Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

by Jamie Hale | The Oregonian, OregonLive

You've probably seen them, pulled off the highway, taken pictures, bought the souvenirs. At very least you've seen the signs – you know the ones – for dinosaur statues, rock collections, a weird vortex, oddball museums.



Roadside attractions have been a cherished slice of Americana for nearly a century, and Oregon is no exception. We may not have the world's biggest ball of twine, but we do have the world's tallest barber shop pole. And while California has the Gravity House, everybody knows they stole it from Oregon's House of Mystery.



The age of roadside attractions is, however, dwindling. Most popular attractions in Oregon are family owned, and not everyone in the blood line wants to inherit their grandpa's quirky business. The following 40 attractions are all still around, but there's no guarantee they'll last another generation. See them while you can, and re-live the days when road trip entertainment was a giant caveman and a house made of rocks.

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What exactly is a roadside attraction?

There’s not really a hard-set definition for a roadside attraction, but for this list I’m considering places that are found on or near a major highway or freeway, marketed to attract tourist attention, and quirky, to some degree.

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WILLAMETTE VALLEY

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Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian

1. Harvey the Rabbit

The 26-foot-tall statue has stood outside Harvey Marine in Aloha since 1974, though it was originally a statue of a human gas station attendant. Owner Ed Harvey replaced the man’s head with a rabbit’s as an homage to the 1950 Jimmy Stewart film “Harvey.” The statue has been in danger of being removed, but still stands proudly on the side of Tualatin Valley Highway.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

2. Living Rock Studios

Howard B. Taylor was a man of many talents, spending his life working as a surveyor, rock mason and artist, but perhaps his most lasting legacy is Living Rock Studios, his two-story, 800-ton rock home off Route 228 in Brownsville. Today, it's home to a variety of exhibits and events, though the house is the main attraction.

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Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian

3. Enchanted Forest

The fairy tale theme park south of Salem was the pet project of Roger Tofte, who spent seven years planning and constructing Enchanted Forest before opening it to the public in 1971. With attractions ranging from the whimsical Storybook Lane to the Ice Mountain bobsled roller coaster, Enchanted Forest remains a legitimate family theme park, and still thrives nearly 50 years later.

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John M. Vincent/The Oregonian

4. Peace Candle of the World

In 1971, the town of Scappoose transformed a 50-foot-high grain silo into the Peace Candle of the World, stuffing it with 45,000 pounds of candle wax and lighting it with a gas flame. Today, the Peace Candle is topped with an electric neon flame, and while its aim of world peace is far from realized, the attraction still stands tall for a noble cause.

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Kristyna Wentz-Graff/The Oregonian

5. Paul Bunyan Statue

Paul Bunyan is alive in North Portland! The 37-foot statue is anchored at the intersection of North Interstate and Denver avenues, built for the Oregon Centennial in 1959. Over the years he's been made up with Santa hats, Timbers scarves and, most recently, a fresh coat of paint.

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Emily Fuggetta/Forest Grove Leader

6. World's Tallest Barber Pole

In 1973, Chuck Olson saw a 40-foot barber pole in San Antonio and knew he could do better. Along with his group of barbershop singers, Olson secured an 80-foot pole from a local lumber company, finished it down to 73 feet, painted it red, white and blue, and put it up in front of Memorial Coliseum for a new Guinness World Record. Today, it stands in Forest Grove’s Lincoln Park.

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Dillon Pilorget/The Oregonian

7. Oregon City Municipal Elevator

An overlooked landmark in downtown Oregon City, the famed Municipal Elevator offers views of Willamette Falls, the newly-renovated Oregon City and the quaint downtown. Along with its unique look, it boasts its status as the only municipal elevator in the U.S. Stop by and take a free ride to the top.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

8. Bobbie the Wonder Dog

Haven't heard of Bobbie the Wonder Dog? If you were alive in the 1920s you would have. The Scotch collie became a national phenomenon after he got lost on a family road trip, then traveled 2,551 miles from Indiana to his family's home in Silverton. Today, a statue stands of Bobbie in a parking lot at S. Water Street and Lewis Street in downtown Silverton

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Jamie Francis/The Oregonian

9. Shanghai Tunnels

Fact mixes with fiction around Portland's colorful history at the Shanghai Tunnels, a series of underground passageways beneath Old Town. You can take tours – with or without ghosts, and with varying levels of historic information – arranged by the Cascade Geographic Society.

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Brian Davies/The Register-Guard via AP

10. Simpsons Mural

After years of playing coy, "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening finally came out and named Springfield, Oregon as the namesake for his fictitious family's hometown. Two years later, in 2014, the town unveiled a 15-by-30 foot mural marking Springfield's connection to the show.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

11. Short Bridge "Ghost Town"

There's nothing authentic about the Short Bridge Ghost Town, an Old West façade on the side of Oregon Route 20 east of Sweet Home, but that doesn't make it any less legitimate as a funky roadside attraction. Stop by to see the storefronts, decorated with an odd assortment of Western artifacts.

