The 1970s were peak road-trip America, when families packed station wagons, filled a cooler with soda, and followed billboards that promised “World’s Largest This” or “See the Amazing That.” Long before GPS or travel blogs, roadside attractions weren’t detours. They were the destination. Some still stand, sun-faded and proud. Others live on only in family photo albums and roadside ruins. Here are 12 stops that made cross-country travel in the ’70s unforgettable.
1. South of the Border – Dillon, South Carolina
It was impossible to miss. Starting a hundred miles out, signs shouted “You Never Sausage a Place!” and “Pedro’s Weather Report: Chili Today, Hot Tamale!” South of the Border sat just over the North Carolina line, a neon oasis of sombreros, fireworks, and billboards that could outnumber the cars on I-95. Families stopped whether they wanted to or not. Kids begged for souvenirs; parents grabbed coffee and gas. Today it’s still there, quieter and a little faded, but it remains one of the few roadside icons that survived both irony and time.
2. The Mystery Spot – Santa Cruz, California
A roadside legend since the 1940s, The Mystery Spot hit its pop-culture stride in the ’70s, when weird physics and optical illusions captured the public’s imagination. Tour guides led families through tilted rooms where balls rolled uphill and people looked taller or shorter depending on where they stood. It felt like magic, science, and showmanship all mixed together. To this day, bumper stickers still read “I Got Tilted at the Mystery Spot,” a relic of when family trips ran on curiosity, not Wi-Fi.
3. Wall Drug – Wall, South Dakota
The most famous drugstore in America started with a simple offer: free ice water. By the 1970s, Wall Drug had turned that kindness into a full-blown empire of cowboy statues, shooting galleries, and 5-cent coffee. It was the kind of place where kids could ride a jackalope while parents browsed souvenir plates. The store became an unofficial checkpoint for road trippers crossing the plains, proof you’d made it halfway across America. Even now, Wall Drug thrives on nostalgia, still giving away water and selling Americana by the square foot.
4. The Big Texan Steak Ranch – Amarillo, Texas
Nothing said “you’re in Texas now” like a 72-ounce steak challenge. Opened in 1960 and booming by the ’70s, The Big Texan lured drivers off Route 66 with its bright yellow building and promise of a free meal, if you could finish it all in an hour. Truckers, college kids, and vacationing dads gave it a go, watched by cheering strangers. The place became a right of passage for anyone crossing the Texas panhandle. Today it’s still standing, still serving, and still daring brave souls to clean the plate.
5. Gatorland – Orlando, Florida
Before theme parks took over Florida, Gatorland was the wild stop that blended danger and charm. Founded in 1949 but booming through the ’70s road-trip era, it was home to sunbathing alligators, a towering reptile-shaped entrance, and live shows where handlers teased jaws open for tourists. Families came for the thrill of it, part zoo, part roadside spectacle. Long before Disney dominated Orlando, Gatorland offered its own kind of magic: half swamp, half showmanship, all Florida.
6. Weeki Wachee Springs – Weeki Wachee, Florida
Few roadside attractions were as pure and strange as Weeki Wachee’s underwater mermaid shows. Women performed synchronized routines in crystal-clear spring water, using hidden air hoses to breathe while swimming before panoramic glass windows. In the 1970s, it was a must-see for families chasing that mid-century blend of kitsch and wonder. Parents marveled at the mechanics; kids just saw magic. The park is still open today under state management, keeping Florida’s mermaid mythology alive for a new generation of curious travelers.
7. Cadillac Ranch – Amarillo, Texas
By the late 1970s, the road trip had become art, literally. Ten Cadillacs buried nose-first in a Texas field turned into one of America’s strangest and most photographed landmarks. The installation, built by an art collective called Ant Farm, captured the American love affair with cars, Route 66, and the open road. Visitors were (and still are) invited to spray-paint the cars, leaving their mark on a changing canvas of color and chrome. For travelers used to billboard kitsch, Cadillac Ranch felt deeper, a wink at both the glory and absurdity of the American highway.
8. The Blue Whale of Catoosa – Catoosa, Oklahoma
Few roadside icons feel as innocent as the Blue Whale. Built by a retired zookeeper as a gift for his wife, it became a Route 66 favorite through the 1970s. Families pulled over to picnic and swim, kids climbed through the smiling whale’s mouth, and the turquoise structure gleamed against the Oklahoma heat. It symbolized the best of the era’s roadside creativity, a handmade dream built for joy, not profit. Today it’s restored and protected, a cheerful survivor of a time when whimsy was reason enough to build something unforgettable.
9. Rock City – Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Every family who drove through the South in the 1970s remembers those red barns painted with the words “See Rock City.” It was marketing genius, thousands of barn roofs turned into billboards leading drivers to Lookout Mountain. Once there, travelers found gardens, stone bridges, and panoramic views across seven states. It wasn’t flashy, but it was pure Americana: hand-built paths, slow walking, and scenic wonder. Rock City still thrives today, proof that sometimes the quiet, handmade attractions outlast the biggest corporate parks.
10. The Corn Palace – Mitchell, South Dakota
It’s hard to explain why people drove hundreds of miles to see a building made of corn, but in the 1970s, they did. Every year, the Corn Palace was redecorated with fresh murals crafted from thousands of corn ears and grains, celebrating Midwestern life through sheer, colorful dedication. Families took photos out front, toured the inside, and left with postcards proving they’d seen something truly weird and wonderful. Today it still stands as both a city hall and a living monument to eccentric American craftsmanship.
11. Dinosaur Park – Rapid City, South Dakota
Before Jurassic Park or high-tech animatronics, there was Dinosaur Park, a hilltop lineup of giant concrete dinosaurs painted bright green. Built during the Great Depression, it found new fame in the 1970s as family road trips boomed again. Kids climbed on the brontosaurus and posed beside the T. rex for film photos that looked both epic and innocent. There was no gift shop mania, just open air, big creatures, and sweeping views of the Black Hills. It remains open, still free, still perfectly weird.
12. World’s Largest Ball of Twine – Cawker City, Kansas
No list of classic roadside Americana would be complete without this. What began in 1953 as one man’s backyard hobby turned into a record-breaking curiosity by the 1970s. Travelers pulled over to marvel, laugh, and take photos beside the ever-growing twine mass. The town embraced it, turning the “World’s Largest Ball of Twine” into both a festival and a point of pride. It’s still growing, added to each year by visitors who roll new strands, a humble, handmade legacy of the odd, endearing spirit that defined America’s golden age of car travel.
