In addition to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the Badlands Dinosaur Museum, something else that’s fun to do on the western side of North Dakota is driving the Enchanted Highway.
Starting at exit 72 on I-94 and heading south down to Regent, there’s a collection of massive scrap metal sculptures created by local artist Gary Greff. Shae and I love quirky roadside attractions like these, so after checking out of our hotel in Dickinson, we drove the Enchanted Highway before continuing on to Fargo.
If you visit the Enchanted Highway from Dickinson, when taking exit 72 on I-94 you’ll see a sign pointing to the right which directs you to the sculptures. However, ignore that sign as first because instead you’ll want to turn left to visit the first sculpture on the trail – Geese In Flight.
To make it easier for you to find all these sculptures, we’ve embedded a Google Map below with all their locations. You can therefore use that to get driving directions to each piece of scrap metal art.
Geese In Flight
It’s hard to miss Geese in Flight as you’ll be able to see it from the highway. After turning off I-94, turn left and then right up a short dirt road with small metal geese lining the road on both sides.
At the top of the road you’ll see Geese in Flight. The sculpture is 110 feet tall, 150 feet wide and weighs 78.8 tons. It took Gary Greff six years to complete and the use of five cranes to stand it upright.
Geese in Flight is the world’s largest scrap metal sculpture and was created using five miles of oil well tanks and pipes which were flattened by Greff driving over them with his tractor.
If you spend any time exploring North Dakota, you’ll likely see signs for the state’s talking trail. When you see these signs, you can call 701-566-5566 and then enter the Talking Point number beneath to listen to information about what you’re looking at.
Each of the sculptures on the Enchanted Highway have their own Talking Point, so it was nice being able to call the number and hear more information about them. Despite the highway being in a somewhat rural area of North Dakota, we had signal the entire time (we’re on Google Fi which uses the T-Mobile network).
Deer Crossing
After checking out Geese in Flight, we headed back down the road on to the Enchanted Highway. Next up was Deer Crossing which we could see on the right hand side as we drove up and which is Talking Point 213 on the Talking Trail.
Deer Crossing features a 70 foot buck and a 50 foot doe prancing along. Gary Greff encountered a problem with its installation though. He’d measured the width of Main St to ensure that the deer would fit through, but hadn’t taken into account the light poles lining the street. He was able to weave back and forth, but eventually encountered two light poles directly across from each other and was stuck.
To make it through, he had to cut off one of the antlers and one of the legs, then had to reweld them once they reached the site of their installation.
To give a sense as to quite how tall these sculptures are, here’s a photo with Shae and Truffles standing beneath the smallest deer.
You might see what looks like a cattle pen behind Shae in the above photo. That’s actually the Maze of Enchantment, so we made our way through that.
At each of the sculptures along the Enchanted Highway there’s a picnic table, most of which also have a shelter.
Lefor State Bank
Late summer can be a great time to visit North Dakota. We had much better weather than we’d expected, plus you should see quite a few sunflower fields.
The highway took us through the small community of Lefor along the way. Although it’s not a sculpture, we stopped by the side of the road quickly in Lefor to check out the remnants of Lefor State Bank.
Grasshoppers
The next of the sculptures was Grasshoppers which is Talking Point 214.
It features a giant grasshopper that’s 60 feet long and 40 feet tall…
…along with several smaller ones in a wheat field.
While Deer Crossing had a maze, Grasshoppers had a playground area. If you have small children, I’d be very cautious about them playing on the grasshopper on a spring though as the metal edges could easily hurt them if they’re not careful.
Fisherman’s Dream
The fourth sculpture along the Enchanted Highway is the most extensive one in terms of the sheer number of art pieces and is Talking Point 215.
The main feature of Fisherman’s Dream is a 70 foot tall rainbow trout chasing after a dragonfly. To the right is a fisherman in a boat; the boat once belonged to sculptor Gary Greff’s father.
In addition to the rainbow trout, there are several other types of fish measuring 30 feet. All of the fish found in this installation are species that can be found in North Dakota.
Off to the side is another boat, this one made of metal. Visitors are allowed to explore the boat, but this is another one where I’d be cautious with smaller children. The boat was tilting to the side and had metal edges that could do some damage if falling on them.
When leaving this set of sculptures, we noticed a sign advising how far it would be to get to the next installation.
Pheasants On The Prairie
Sure enough, Pheasants on the Prairie was four miles further down the road. The Talking Trail numbers follow consecutively, so this was Talking Point 216.
Pheasants on the Prairie is dedicated to the activity of pheasant hunting, with nearby Mott, ND said to be the pheasant capital of the world.
This set of sculptures features a 40 foot tall rooster…
… a 35 foot tall hen and 30 foot tall chicks.
Teddy Roosevelt Rides Again
With Theodore Roosevelt National Park being nearby, it perhaps shouldn’t be too surprising that one of the sculptures is dedicated to the former president.
Teddy Roosevelt Rides Again features the president on a horse and was constructed using bent oil well pipes.
In front of the metallic sculpture are four horses pulling a stagecoach. While the other sculptures were created by Gary Greff using scrap metal, the horses and stagecoach were crafted of wood by volunteer carpenters who wanted to participate in the Enchanted Highway project. This stop is Talking Point 217.
Tin Family
The final set of sculptures before reaching Regent was Tin Family. This collection was Greff’s first installation on the Enchanted Highway and is Talking Point 218.
This is the world’s largest tin family and features a 45 foot tall father…
…a 43 foot tall mother…
…and a 23 foot tall son.
The sculptures were built using fuel, oil well and stock tanks, with the mother’s metal hair being home to a bird’s nest. The father’s head also seemed to have some birds flying back and forth.
Enchanted Highway Gift Shop
The Enchanted Highway ends in downtown Regent. It’s a very small community with fewer than 200 people living there, but there was a gift shop selling Enchanted Highway souvenirs, as well as ice cream and other snacks.
Whirligigs
To the left of the gift shop was another sculpture, but this one was a little different. This whirligigs sculpture had a button you can press which moves the characters in each of the four scenes.
Enchanted Castle Hotel
From there we continued down the road to the Enchanted Castle Hotel. To be honest, it looked a little hokey from the outside, but it has good reviews online and, interestingly, the hotel was once the town’s high school.
Outside the hotel are two more large sculptures – Sir Albert and the Dragon.
Sir Albert stands 41 feet tall…
…while the dragon is slightly taller and 100 feet long.
Final Thoughts
Shae and I had a fun time driving the length of the Enchanted Highway to find all of the massive metal sculptures along the route. If you find yourself on the western side of North Dakota to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park and want to experience some of North Dakota’s quirkiness, it’s worth spending a couple of hours driving along the highway to see Gary Greff’s creations.
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