The Enchanted Highway is a 32-mile scenic drive a few miles south of Dickenson, North Dakota.
The seven folk-art metal sculptures at stops along the Highway were designed by Regent native Gary Greff, and built with the help of area farmers. They celebrate and honor North Dakota nature and history.
Greff hoped his creations would draw tourists and help to revive Regent, which (like many other midwest farming towns) has definitely seen better days.
Greff has no formal art training. All of the sculptures are built from scrap metal and old farm equipment. The first sculpture (the Tin Family) was erected in 1991 and the seventh and last (to date) in 2001. That one is Geese in Flight, which can be spotted from the Highway. It is made out of used oil well pipe and oil tanks, and weighs 75 tons. The largest goose is 19 feet long. There are about fifty individual geese perched on each post leading up the side road to the pull-off.
Our favorite stop was Fisherman's Dream. (That's me standing beneath it, feeling small.) This one is three dimensional and shows seven North Dakota fish. The rainbow trout is 70 feet long.
We took the highway on in to Regent. It doesn't really look as if it is thriving, so I'm not sure if the hope of reviving the town has been realized. But we were there on a Sunday afternoon and it was very quiet -- maybe on a Saturday in the middle of the summer it looks more lively. Maybe. But in any case, if you're in the area to see the National Park or for any other reason, the sculptures are definitely worth the drive. They do get visitors from all over the world.
We looked in the Enchanted Highway gift shop and saw drawings of future plans for the highway and the town. We wish them luck. We didn't take pictures at all the stops, but you can see all of the sculptures here: http://www.enchantedhighway.net
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