Updated: July 26, 2026
Central Ohio is full of weird and wonderful roadside attractions.
The kind of attractions that make you pull over, grab the camera, and hop out. They range in size and scale, but they’re all uniquely Ohio.
I have an affinity for the weird. I enjoy things that others may look over, but I know that I’m not the only one. I’m always curious about local art and perhaps that’s why things like quirky roadside attractions really speak to me.
There are so many neat things littered throughout the state. But when I was choosing what to include on this list, I decided that I’d go for things that residents may find surprising. Before I began researching, I honestly didn’t know about 90% of these roadside attractions. Get out there and explore your home state, friends. I can guarantee you’ll be surprised.
But to truly experience and embrace the quirkiness that is the Buckeye State, road trippers may want to dig a little deeper. Because of that desire to explore, here are 19 weird and wonderful roadside attractions you can only find in Central Ohio.
| Attraction | Where | The draw |
| Flight of the Hawk | Lancaster | Steel hawk on a 42-foot perch |
| Stonewall Cemetery | Lancaster | The President’s Cemetery |
| Ronald McDonald & Friends | Sunbury | Giant retro Ronald bust |
| Gambrinus, King of Beer | Columbus (Brewery District) | The king who invented beer |
| World’s Largest Ping Pong Paddle | Columbus (Downtown) | Guinness-record paddle at Pins |
| Lustron House | Whitehall | All-steel postwar house |
| Giant Boot at L.L.Bean | Columbus (Easton) | The signature boot, supersized |
| Field of Corn | Dublin | 109 concrete ears of corn |
| World’s Oldest Traffic Light | Ashville | Guinness-record light, 1932–1982 |
| Giant Cottonwood Tree | Galena | A 31-foot-around cottonwood |
| President Hayes Memorial | Delaware | Presidential birthplace, now a BP |
| Early Television Museum | Hilliard | TV’s first three decades |
| Leo Petroglyphs | Ray | 1,000-year-old rock carvings |
| Longaberger Basket Building | Newark | Seven-story picnic basket |
| The Sword in the Stone | Columbus (Northwest) | Excalibur at the dentist |
| Watch House & Circle Mound | Dublin | Copper-and-stone art mound |
| World’s Largest Gavel | Columbus (Downtown) | 30-foot steel gavel in a pool |
| Chief Leatherlips Monument | Dublin | 12-foot limestone chief |
| Scioto Lounge Deer | Columbus (Downtown) | Bronze deer people-watching |
Flight of the Hawk Sculpture
Created by a local resident, Ric Leichliter, The Flight of the Hawk sculpture has a 14-foot wingspan and alights on a nest 42 feet in the air. The hawk is surrounded by other sculpted wildlife.
Location: 4750 Old Logan Rd SE, Lancaster, OH 43130
Stonewall Cemetery
In 1817, Nathaniel Wilson III deeded this family cemetery to United States President James Monroe and his successors, in trust, to protect it forever. The trustee duty has passed to each sitting President since, earning it the local nickname “The President’s Cemetery”. The hand-stacked, 12-sided stone walls went up starting in 1838; Wilson died before they were finished, and his youngest son completed the job. The gate stays locked to protect the site, but the wall is the attraction, and the park around it is open dawn to dusk.
Location: 2375 Stonewall Cemetery Rd SW, Lancaster, OH 43130
Ronald McDonald & Friends Statue
Behind the McDonald’s where US 36 and State Route 37 run together near I-71, roadside junkies can find a giant bust of Ronald McDonald and friends, arms outstretched about 30 feet across. It’s definitely a reminder of years gone by.
Location: 7352 E State Route 37, Sunbury, OH 43074
Gambrinus, King of Beer
Welcoming visitors to the Brewery District is an 11-foot statue of Gambrinus, the Flemish King. Gambrinus is credited with inventing beer, but his Ohio roots are the reason behind the statue. The Gambrinus Brewing Company opened in Columbus in 1906, grew into August Wagner Breweries, and poured its last in January 1974. The building was demolished, but Gambrinus remains. There is plenty of parking nearby, as well as restaurants and bars.
