, bumper stickers, and cosmic souvenirs line every shelf.
Admission is affordable, and the open desert backdrop makes for truly out-of-this-world photos.
The World’s Largest Fork — Creede
Standing at a jaw-dropping 40 feet tall, the World’s Largest Fork in Creede is exactly what it sounds like, and somehow even more impressive in person. This gleaming aluminum sculpture was designed to grab attention, and it absolutely delivers.
Drivers cruising through this small mining town do a double take every single time.
Creede itself is a charming, historic silver-mining community tucked into a dramatic canyon, so the giant fork fits right in with the town’s bold personality. The sculpture has become a beloved local landmark and a bucket-list photo stop for road-trippers exploring southern Colorado.
It proudly holds the title of the largest fork in the United States, a distinction that earns genuine bragging rights.
Bring your appetite for the absurd, because snapping a photo next to this oversized utensil is half the fun. The surrounding area also offers hiking, the Creede Repertory Theatre, and beautiful canyon views.
Consider it a quirky appetizer before exploring everything else this underrated Colorado gem has to offer travelers.
Bishop Castle — Rye
Jim Bishop started building his castle in 1969 when he was just a teenager, and he never really stopped. What began as a simple stone cottage in the Wet Mountains of southern Colorado has grown into a towering, labyrinthine fortress of iron and rock that defies easy description.
Bishop Castle is entirely the work of one man, built without formal training, permits, or outside funding.
The structure includes soaring towers, hand-forged iron railings, and a fire-breathing dragon perched dramatically at the entrance. Visitors are allowed to climb to dizzying heights with very few guardrails, which makes the experience both thrilling and slightly nerve-wracking.
Jim himself is often on-site, adding new details and sharing his strong opinions with anyone who will listen.
Admission is free, though donations are welcomed and genuinely appreciated. The castle draws tens of thousands of visitors each year from across the country, all eager to witness this extraordinary example of outsider art and sheer human determination.
Few roadside stops in Colorado feel quite as raw, personal, and genuinely awe-inspiring as this one.
Coney Island Hot Dog Stand — Bailey
Roadside architecture does not get more deliciously literal than this. The Coney Island Hot Dog Stand in Bailey is a classic example of programmatic architecture, the old-school design trend where buildings are shaped like the products they sell.
Shaped like a massive hot dog loaded with mustard and ketchup, this quirky diner has been stopping traffic on Highway 285 for decades.
Bailey sits along a popular route between Denver and South Park, making this a convenient and memorable pit stop for road-trippers heading deeper into the mountains. The building itself is the main attraction, but the food inside keeps people coming back for more.
Classic diner fare served in a novelty setting is a combination that is hard to beat.
If you are driving through and spot the giant wiener along the roadside, do yourself a favor and pull over. It is the kind of place that makes you smile before you even open the door.
These charming, photogenic little stops are exactly what makes a Colorado road trip feel like an experience rather than just a commute.
Tiny Town and Railroad — Morrison
Back in 1920, a father built a tiny village for his daughter, and over a hundred years later, that same village is still charming visitors of all ages. Tiny Town in Morrison is a lovingly maintained collection of over 100 miniature buildings, each crafted to one-sixth scale and arranged like a real little community.
There is a church, a school, a saloon, and even a working narrow-gauge railroad that loops through the entire property.
The train ride alone is worth the trip, especially for young kids who light up the moment the tiny engine starts chugging along. Adults tend to get swept up in the nostalgia pretty quickly too.
The whole place has a wonderfully preserved, old-fashioned feel that transports you back to a simpler era of American family fun.
Tiny Town is open seasonally, so checking the schedule before visiting is a smart move. Located just outside Denver near Red Rocks, it pairs beautifully with other Morrison-area stops.
Whether you visit with family or as a curious solo traveler, this miniature marvel never fails to deliver maximum charm in the smallest possible package.
Swetsville Zoo — Fort Collins
Bill Swets spent decades turning junk into jaw-dropping art, and the result is one of Colorado’s most beloved and unexpected roadside treasures. The Swetsville Zoo in Fort Collins is not a real zoo but rather a sprawling outdoor sculpture garden filled with fantastical creatures made entirely from car parts, farm equipment, and scrap metal.
Dinosaurs, insects, robots, and mythical beasts all stand proudly along the banks of the Cache la Poudre River.
What makes this place truly special is the spirit behind it. Swets was a farmer who started welding these creatures in his spare time, driven purely by creativity and a love of making people smile.
The collection grew over the years into something that visitors travel from across the state to see. Admission has always been free, which makes it an especially generous gift to the community.
Strolling through the grounds feels like wandering into a fever dream in the best possible way. Kids go absolutely wild over the giant metal animals, and adults appreciate the craftsmanship and imagination on display.
Plan to spend at least an hour exploring every corner of this extraordinary metal menagerie.
Dinosaur Ridge — Morrison
Most dinosaur exhibits are locked behind glass in climate-controlled museums, but Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison lets you press your hand right next to a real sauropod track from 150 million years ago.