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Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian

12. Oregon State Hospital Museum of Mental Health

It's not exactly a cheery attraction, but the Museum of Mental Health at the Oregon State Hospital is certainly a unique experience. On display are old treatments for mental health patients, set pieces from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" – which was shot at the hospital – and a memorial housing the once-forgotten cremains of more than 3,500 patients.

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AP Photo

13. Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum

With hundreds of air and spacecraft – including the famed Spruce Goose – as well as a theater, vineyards and a waterpark topped with a jetliner, the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum really nails that "something for everyone" appeal. It's fun to stop by and see, but also worth a full day of exploration.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

14. Freakybuttrue Peculiarium

Way before Portland was keeping it weird, the Freakybuttrue Peculiarium was channeling the city's inner oddity and serving it up in a surreal storefront that today offers photo ops with monsters and aliens, dishes out ice cream topped with bugs and sells all manner of strange and quirky gifts.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

15. Metal Detector Museum

White's Electronics is a mild-mannered metal detector company in Sweet Home, but inside the lobby of their headquarters is an interesting oddity: a museum of metal detectors and things found with metal detectors. The collection primarily consists of coins, artifacts and guns – as well as things that were clearly not found with a metal detector, like a full suit of armor – all of it opening up a strange world buried beneath our feet.

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Kristyna Wentz-Graff/The Oregonian

16. Stark's Vacuum Cleaner Museum

A classic Portland attraction, Stark's Vacuum Museum was renovated in 2017, paring down the collection but giving it a more prominent display inside Stark Vacuum's downtown showroom. Browse the history of vacuum cleaners and see the most iconic models of all time.

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THE OREGON COAST

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

17. Sea Lion Caves

The massive, cathedral-like sea cave on the central Oregon coast is home to a whole population of sea lions, which have attracted generations of visitors since 1931. In 2016, Sea Lion Caves upgraded the elevator that takes guests down through 208 feet to a viewing area above the rocks on which the sea lions rest and breed.

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Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian

18. The Astoria Column

The pioneers who founded Astoria overcame incredible odds, survived the wildest dangers in the Pacific Northwest and in 1926 were memorialized on a 125-foot column on a hill above the city. The beautifully-constructed Astoria Column looks great from the ground, but the views from the top can't be beat.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

19. Wax Works

One of three attractions that make up Mariner Square in Newport, The Wax Works is a fascinatingly creepy attraction, one that makes your skin crawl as you lean in for a closer look. Dozens of wax figures fill the halls, from superheroes to villains of horror, modern celebrities to historical figures. Explore at your leisure and prepare to be unnerved.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

20. Ripley's Believe it or Not!

Ripley's Believe it or Not! is not unique to the Oregon Coast, but it remains the state's go-to place for sideshow oddities. See shrunken heads, a jump-scare mummy and the deep-space hall of mirrors. It's another one of three Mariner Square attractions at Newport's Historic Bayfront.

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James C. Vincent/The Oregonian

21. Undersea Gardens

Descend beneath the surface of Yaquina Bay to see a massive display of marine life at Undersea Gardens, the third attraction at Mariner Square in Newport. Tour guides and scuba divers guide you through the experience, showing off octopus, eel, anemone and fish.

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Samantha Swindler/The Oregonian

22. World's Largest Corndog and Mechanical Corndog Ride

The original Pronto Pup restaurant in Rockaway Beach is a draw for its delicious corndogs, but it's the fake corndogs that steal the show. The small establishment is topped with a 30-foot fiberglass corndog – apparently the world's largest – as well as a mechanical, rideable corndog out front.

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James C. Vincent/The Oregonian

23. Tillamook Cheese Factory

Easily one of the most beloved attractions in Oregon, the Tillamook Cheese Factory visitors center was originally built to offer a view into the making of the popular cheese, but over the years the experience expanded with offerings of free cheese samples, towering scoops of ice cream, a gift shop and a full cafeteria of cheesy dining options. In 2018, the factory will unveil its brand new visitors center, which has been rebuilt from the ground up.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

24. Seaside Aquarium

The small Seaside Aquarium has been around since 1937, popular for its herd of seals that perform for audiences and even applaud for themselves. The seals are the main attraction, but there are a few other underwater attractions and a touch tank as well.

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AP Photo/The Daily Astorian, Lori Ass

25. Wreck of the Peter Iredale

There are a lot of shipwrecks on the Oregon coast – enough at the mouth of the Columbia River to nickname the area the "graveyard of the Pacific" – but the most prominent is the Wreck of the Peter Iredale, the remains of which can be seen at Fort Stevens State Park near Astoria.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

26. Octopus Tree

There's no tree quite like the Octopus Tree. The massive sitka spruce at Cape Meares has grown with several branching trunks like tentacles, apparently trained that way by local tribes who used it as a ceremonial site. The 250-year-old tree is both a natural wonder and a site of local cultural history.