Location: 605 S Front St, Columbus, OH 43215
World’s Largest Ping Pong Paddle
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Located inside of Pins Mechanical Co. is the World’s Largest Ping Pong Paddle. At 11 and a half feet long, the paddle hangs on a wall inside the bar, prominently displayed for visitors.
Location: 141 N 4th St, Columbus, OH 43215
Lustron House
Originally built after World War II, Lustron homes were meant to be the homes of the future. They were constructed in response to veterans returning home who were looking for durable, affordable homes. Lustron homes were manufactured here in Columbus, and only about 1,500 remain standing across the country. This one, a Westchester Deluxe in Surf Blue, was trucked in from London, Ohio and rebuilt panel by panel in Whitehall Community Park, where it now serves as the Whitehall Historical Society’s museum. The outside is viewable anytime; the inside opens for society events and by appointment. (A second preserved Lustron sits inside the Ohio History Center, if you’d rather see one with climate control.)
Location: 402 N Hamilton Rd, Whitehall, OH 43213
Giant Boot, LL Bean
Located outside of the LL Bean store at Easton Town Center, visitors will find a massive, larger than life version of the company’s signature boot.
Location: 4222 Easton Loop W, Columbus, OH 43219
Field of Corn
This isn’t exactly the type of cornfield one would expect to find in Ohio. Dedicated in 1994, this field of art was designed by artist Malcolm Cochran to commemorate Sam Frantz, a hybrid-corn pioneer who once farmed this very ground. The field is dotted with 109 six-foot-tall corn sculptures. Each individual ear of corn weighs approximately 1500 lbs.
Location: 4995 Rings Rd, Dublin, OH 43017
World’s Oldest Traffic Light
The first electric traffic light was invented in 1912. But here in Ohio, the village of Ashville holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest functioning traffic light. The light, which directed traffic in downtown Ashville from 1932 until 1982, now sits in Ohio’s Small Town Museum, which is worth a visit on its own! Admission is free, but hours are short (Tuesday evenings plus Wednesday through Friday middays), so check before you drive down.
Location: 34 Long St, Ashville, OH 43103
The Giant Cottonwood Tree of Galena
Central Ohio isn’t exactly known for its massive trees. But in Galena, a cottonwood with a trunk nearly 31 feet around stands in the woods across the road from Sticky Fingers Ice Cream Parlor. It was once crowned Ohio’s champion Eastern cottonwood, and while a 2020 storm cost it some of its crown (and the title), it’s still an absurd thing to stand under. The walk is short: across the street and down a small hill. An ice cream cone on the way back makes the trip a double feature.
Location: 5140 Cheshire Rd, Galena, OH 43021 (Sticky Fingers)
President Hayes Memorial
This one definitely fits the “weird” description I mentioned above. Unveiled in 1926, this granite marker notates the birthplace of United States President Rutherford B. Hayes. His birthplace was (sadly) torn down the same year the marker was put into place. In true Ohio fashion, the property was replaced by a BP Gas Station. This one is easy to get to, with plenty of parking available at the gas station. It’s not as regal as some birthplace memorials for other US presidents, but it is quintessentially Ohio. Out with the old, and in with the new. Since 2019, an actual bronze statue of Hayes stands a block away at William and Sandusky, so Delaware has finally covered both ends of the dignity spectrum.
Location: 17 E William St, Delaware, OH 43015
READ MORE: 15 Unique And Unusual Monuments Around Ohio
Early Television Museum
Television has become an integral part of society. But it wasn’t always that way. Take a step back through time at the Early Television Museum in Hilliard. The museum features television sets from Britain and America, both pre-war (1945) and post-war models. It’s open weekends only: Saturday 10 to 6 and Sunday noon to 5. Admission runs $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $5 for kids under 12.
