One Of Pennsylvania's Most Unique Roadside Attractions Is A Funky Free-To-Visit Sculpture Garden Park

Pennsylvania is no flyover state, being chock-full of wildly creative art attractions, including one of America's most colorful landmarks. What makes these sites so inviting is that many are free, outdoors, and as enriching as they are surprising. For those lucky enough to take a road trip through the fascinating state, you'll notice that Pennsylvania's roadside attractions also take whimsy to a whole new level. From a giant, shoe-shaped building serving as an Airbnb to a Big Mac museum with a giant hamburger sculpture, you never know what you'll see. PennDOT Road Sign Sculpture Garden in Meadville is one of the most unique of these roadside oddities, boasting nearly a quarter of a mile of metal road signs artfully blended to assemble a 1,200-foot mural.

The symmetry of using upcycled road signs for the imaginative roadside project isn't lost on anyone, nor are the clever designs used to create the funky display. One piece of the eye-catching mural features a sign that says "Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful," while the petals of a flower sculpture are made of "one way" signs that point in all different directions. Hot air balloons seem to be launching from the mural wall itself, and as the directional arrows that border it seem to instruct, a giant Ferris wheel spins with a downward tug. Unlike other creative, unique outdoor art gardens in the state that reside in cities, this art display is even more accessible, as it can be seen while driving from point A to point B.

True to Pennsylvania's tradition of representing the community where a particular artwork resides, Allegheny College professor Amara Geffen understood that the endeavor needed to be a collaborative effort, both at its inception and throughout the process. Once her request was granted by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to help supply the old road signs, she teamed up with local art students who worked with her to brainstorm ideas. Geffen also roped in young residents of Meadville, whose ideas inspired much of the mural's imagery.

Key sections of the mural also feature iconic sites of the town itself, and it's fun to peruse the wall and puzzle out which locales from the region are depicted. Some recognizable sections of the mural include the townscape of Meadville and its scenic Route 6. The canvas also offers an artistic sojourn into the region's past, with a portrayal of Allegheny College Bentley Hall, a shining example of Federalist architecture from the 1820s, and an homage to Titusville, where the state's glory days as an oil industry pioneer began.

You can find the installation on Smock Highway on the edge of town, between Applebee's and Hoss's Steak and Sea House. If you're on a road trip through the state, it's under two hours east of Cleveland and an hour and a half north of Pittsburgh. Perhaps as a thanks to the department, the installation beautifies the fencing of PennDOT's offices and, of course, can be seen right from the road for free.

There are many roadside oddities in Pennsylvania, such as a secret spring claiming to be the fountain of youth, and if you want to get a feel for how unexpected and weird they can get, it could be worth taking a self-guided tour of these outdoor galleries. Just a 15-minute drive west from PennDOT's mural park takes you to one such attraction, which is a 10-foot-tall wire sculpture of a woolly mammoth. It's beautifully constructed and stands on the very edge of Conneaut Lake, as if stopping to take a drink. An hour's drive south to Hermitage, you'll find a comical depiction of Bigfoot carrying a bouquet of flowers, perhaps a comment on how doggedly the creature has been pursued over the years. If you're heading toward Philadelphia, you may also want to stop in the town of York, where you can get a glimpse of the iconic Haines Shoe House.

Though not exactly roadside and also not free, a short venture down a gravel road in the tiny town of Townville is also worth the trip. For $10 you can get lost in a set of buildings called the World of Mazes. The structures are arranged to present challenging labyrinths and have fun names like "Circus Maze" and "Dream Dinosaurs." It's basically a straight shot from the sculpture park, just a 30-minute drive on PA-77 going east.