Top 30 Unusual Places to Visit in the USA

A visit to Glass Beach in Fort Bragg shows you just how creative Mother Nature can be.

This beach is the result of decades (1906 to 1967) of people dumping garbage of all types into the ocean by throwing them over the cliffs.

Eventually, this garbage started washing up onshore in the form of smooth pieces of glass.

The beach is protected, so you can't take any of your finds with you, but feel free to take as many pictures as you want.

If you're lucky, you may find a sapphire gem from an apothecary bottle or a ruby red from car taillights before 1967.

This Natural Rock Face is a face formed out of rocks that are naturally occurring in the Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area, Alaska.

To see the face, you should approach it by boat, and you will find it framed by the Sumdum Glacier in the background.

This is another unusual place to visit in the United States that shows you what Mother Nature is capable of as the rock truly resembles a face and neck.

The Marfa Lights first gained notice in the 19th century, and they are still visible today.

Everyone from locals to famous meteorologists have viewed these gorgeous lights southeast of Marfa along the horizon, and they seem to have no source at all.

The area where the lights are is hard to traverse and uninhabited, and the lights can be white, blue, or red.

They will appear randomly at night all year round, regardless of the weather. There is an official Marfa Lights Viewing Area 9 miles to the east of Marfa along Highway 90.

The building that is now Jules' Undersea Lodge started as La Chalupa laboratory for research.

Looking out the windows of the lodge will show you amazing underwater marine life.

It is a natural nursery used by many reef fish, such as snappers, barracudas, parrotfish, and tropical angelfish.

You can stay in the lodge for a few hours to a full day, and the Lodge provides you with scuba gear and as many tanks as you want.

There are also options for overnight stays or to enjoy lunch in the Lodge for a truly unusual experience.

The Enchanted Highway covers 32 miles of highway and is the most extensive collection of scrap metal sculptures in the world.

To get to the Enchanted Highway, take Exit 72 from I-94 and be sure to stop by the gift shop in Regent, North Dakota for miniature versions of your favorite sculptures.

Some of the highlights include "Fisherman's Dream," "Deer Crossing," "World's Largest Tin Family," and "Grasshoppers in the Field."

The Unclaimed Baggage Center began in 1970 when Doyle Owens began selling unclaimed baggage off card tables in front of his home, and it quickly became a success.

Today, the Unclaimed Baggage Centre in Alabama has strong relationships with transportation companies and airlines.

The current center is over a city block and gets more than a million visitors annually, coming from across the USA and many other countries.

The 40,000 square-foot store is divided into departments that sell, donate, and recycle the contents of orphaned bags.

There is also a cafe on-site and a store map to help you plan your visit.

This museum is run by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and is considered one of the top museums covering medical history in the country.

Here, you can find medical instruments, models, and anatomical specimens, all carefully displayed in a setting reminiscent of the 19th-century cabinet museums.

Every year, 130,000 visitors come to the museum, and there is also a Museum Education program for schools.

Some of the unique items in this unusual place include Einstein's brain, the tallest skeleton that is on display within North America, and President Grover Cleveland's jaw tumor.

A visit to Cincinnati will show you the largest abandoned subway tunnel in the US.

In reality, the construction of this tunnel stopped during the late 1920s when less than half of the line was laid, leaving seven miles tunneled, graded, and bridged but without tracks.

Eventually, the majority of the above-ground portion was bulldozed to make room for highways, but the tunnels remain.

Earlier, the tours of the abandoned tunnel were being offered however it is no longer accessible.

The Fly Geyser is perhaps one of the strangest places to visit in Nevada despite many people not even knowing about it.

This geyser shoots water up around five feet into the air.

Although the geyser itself isn't open for public access; you can get excellent views along State Route 34, which is about 0.3 miles away.

The Fly Geyser began as a man-made well during the early 1900s, and over time, geothermally heated, piping hot water started to go up through the cracks, creating the geyser.

Attempts to cap it failed, leading to the current attraction.

