After spending a week in Scottsbluff, NE, we moved on to Hay Springs, NE for a week. Along the way was the small city of Alliance, so we made a stop there to visit its big attraction – Carhenge.
If you’ve never heard of it, Carhenge is a quirky roadside attraction – a replica of Stonehenge that’s made using actual cars and trucks which have all been covered with gray spray paint.
The creator of Carhenge – Jim Reinders – used to live in England where he visited and learned more about Stonehenge. Upon returning to his birthplace Alliance, he decided to recreate Stonehenge using vehicles.
Carhenge was constructed using 39 vehicles and was dedicated on the summer solstice in June 1987. Reinders paid a lot of attention to detail with the structures, creating them as a to-scale model of Stonehenge.
Not only is Carhenge a fun, quirky place to stop at, but it’s free to visit and dog-friendly. That meant Truffles was able to explore with us, particularly enjoying the shade provided by the cars on a hot, sunny day.
In addition to the main Carhenge exhibit, there are several other car-related artistic creations with some punny car-related names. That includes Carman…
…and the Carnestoga Wagon, a play on the Conestoga Wagons that pioneers used to travel along the Oregon Trail (like those we saw at Scotts Bluff National Monument).
The puns didn’t end there. There was The Fourd Seasons which was constructed using only Ford vehicles and is said to represent the changing seasons of Nebraska’s wheat fields.
Needless to say, you’re not supposed to interfere with the displays at Carhenge, although there is an exception. There’s the Auto-graph Car where visitors are allowed to leave their autograph.
Next to the Auto-graph car is the 20th Century Carsule. This is a time capsule buried on June 21, 2003 that’s due to be dug up on June 21, 2053.
Final Thoughts
Carhenge was a fun, free and pet-friendly roadside attraction that’s worth a stop if you’ll be driving through western Nebraska.
[…] After stopping at Chimney Rock, we had one further stop before arriving in Hay Springs – Carhenge. Carhenge in the city of Alliance is a to-scale replica of Stonehenge constructed using vehicles that have been spray painted gray. Check out this post for more about Carhenge. […]