Things worth pulling over for between the big sights, in route order — from plain weird to pioneer history. None of it is essential; pick whatever fits the day. Native American museums and rock art are on their own Native American page.
Las Vegas (day 1–2)
Omega Mart
Meow Wolf’s installation inside the AREA15 complex, a short drive west of the Strip. It starts as a bright, slightly-off grocery store full of absurd products. Then you notice that the freezer doors, a cooler, a hole behind the shelves lead somewhere — and the “store” turns out to be the front of a big maze of rooms, tunnels and strange worlds.
- Wander freely, or follow the hidden storyline about the Dramcorp company and the town behind the store, told through documents, terminals and rooms.
- Card readers let you pick up clues as you go (check if still part of the ticket).
- Comfortable shoes; stairs, slides and tight spots.
- The shop at the start sells the fake products for real — good weird souvenirs.
- 2–3 h, timed ticket booked online. Day 1 evening if the flight lands early enough, otherwise day 2 morning. With the megachurch on the same morning it gets tight — consider a second night in Vegas.
- AREA15 itself has bars and other immersive rooms, free to walk around.
Also in Vegas
- Neon Museum Boneyard — graveyard of old casino signs. Go after dark when some are relit.
- Seven Magic Mountains — seven towers of day-glo painted boulders in the desert, ~25 min south on I‑15. Meant to be temporary; check it’s still up.
Route 66 (day 2)
- Oatman — old gold-mining town where wild burros wander the main street begging for carrots; staged gunfights. Detour south of Kingman on the twistiest stretch of old 66.
- Burma-Shave signs — sets of small red signs with a rhyming joke spread over several of them, along the road between Kingman and Seligman.
- Grand Canyon Caverns — dry cave ~60 m underground with a single “motel room” at the bottom. Expensive, but the craziest night on the route; could replace the Seligman motel. Cheaper: just do the cave tour.
- Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In, Seligman — burger stand run as a running joke: fake mustard bottle that squirts string, “Sorry, we’re open” sign, cheeseburger “with cheese”.
Navajo Nation (day 5–6)
- Moenave dinosaur tracks near Tuba City, right off US‑160 — real dinosaur footprints in the rock. Local Navajo guides walk you around for a tip.
Monument Valley → Moab (day 7)
- Mexican Hat — a rock balanced like a sombrero on a pedestal, next to US‑163.
- Moki Dugway (optional) — gravel switchbacks cut into a 300 m cliff, no guardrails. Taking UT‑261 north instead of US‑163 adds it plus Valley of the Gods. Check the rental contract about gravel roads.
- Hole N” The Rock — 14-room house carved into a sandstone cliff south of Moab, with taxidermy, odd art and a small petting zoo.
The long drive north (day 8)
- Bear Lake — turquoise lake on the Utah–Idaho border; raspberry shake stands in Garden City. Good break on the long day.
- National Oregon/California Trail Center, Montpelier — right on US‑89 where the Oregon Trail came through. You “join” a wagon train: actors as pioneers, a covered-wagon ride, trail history. ~1.5 h.
- Afton, Wyoming — arch over the highway built from thousands of elk antlers, said to be the largest of its kind.
Jackson (day 9)
- Town Square antler arches — one on each corner, rebuilt from antlers shed in the nearby elk refuge.
Salt Lake City (day 11)
- This Is The Place Heritage Park — where the 1847 Mormon pioneers came out of the mountains into the valley, at the end of the Mormon Trail (which ran alongside the Oregon Trail for much of the way). Living pioneer village with old buildings and costumed staff. Fits with Temple Square and the Natural History Museum next door.
- Gilgal Sculpture Garden — tiny hidden garden in a residential block. One man’s religious stone sculptures, including a sphinx with Joseph Smith’s face. Free, very strange.
- Spiral Jetty — Robert Smithson’s land-art spiral in the pink water of the Great Salt Lake, at the end of a long dirt road ~2.5 h north. Only with an extra half day.
Oregon Trail detours
The real trail crosses southern Wyoming, east of our route. Only with an extra day:
- Fort Bridger — restored 1840s trading post where the Oregon and Mormon trails split. ~1.5 h off the route on I‑80.
- South Pass and South Pass City — the gentle pass over the Rockies that made the whole trail possible, plus a restored gold-rush town. ~3 h from Jackson.
- Independence Rock — granite dome where emigrants carved their names; wagon ruts nearby.
Check before going
Opening hours, prices, and whether each place still exists — roadside attractions come and go.