Located in the basement of the Somerville Theater in Davis Square, the Museum of Bad Art is one of the unique places in the US.

MOBA is the only museum in the world that collects, preserves, and exhibits bad art in all its forms.

The museum's collection shows the artwork of talented artists who have created crude but exuberant works of art as well as art that shows little control over the brush.

Every piece of art in the museum is so bad but still different than those by incompetent artists, giving visitors a unique and fun experience.

The vast ocean is full of unbelievable natural landmarks. Luckily, one of the weirdest is located just off the Oregon coast near Yachats. Thor’s Well is a breathtaking site where you’ll get to see where the ocean drains.

Thor’s Well is a natural sinkhole. It’s a former sea cave, but the roof collapsed from erosion. It left behind a well as deep as approximately six meters. From the surface level, it seems like an endless flow.

The best time to visit Thor’s Well is during high tide when water rushes over the edge and ever shoots up into the air. Visitors can walk the paved trail leading to an overlook.

There are also trails leading down to see the hole at ground level – be careful of the crashing waves.

As if the French Quarter in New Orleans doesn’t already have enough strange stuff to see, the Museum of Death fits right in. It’s one of the weirdest places to visit in the US, with a collection that will send chills down your spine.

The Museum of Death is a space dedicated to showcasing death. It exhibits photos of serial killers, crime scenes, death-related artwork and displays mortuary equipment.

It's not a place for the faint of heart, but there are indeed things you won't be able to take your eyes off of.

The museum is a small space that also has a souvenir shop before entering the museum. Keep in mind that cameras and video aren’t allowed inside.

It’s no doubting that the Mapparium is one of the coolest places in America. It’s a museum located in Boston that takes you to the center of the globe!

The Mapparium is a library that opened in 1935. It was started by Mary Baker Eddy, who is the founder of Christian Science. The library holds lots of rare books and archives, but the main attraction is the glass globe.

Visitors can step inside a glass ball measuring three stories high and 30-ft wide. Inside, you’ll be blown away by the beautiful stained glass designed to depict the world.

There are over 600 colorful stained panels that make up the globe. Be sure to test out the acoustics while you’re staining in the middle of it.

Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream is America’s favorite ice cream, founded back in 1978 in Vermont. Throughout its history, there have been lots of flavors that come and go. But have you wondered what happens to all of the flavors?

Ben and Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard is one of the coolest places in the US, no pun intended. It’s a graveyard dedicated to all of the discontinued flavors.

It’s a place filled with popular flavors, experimental flavors, and failed attempts at creating the next bestseller.

Each flavor has a designated tombstone with information about it and the years that it was active. Some of the flavors are Peanut Butter and Jelly, Aloha Macadamia, and Fossil Fuel.

The company occasionally lets customers vote on which flavor to resurrect for a limited time.

The Taj Mahal has nothing on the Corn Palace in South Dakota. It’s a one-of-a-kind attraction showing just how significant the agriculture industry is to the Midwest.

Corn Palace is the most visited attraction in Mitchell, with over half a million visitors. The large palace was built in 1892 with incredible design on the exterior and inside. There are lots of details put into the palace, such as pillars designed to look like corn.

Outside, you can check out the large, themed mural made of corn and other crops.

It updates the murals every year using crops from the current harvest. That means that as long as there are murals, it was a successful harvest year.

It’s not rare to see old gum left behind on the sidewalks or under tables. But for some reason, the alley of the Market Theater in Seattle is where everyone seems to want to place their gum.

The famous Gum Wall isn’t Seattle’s prettiest attraction, but it’s quirky enough to make it a must-see place.

Market Theater Gum Wall was started in the 1990s when someone was waiting in line to enter the theater for an improv show and stuck his gum on the wall. It grew into a trend that now attracts lots of visitors to do the same.

It was recently cleaned, revealing that it had approx. 2,350-pounds of gum on the wall. But soon after, gum reappeared and now seems even bigger than before.

