Roadside Attractions in Utah

Worth the detour in Utah

Thistle Ghost Town

Spanish Fork, Utah

Thistle is a haunting ghost town drowned by a massive landslide in 1983 that dammed the Spanish Fork River. Today, visitors can view the eerie ruins of partially submerged houses and collapsed structures from the highway. It stands as a silent, powerful reminder of nature's sudden destructive force.

Grafton Ghost Town

Rockville, UT

Step back into the Old West at this remarkably preserved 19th-century pioneer settlement. Famous as a filming location for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, it features a restored schoolhouse, rustic log cabins, and a historic cemetery.

Big John Giant Coal Miner

Helper, Utah

Standing 28 feet tall, Big John is a towering fiberglass tribute to the coal miners who built the historic town of Helper. Originally erected in 1964, this impressive Muffler Man variant stands holding a giant shovel outside the civic center. It remains one of Utah's most beloved and photographed roadside giants.

World's Largest Wooden Watermelon

Green River, Utah

This giant 25-foot slice of wooden melon celebrates Green River's famous agricultural heritage. Originally built in the 1950s on a truck chassis for parades, this quirky relic now rests next to the town's history museum. It once even featured a mechanism to spit real watermelon seeds.

Spiral Jetty

Corinne, Utah

Created by Robert Smithson in 1970, Spiral Jetty is a legendary earthwork sculpture consisting of a 1,500-foot coil of black basalt rocks stretching into the Great Salt Lake. Depending on water levels, it can be completely submerged or brilliantly encrusted with white salt crystals. It is a masterpiece of land art that beautifully interacts with its changing environment.

Hole N" The Rock

Moab, Utah

This unique 5,000-square-foot home was hand-carved directly into a massive sandstone cliff over a 20-year period. Visitors can tour the 14-room historic dwelling, which features a 65-foot chimney drilled through the rock. It is a quintessential, eccentric piece of American roadside history complete with a petting zoo.

Browse by town in Utah

The busiest towns here are Green River (2), Salt Lake City (2). Every listing has photos, opening hours, admission and directions, and the directory grows whenever somebody searches for a stop that isn't in it yet.