A while back, we talked about “Weird America,” the list of 12 strangest roadside attractions compiled by MSN website. As you recall, Dinosaur Park in Rapid City made the list.

Readers of this blog added a few more oddities, including Cadillac Ranch in Texas and a Mount Rushmore carved from a big lock of cheese in Wisconsin.

This week, AutoWeek has released what I consider to be the definitive list of whacky roadside attractions. In a recent online story, AutoWeek showed us some true “Roadside Oddities.”

South Dakota’s own Mitchell Corn Palace and Wall Drug made the AutoWeek list of “Roadside Oddities.” And it listed an oddity in our own back yard that I’ve never seen — or at least not noticed.

It’s a 6-ton concrete prairie dog who stands guard outside the Badlands Ranch Store at Interstate 90’s Exit 131, the main exit to Badlands National Park. According to the Badlands Ranch Store website, the concrete critter has been there since 1971. (So much for my vast powers of observation. I’ve gassed up there several times. How can you
not notice a 6-ton prairie dog?)

The rest of the AutoWeek list includeds some familiar oddities. The Cadiallac Ranch is listed. So is Carhenge in Alliance, Neb. But we’re talking some truly over-the-top stuff here.

– A bed-and-breakfast shaped like a giant beagle. (Pets are welcome.)

– The world’s largest tire, chicken, peanut, potato chip, strawberry, bull, ball of twine, etc.

– The Rainforest Car Wash in Lavayette, Ind. Your car is sprayed by giant plastic elephants.

– The Leaning Tower of Texas. It’s a water tower that was designed to look as it is about to fall over. (So they say.)

If I had enough time and gas money, I think it would be a kick to visit and photograph every single oddity on the list in a single summer. Maybe I could be named the world’s oddist tourist.

Again, I ask, did AutoWeek miss any good ones?