Driving West of Illinois, You’ll Discover This Creepy Sculpture Park

Next time you're planning a cross-country road trip, make the drive part of the journey and plan stops along the way to see some of America you'll miss when you fly over it.

A Strange Stop on Way to Montana

You can plan visits to strange attractions that are along your route using this Roadside America guide, which lists the "uniquely odd tourist attractions" in every state.

When I left Illinois for a trip to Montana recently, I expected the usual miles of scenery, small towns, roadside diners, and plenty of wide open prairie. What I didn't expect was to discover one of the creepiest farm fields I've ever seen.

@johnnyvradio1 A man and his dog live in a trailer in this South Dakota field. Give him $10 and you get access to this weird #Sculpture #garden #southdakota #roadsideattraction #fyp ♬ Creepy and simple horror background music(1070744) - howlingindicator

About 25 miles west of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is the Porter Sculpture Park, sitting in the middle of a prairie near Montrose, just off of Interstate 90. Calling this a "park" or a traditional "sculpture garden" really doesn't do it justice.

From a Blacksmith Shop to a Prairie Art Park

After pulling off the interstate, you'll drive down a gravel road for a couple of miles and almost feel like you're lost. Eventually you'll arrive at the entrance and be greeted by a man who told me he lives in a trailer with his dog and manages the "park."

Give him $10, sign the book, and then you're headed out to discover more than 60 enormous metal sculptures that are scattered along a self-guided trail and include bizarre and sometimes downright creepy creations.

Get our free mobile app

The artist of these metal sculptures is Wayne Porter, who grew up around his father's blacksmith shop in St. Lawrence, South Dakota, and at the age of 10 learned how to weld, and at 12 took his first art class.

As his oversized collection grew, Porter eventually moved the artwork to the current location in Montrose, South Dakota, and the park opened to the public in 2000.