You could have a museum about anything in theory, but did you ever think that a National Mustard Museum would actually become a popular attraction? It’s one of the most unique places to visit in the US, where you’ll learn everything there is to know about mustard.

The National Mustard Museum was started by Barry Levenson, who spent his time amassing an incredible collection of mustard and mustard memorabilia. The museum opened in 1992 with over 5,500 types of mustard on display.

Chat with the staff to learn more about mustard history, how it’s made, etc. You might even see the mustard bottle mascot hanging around for pictures.

One of the best parts of the museums is the mustard taste bar with hundreds of flavors to try.

Did you know that mermaids actually exist? Except in real life, they aren’t swimming around the ocean – they reside in the Weeki Wachee State Park in Florida.

The Mermaids of Weeki Wachee is a live show that happens daily. It’s one of the best things to do in the state park.

You can see the Mermaids of Weeki Wachee through the glass displays for underwater viewing. It’s a large auditorium with seating for up to 400 attendees. The mermaids perform The Little Mermaid, which is fun for all ages.

Check the show schedule to make sure that you don’t miss it. While you wait for the next performance, you can enjoy activities in the park, like swimming in the springs and boat rides.

The Nuclear Waste Adventure Trail is a large site in Weldon Springs used during the WWII era to dispose of nuclear waste. There was so much waste put here that it piles upwards of seven stories high.

The waste pile is covered with rocks and soil, but the harmful toxins create the barren white ground.

For many years, the site’s radiation levels were too dangerous for visitors. It’s now safe to visit and evolved into one of the strangest places in America to visit.

Visitors can hike to the top of the hill or check out the museum to learn more about the history of nuclear waste.

Have you ever flushed a toilet and wondered where the water goes? Well, the world’s largest toilet lets you see for yourself!

Kids Commons is a hands-on children’s museum. It’s a fun learning center with lots of interactive exhibitions. The most popular attraction is ExploraHouse, where you’ll discover the biggest toilet in the world.

The world’s largest toilet is part of a giant house designed to give kids an up-close look at a house’s features. Kids can climb through piping, in between walls, and more. The massive toilet is a slide that takes kids through the house pipes and out the other side.

It’s large enough for an adult to sit comfortably inside. You’re more than welcome to take pictures as the quirky attraction.

The creator of Carhenge must have had a deep fascination with Stonehenge and wanted to bring the famous English attraction to the US. It’s among the most unusual places in the US that reimagine Stonehenge as cars.

Stonehenge is an ancient site made of stones, but the public art installation near Alliance, Nebraska, was built in 1987 using old cars. The cars are painted gray to make them look as close to stones as possible.

Carhenge is an impressive sight to see a scale recreation of Stonehenge. Some of the cars are stuck in the ground while others are placed on the top.

Be sure to read the information plaque located on the site to learn more about Carhenge and the motivation behind it.

A bathroom break at the World’s Most Scenic Urinal is one that you don’t want to rush. When you pull into the Hotel Kona parking lot, the pink hotel design might seem like the weirdest thing about the building but wait till you go inside to use the public bathroom.

If you didn’t know, men use the restroom standing up. But instead of facing a dirty bathroom wall, a window is cut out directly in front of the urinal to see beautiful views of the big island – lush vegetation extending out to the coast.

The views that you’ll have at the world’s most scenic urinal are just enough to make you forget that you’re standing in a bathroom.

The Winchester Mystery House is by far one of the top weird places to visit in the US. On a quick glance, the house looks like a stunning Victorian mansion. But as you begin to look closely and tour inside, it gets stranger around every corner.

Sarah Winchester built the house after her husband passed. He left her behind a fortune made from the firearms business and left a curse of spirits from people who died from the weapons.

A psychic instructed her to relocate to San Jose and build a mansion – a mansion that would never be finished.

Winchester Mystery House has 160 rooms. Guided haunted tours reveal stairways that lead to nowhere, inside windows, a door to nowhere, and more.