This remarkable geological site runs along the Dakota Hogback, a ridge of exposed sedimentary rock just west of Denver that contains some of the most accessible dinosaur fossils in the entire world.
The Morrison Formation, one of the most famous fossil-bearing rock layers in North America, was first discovered here in 1877. Paleontologists unearthed Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Apatosaurus bones from this very ridge.
Today, a scenic road winds past numbered markers that explain the geological and fossil history at each stop, making it easy for anyone to follow along.
Guided hikes are available on weekends and offer an even richer experience for curious visitors. The Dinosaur Ridge Visitor Center provides maps, exhibits, and enthusiastic staff who genuinely love talking prehistoric history.
Whether you stop for ten minutes or a full afternoon, this roadside site delivers a rare sense of wonder that is hard to find anywhere else.
Manitou Springs Penny Arcade — Manitou Springs
Stepping into the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade feels like being transported back to a boardwalk from the early 1900s. Tucked among the galleries and eclectic shops of this quirky mountain town, the arcade is home to a remarkable collection of vintage coin-operated games, fortune-telling machines, and mechanical curiosities that have been delighting visitors for generations.
The smell of popcorn and the sound of clanking coins set the mood immediately.
Some of the machines date back to the early twentieth century, making this as much a living museum as it is an entertainment venue. You can test your strength, get your fortune told by an animatronic gypsy, or try your luck at a vintage baseball game.
Pennies and quarters go a surprisingly long way here, which adds to the old-fashioned charm.
Manitou Springs itself is worth exploring for hours, with its mineral springs, indie boutiques, and proximity to Garden of the Gods. The arcade pairs perfectly with a stroll through town and a sip from one of the natural spring fountains nearby.
For anyone who loves nostalgia with a side of wonder, this stop is genuinely unforgettable.
Colorado Gators Reptile Park — Mosca
Yes, there are alligators in Colorado, and yes, you can hold one. The Colorado Gators Reptile Park near Mosca started as a fish farm in the 1970s and evolved into something far more unexpected when the owners began using the warm geothermal water to raise American alligators.
What started as a practical solution became one of the strangest and most entertaining roadside stops in the entire state.
Today the park is home to hundreds of alligators along with pythons, iguanas, tortoises, and other reptiles rescued from across the country. The staff offers hands-on experiences that let brave visitors hold smaller gators and interact with other animals up close.
It is a rescue facility at heart, which gives the whole operation a meaningful mission beyond the spectacle.
Located just north of the Great Sand Dunes, Colorado Gators makes for an ideal add-on stop during a San Luis Valley road trip. Kids absolutely love it, and adults tend to be equally fascinated by the sheer improbability of the place.
Where else in the Rockies can you feed an alligator before hiking across a massive sand dune?
Cano’s Castle — Antonito
Donald “Cano” Espinoza spent years constructing a shimmering, one-of-a-kind castle from whatever materials he could find, and the result is one of the most visually striking pieces of outsider art in the American Southwest.
Cano’s Castle in Antonito is built from beer cans, hubcaps, metal scraps, and recycled odds and ends that catch the sunlight and sparkle like something out of a dream.
Cano built the structure as an expression of his faith and his life story, making it deeply personal as well as visually spectacular. The castle has grown over the decades into a complex of towers, walls, and decorative panels that reflect both the surrounding landscape and its creator’s vivid imagination.
It is located on the main road through Antonito, so it is hard to miss even if you are just passing through.
Stopping here feels like discovering a secret that thousands of people somehow already know about. Cano is sometimes present and happy to chat with visitors, adding a human warmth to the whole experience.
Southern Colorado’s scenic backdrop only enhances the castle’s otherworldly beauty and makes the photos absolutely stunning.
Antique Washing Machine Museum — Eaton
Only in Colorado would you find a museum dedicated entirely to washing machines, and somehow it is absolutely fascinating.
The Antique Washing Machine Museum in Eaton houses over 1,000 vintage laundry appliances collected by Lee Maxwell, a retired electrical engineering professor who spent decades tracking down machines from attics, barns, and estate sales across the country.
The collection spans more than a century of laundry technology, from hand-cranked wooden tubs to early electric models with terrifying exposed gears. Each machine tells a story about domestic life, ingenuity, and the slow evolution of household technology.
Maxwell arranged tours with genuine enthusiasm, explaining the mechanics and history of each contraption in detail that makes even the most mundane appliance feel surprisingly interesting.
Tours are available by appointment, so calling ahead is essential before making the trip. The museum is located on Maxwell’s property and is not a formal institution, which gives visits an intimate, personal feel.
For anyone who loves offbeat history or engineering curiosities, this quirky collection is a genuinely rewarding detour through the quieter back roads of northern Colorado’s agricultural heartland.
Sasquatch Outpost — Bailey
Bailey, Colorado, has apparently decided to lean fully into its reputation as Bigfoot country, and the Sasquatch Outpost is the delightful result.