Location: 5396 Franklin St, Hilliard, OH 43026
READ MORE: The Weirdest Museums In Ohio
Leo Petroglyphs
If you’re a fan of our ancient cultures here in Ohio, then you’ll want to add the Leo Petroglyphs to your next road trip. The petroglyphs are 37 carvings in a flat sandstone slab, protected under a shelter house: humans, birds, animal tracks, a fish, a snake. A half-mile trail loops through the gorge below, past sandstone cliffs that rise 20 to 65 feet. The carvings are attributed to the Fort Ancient peoples and are believed to be up to 1,000 years old. The site is free and open during daylight hours.
Location: 400 Park Rd, Ray, OH 45672
Former Longaberger Basket Headquarters
Formerly the headquarters for the Longaberger Basket Company, this unique office building is shaped like a giant basket. The building has been empty since 2016, and in summer 2026 it went up for sale again at $8.5 million, with the owner insisting any buyer keep it looking like a basket. Until that buyer shows up, it’s an exterior-only stop, and still worth the detour.
Location: 1500 E Main St, Newark, OH 43055
The Sword in the Stone
It may not be the sword from Arthurian legend, but it’s still the perfect Instagram opportunity. Located outside a dental office on Kenny Rd (these days it’s McCormack Dental Group), you’ll find a rusted sword firmly lodged in a massive boulder. Go and give it a pull, you never know… You may be the king (or queen) of legend!
Location: 4589 Kenny Rd, Columbus, OH 43220
Watch House & Circle Mound
Installed in 1998, this public art installation was designed by artist Todd Slaughter. The structure is built out of several materials, representative of different time periods in Dublin, Ohio’s past and present, including stone, copper, bronze, and stucco.
Location: 5200 Emerald Pkwy, Dublin, OH 43017
World’s Largest Gavel
In the south reflecting pool of the Ohio Judicial Center sits a stainless steel gavel roughly 30 feet long. Commissioned by the Ohio State Bar Association and installed in 2008, it was the largest gavel on Earth when it went in, and it makes every lawyer walking past look appropriately small. The pool lights make dusk the best photo window.
Location: 65 S Front St, Columbus, OH 43215
Chief Leatherlips Monument
Emerging from a hillside in Dublin’s Scioto Park is a 12-foot limestone likeness of Leatherlips, the Wyandot leader executed just north of this spot in 1810. Massachusetts sculptor Ralph Helmick and a team of local stonemasons stacked the limestone slabs by hand, and the monument was dedicated in 1990. Visitors are welcome to climb up and stand on his head; the view from up there takes in the whole Scioto River valley.
Location: Scioto Park, 7377 Riverside Dr, Dublin, OH 43016
Scioto Lounge Deer
Those humanoid deer from the video up top deserve their own entry. Officially titled Scioto Lounge, Terry Allen’s three bronze deer have been lounging around the riverfront since 2014: two in Genoa Park and one leaning on the Rich Street Bridge railing like a pedestrian taking in the view. The name fits the place, since the Scioto takes its name from the Wyandot word for deer. Allen gave them human joints so they’d read as loungers, not lawn ornaments.
Location: Genoa Park, 303 W Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215
Roadside Attractions FAQ
What’s the most famous roadside attraction near Columbus?
The Longaberger basket building in Newark and Dublin’s Field of Corn are the two with national reputations. Both are free to see from the road, any day, in any weather.
Are these attractions free to visit?
Almost all of them are free to view anytime from public property. The two museums are the exceptions: the Early Television Museum charges admission ($10 for adults) and opens weekends only, and Ohio’s Small Town Museum is free but keeps short weekday hours.
Can you see several in one trip?
Yes, they cluster nicely. North of the city, the Ronald McDonald bust, the giant cottonwood, and the Hayes marker sit along and just off US 36. Dublin has three entries on this list within about a 10-minute drive of each other. Downtown, the gavel, Gambrinus, the ping pong paddle, and the deer are all within about two miles.