If you’re looking for unexplainable paranormal activity, Zak Bagans’ The Haunted Museum is the place to go.

It’s one of the most unusual places to visit in the US, where there’s a good chance you’ll feel some kind of paranormal experience.

Visitors take a two-hour guided tour of the 20th-century mansion. It has 30 themed rooms with artifacts in each.

You can check out the jail room to see objects from high-profiled murders, the doll room to see creepy dolls, and even sit in the devil’s chair. Keep your eyes and ears aware of any spirits wandering the haunted hallways.

Barney Smith’s Toilet Seat Art Museum deserves to be on every list of unique places in the United States. You might not have heard about it, but it’s a museum that you surely won’t forget about once you do.

The Toilet Seat Art Museum is a humble gallery established in a detached garage on the property of artist Barney Smith.

The museum holds more than 1,400 uniquely designed toilet seats. It’s impressive to see just how many different pieces of artwork are in the space.

The artist himself gave tours of his museum up until passing away at age 98. He was considered the ‘King of the Commode.’ The museum remains open for visitors to check out his legacy.

Have you ever wondered what a hairdresser does with all of the hair when she’s finished? If you’ve ever sat in the chair of Leila Cohoon, a former hairdresser, there’s a good chance that some of your hair was turned into art and exhibited in Leila’s Hair Museum.

Leila’s Hair Museum is a sight to see! It has more than 400 wreaths made from braided hair and over 2,000 pieces of jewelry crafted from human hair.

She has hair as old as the 17th century and even a few locks from late President Lincoln and Marilyn Monroe.

The fun part about visiting the museum is getting to meet Leila and learn all about her art. There’s a story behind each piece.

Shake up your travel plans by adding a stop to one of the unique travel destinations in the US: The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum. It’s a peculiar collection located in Gatlinburg – there is also a sister museum overseas in Spain.

The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum has more than 20,000 sets of shakers. The shakers come from all over the world and designed like your favorite cartoon characters, celebrities, unique shops, vintage shakers, and more.

The shakers do more than just hold condiments, and the museum allows you to look at them as art. Try to find your favorite set on the shelves and stop by the gift shop to purchase shakers.

Take the family on one of the unique getaways in the USA to spot UFOS. Located in Center, Colorado, the UFO Watchtower is an elevated observation deck with unobstructed views for examining the sky for UFOs.

The UFO Watchtower is perfectly positioned in the middle of the San Luis Valley, away from light pollution. That means anything you see moving ahead could be a bird, a plane, or better yet, a UFO!

The site is also a campground for overnight stays. There are alien-themed objects around the site, and you’ll meet some interesting characters all in search of extraterrestrial life.

The UFO Watchtower is open all year because you never know when we’ll get visitors from outer space.

Planning a trip to High Point, North Carolina, is definitely one of the unique vacation ideas in the USA. It’s the only way that you’ll see the world’s largest chest of drawers.

It’s a roadside attraction that you can quickly drive past, but you can only appreciate its scale when you get out and stand beneath it.

The world’s largest chest of drawers was built while remodeling an office building. The chest reaches 36-ft tall and even has 6-ft tall socks hanging out of the drawers.

Is it a coincidence that the chest of drawers is located near an area filled with furniture stores? It’s undoubtedly one way to attract people interested in furniture. And you can own the landmark because the building is for sale!

Hole in the Rock is definitely one of the cool places to visit in the US if you love the outdoors. Take a short hike to the landmark inside of Papago Park with a naturally-formed hole in the middle of it.

The Hole in the Rock trail is one of the most popular in Papago Park. It’s a short trail to get you warmed up for the park. And since it’s one of the highest points, it offers the best view of the entire park landscape. Visitors are more than welcome to climb inside the cave-like hole for the incredible views.

Hole in the Rock was around with ancient tribes who used it as a calendar to mark the seasons. But today, it’s simply one of the most unique places to visit in the US.