This enthusiastic gift shop and mini-museum is dedicated entirely to the legendary cryptid, featuring life-size Bigfoot models, plaster footprint casts, eyewitness reports, and a gift shop stocked with every Sasquatch-themed item imaginable.
It is equal parts serious folklore research and lovable roadside kitsch.
The Park County area around Bailey has actually logged a notable number of Bigfoot sighting reports over the years, which lends the outpost a certain local credibility that adds to its charm. Staff members are genuine believers who enjoy discussing the lore with visitors and sharing some of the more compelling local accounts.
Whether you are a true believer or a cheerful skeptic, the conversations are entertaining either way.
The shop is conveniently located along Highway 285, making it an easy stop on the way to or from the mountains.
Grab a Sasquatch keychain, pose with the life-size model, and leave with a slightly more open mind about what might be lurking in the Colorado wilderness.
This stop is pure, unpretentious fun.
Petrified Wood Gas Station — Lamar
Pulling into a gas station built from 175-million-year-old wood is not something most people ever expect to experience, but Lamar, Colorado, makes it possible. The Petrified Wood Gas Station is a genuine architectural curiosity, constructed in the 1930s using chunks of ancient petrified wood as its primary building material.
The walls are packed with fossilized timber that predates the dinosaurs of the Jurassic period.
Petrified wood was a popular local building material in parts of the American West during the early twentieth century, and this station is one of the finest surviving examples of that unusual trend.
The deep reds, browns, and purples of the fossilized wood give the building a rich, earthy texture that photographs beautifully in any lighting.
It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which speaks to its cultural and architectural significance.
Lamar sits along US Route 50 in the wide-open southeastern corner of Colorado, making this a perfect stop for road-trippers crossing the plains. The surrounding landscape is flat and vast, which makes the prehistoric building material feel even more surreal and out of place.
Eastern Colorado’s hidden gems are easy to overlook, but this one is absolutely worth slowing down for.
Key Collection at Baldpate Inn — Estes Park
Named after a mystery novel called “Seven Keys to Baldpate,” the Baldpate Inn near Estes Park has been collecting keys since 1917, and the result is one of the most unexpectedly captivating rooms in all of Colorado. The Key Room holds thousands of keys donated by visitors from across the globe, ranging from tiny diary keys to massive antique padlock keys and everything in between.
Each one carries its own story.
Famous contributors have included presidents, celebrities, and historical figures, which gives the collection a surprising depth beyond its quirky surface appeal. The inn itself is a beautiful historic log structure perched in the mountains above Estes Park, offering stunning views and a warm, old-fashioned atmosphere.
Visiting feels like discovering a secret that the whole world somehow already knows.
The Baldpate Inn operates as a restaurant and bed-and-breakfast, so you can combine a meal or an overnight stay with your key-gazing adventure. The Rocky Mountain National Park is just minutes away, making this an easy and enriching add-on to any Estes Park itinerary.
Curious travelers will find the Key Room endlessly interesting, mysterious, and genuinely unlike anything else on the road.
Mike the Headless Chicken Statue — Fruita
In 1945, a farmer in Fruita, Colorado, chopped off a chicken’s head and watched in disbelief as the bird kept walking around. Mike the Headless Chicken went on to live for 18 months without his noggin, toured the country as a carnival attraction, and became one of the most bizarre true stories in American history.
Today, a proud statue in downtown Fruita honors this improbable survivor.
The statue is cheerful, colorful, and completely absurd in the best possible way. Every May, the town throws a full festival in Mike’s honor, complete with games, food, and a 5K run called the Run Like a Headless Chicken Race.
The event draws visitors from across the country who come to celebrate the world’s most famous poultry survivor with genuine enthusiasm and good humor.
Fruita itself is a gem of western Colorado, surrounded by the dramatic red rock scenery of the Colorado National Monument and some of the best mountain biking trails in the state. Stopping for a photo with the headless chicken statue and then hitting the trails makes for a perfectly balanced day of weird and wonderful Colorado road-tripping.
Mike would almost certainly approve.
Skyline Drive — Canon City
Skyline Drive in Canon City is not just a scenic road; it is a white-knuckle adventure that happens to come with some of the most dramatic views in the entire state. This one-way, three-mile road runs along the razor-thin spine of a hogback ridge, with steep drop-offs on both sides and no guardrails to soften the experience.
The views of the Arkansas River Valley and surrounding mountains are absolutely breathtaking from every angle.
The road was originally carved by prison labor in 1905, which adds a layer of grim historical intrigue to an already intense drive. Along the route, you can spot actual dinosaur footprints embedded in the rock surface, a detail that transforms a thrilling drive into an impromptu paleontology lesson.
The combination of geology, history, and adrenaline is genuinely hard to match anywhere else in Colorado.
Skyline Drive is free to drive and open year-round, though winter conditions can make it especially adventurous. The Royal Gorge is just a short distance away, making this part of Canon City a road-tripper’s paradise of back-to-back thrills.
Pull over at the designated viewpoints, take a deep breath, and soak in the kind of scenery that makes Colorado road trips legendary.