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SOUTHERN OREGON

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

27. The Oregon Vortex

There are vortexes and strange, slanted houses at roadside attractions around the west, but the Oregon Vortex was the original. Once a gold mining claim near Grants Pass, the land opened as a roadside attraction in 1930. The spot is a mystery of perception, where balls seem to roll uphill and people appear to change in height. Tour guides no longer offer explanations, leaving visitors to make up their own minds about the mysterious Oregon Vortex.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

28. Prehistoric Gardens

Marooned on the southern Oregon coast, Prehistoric Gardens is a can't-miss attraction on the side of U.S. 101. The forested coastal setting is home to nearly two dozen life-size replicas of dinosaurs, including a towering brachiosaurus and tyrannosaurus rex out front. The attraction opened in 1955, and has so far evaded extinction.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

29. Grants Pass Caveman

Erected in 1971 by The Cavemen – a pelt-wearing club formed in the 1920s to boost tourism – the Grants Pass Caveman statue stands 17 feet tall at the entrance to the city off Interstate 5. As the club became inactive in the 2000s, the caveman fell into a state of disrepair, inspiring locals to rally behind an effort to give the statue a facelift in 2014.

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Courtesy of Lake County Chamber of Comme

30. Old Perpetual

It's no Old Faithful, but the Old Perpetual geyser in southern Oregon is an impressive natural phenomenon all the same. Every 90 seconds, the geyser at Hunter's Hot Springs Resort shoots 60 feet into the air, making it one of the only active geysers in the region. In 2009, Old Perpetual suddenly stopped erupting, but in 2015 it became active again.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

31. Giant Restroom Fly

Perhaps one of the oddest roadside attractions in Oregon is the large and creepily realistic statue of a fly, perched atop a small public restroom outside O’Brien’s Country Store near the California border. Nobody at the country store could offer any information on why the fly is there, or how long it’s been perched on the roof of the restroom.

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EASTERN OREGON

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

32. Shaniko Ghost Town

There are a lot of Old West ghost towns in eastern Oregon, but Shaniko is the only place "where the west still lives." You can stop by and tour the wild west destination, or go for one of several annual events, like the historically-minded Shaniko Days in August.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

33. Petersen Rock Garden

Central Oregon's Petersen Rock Garden started in 1935 as the pet project of Danish immigrant Rasmus Petersen, who filled his property with detailed sculptures made of locally-sourced rocks and shells. The property has since fallen into a state of disrepair, but while Petersen's sculptures may be missing some rocks and adhesion, they're still spectacular works of art.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

34. Pete French Round Barn

Pete French, once the "cattle king" of Harney County, built his round barn way out in southeast Oregon, where today it stands as a monument to his livestock empire. The round barn is an odd sight today, but the style was once popular among ranchers. French used his to train wild horses to pull long wagon trains to Oregon City.

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Rick Obst/Flickr

35. Dayville Mercantile

The Dayville Mercantile – known locally as the Merc – has been in business since 1896, today operating as a modern version of the old-fashioned dry goods stores that once proliferated the west. You can get just about anything you need at the Merc, including a history lesson via a small-scale model of the old West town in the parking lot.

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Christian Heeb/Mowhawk Restaurant

36. Mohawk Restaurant

In a lot of ways, the Mowhawk Restaurant in Crescent is like almost any other roadside diner in eastern Oregon – home-style cooking, American fare, reasonable prices – but step inside and you'll soon realize that it's in a league of its own. The difference maker at Mowhawk is the animals – that is, the hundreds of dead and stuffed animals that line the walls of the establishment. The food is good, but the taxidermy is truly top-notch.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

37. Wallowa Lake Tramway

It's almost criminal to call the Wallowa Lake Tramway a "roadside attraction," as it's easily one of the finest overall attractions in Oregon, but the 1970s-era Swiss gondola is certainly a quirky site in northeast Oregon, where it ascends 3,700 feet to the peak of Mount Howard. There, visitors can soak up fantastic views of the surrounding Wallowa Mountains and even grab a bite at the Summit Grill.

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Courtesy of Joe Hansen

38. Richardson's Rock Ranch

Rock hounds, take note. Richardson's Rock Ranch sits on the Priday Agate Beds north of Madras, and allows visitors to dig up the land for their own thundereggs, charging by the pound at the end. The attraction also sells rocks and gems, and operates as a working cattle ranch.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

39. Oregon Trail Interpretive Center

There's no better place to get an intimate look at what life on the Oregon Trail looked like than at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center just outside Baker City. Visitors can look inside covered wagons – both authentic and replica – and get a feel for life on the trail via talking, life-size mannequins, their faces dirty and hardened with emotional toil.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

40. Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge

The tiny Old West town of Sumpter is about 30 miles west of Baker City and home to the fascinating old gold dredge. Found at the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area, the huge dredge was once used to tear along the riverbank, using water and sluices to separate gold flakes from the sediment.

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Watch for more stories on Oregon’s roadside attractions at oregonlive.com/travel.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

NORTHWEST TRAVEL GUIDES

45 winter rentals: Yurts, cabins, fire lookouts and guard stations – all are cozy rentals in national forests and state parks this winter.

Most endangered places: Local nonprofit Restore Oregon once again named the buildings and places most in need of rehabilitation.

Holiday travel guide: Get out town for the holidays! Here are 15 getaways for the season.

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--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB

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