By Jessica O’Riley
True confession time: I love roadside attractions. You know the ones, those quirky spots that enhance a road trip without breaking the bank. With a few weeks left of summer, there’s still time for a quick road trip to make more memories, just in case your old fifth-grade teacher asks you to write an essay about what you did this summer. Here are 13 ideas to get you started.
World’s Largest Strawberry, Strawberry Point. Originally created in the 1960s by an advertising agency to entice people to visit the town, the 15-foot-tall and 12-foot-wide fiberglass berry can be found right downtown on Commercial Street. You can’t miss it.
Swinging Bridge, Columbus Junction. Also called the Lover’s Leap Bridge for local legends that are hard to confirm, the existing bridge is the fourth since the original was constructed in 1880. The current iteration was built in 1992 and spans 262 feet over a ravine.
World’s Largest Bull, Audubon. Albert was “born” in 1964 to honor the community’s history of raising cattle. The Hereford bull is nine times larger than his living counterparts. He stands 30 feet tall, weighs in at 45 tons and has a 15-foot span between his horns.
Volkswagen Beetle Spider, Avoca. Local siblings Travis and Angela Campbell made this nearly 10-foot-tall sculpture as a gift for their father, Darwin, whose welding shop is located nearby.
World’s Largest Popcorn Ball, Sac City. There have been several popcorn balls over the years as other communities tried to take the title. The current version dates to 2016, weighs 9,370 pounds and is taller than 8 feet. (For reference, that’s even bigger than a large tub of popcorn at the movies — but just barely.)
Tree in the Road, Brayton. Legend says a surveyor marked the line between Cass and Audubon counties with his cottonwood sprout walking stick. That sprout is now a 100-foot-tall tree, smack dab in the middle of the road.
World’s Largest Wooden Nickel, Iowa City. Jim Glasgow built the 16-foot-diameter nickel in 2006 as a political protest to a road-paving proposal that would risk harming some natural beauty. It worked; the Johnson County supervisors eventually scrapped the plan.
The Freedom Rock, Greenfield. The original Freedom Rock appeared in 1999 just outside of Greenfield. After seeing the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” local businessman, artist and now state representative Ray “Bubba” Sorensen was inspired to paint the boulder with a patriotic thank-you message to veterans. He repaints the original rock each year in time for Memorial Day. He’s also painted a Freedom Rock for each of Iowa’s 99 counties.
World’s Largest Swedish Coffee Pot and Cup, Stanton. Starting in the 1960s, a local woman named Virginia Christine appeared as Mrs. Olson in a series of commercials for Folgers coffee that ran for 20 years. Her hometown honored her in 1971 by transforming the town’s water tower into a Swedish coffee pot. In 2000, the town added a coffee cup water tower. The coffee pot was decommissioned in 2015 and was eventually taken down and placed at the local Swedish Heritage and Cultural Center.
Iowa’s Largest Frying Pan, Brandon. Built to promote the town’s annual Cowboy Breakfast (set this year for Sept. 20), this 14-foot-tall sculpture took 41 hours of volunteer labor to construct. Weighing just over 1,020 pounds, the pan is big enough to fry 44 dozen eggs or 88 pounds of bacon.
Iowa’s Highest Point, Sibley. This is the highest natural point in Iowa, at 1,670 feet above sea level. You’ll find a selfie stand, a mosaic marker and giant Adirondack chair — all great photo ops.
Largest Watermelon Slice, Muscatine. Famous for its watermelons, Muscatine unveiled the world’s (unofficial) largest slice in 2023. The slice measures 40 feet long and weighs 16,000 pounds.
World’s Largest Umpire, Ryan. A former Happy Chef statue was converted into the world’s largest umpire. The chef hat was replaced with a cap and mask while the spoon is now a thumb calling “Out!”
Contributor Jessica O’Riley of Pleasant Hill worked for nearly 20 years with Travel Iowa, the state tourism office, after a previous stint with the Iowa State Fair. She has personally visited 12 of the 13 attractions listed here and plans to check out that giant umpire soon.
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