The 25 Best Roadside Attractions in Tennessee
Ranked by Roadtrippi users — the people who've actually been there. Updated June 2026. Roadtrippi catalogs 451 roadside attractions in Tennessee.
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1. Giant Chicken With Chef Hat
Elkton, TN
What's even more impressive than its size and its chef's hat is that it carries its own carving knife.
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2. Silo Mural of Lee Estes
Nashville, TN
40-foot-high photo-realist mural on the side of an old grain silo of Lee Estes, who's lived in this neighborhood since the 1920s.
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3. Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Petros, TN
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4. Rusty Mechanism
Franklin, TN
Rusty is a giant metal man, 20 feet tall, built of old rusted factory parts. He has a heart of gold and a lightbulb inside his head. If you turn his left thumb, his head will turn too.
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5. Restored Vintage Gas Station
Cowan, TN
This 1936 Texaco station has been preserved as a small car museum and town welcome center.
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6. Born in a Boneyard: First Lady Eliza Johnson
Telford, TN
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7. Skullbone Store
Bradford, TN
An old general store that closed in April 2019 -- but the outside wall mural boasts of its owner's travels and the town's claim as the home of the "undefeated champions of bareknuckle fist and skullbone fighting."
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8. Riverboat Doorway
Memphis, TN
Doorway at a brewery in an otherwise bland brick building is a cheesy head-on facade of a Mississippi riverboat, with twin smokestacks, a pilot's house, upper deck and lower deck.
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9. Pink Elephant (Gone)
Clarksville, TN
A large fiberglass pink elephant stands along the highway -- trunk raised (he never held a martini glass). He advertises the Top Dollar Pawn shop.
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10. Discovery Park of America
Union City, TN
Science and natural history museum is mostly mainstream, but it does have some space exhibits, replica dinosaurs, and a giant indoor slide shaped like a man.
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11. Copper Miner (Gone)
TN
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12. "Shake, Buddy!" Civil War Monument
Knoxville, TN
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13. Archie Campbell Museum and Homeplace
Bulls Gap, TN
Singer/comedian Archie was a fixture at the Grand Ole Opry and a co-host of the country variety show "Hee Haw."
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14. Parthenon and Statue of Athena
Nashville, TN
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15. Graves of Johnny and June Carter Cash
Hendersonville, TN
The two most famous graves inside an otherwise unexceptional cemetery.
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16. Caged Red Dragon
McMinnville, TN
Some homeowner has placed a red dragon sculpture inside a fairly substantial cage on their front lawn. Looks permanent.
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17. Giant Cross
Loudon, TN
One of many similar Christian Goliaths that rise from America's soil, usually next to an interstate.
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18. Flying Saucer House
Signal Mountain, TN
Martian getaway dream home, made of white concrete. With retractable stairs...and there's enough space underneath to park a car.
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19. Hillbilly Golf
Gatlinburg, TN
Experience the rich culture of East Tennessee by playing mini-golf on a hillside so steep you have to ride an incline to reach it. Open since 1971.
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20. President Andrew Johnson Museum
Tusculum, TN
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21. Chainsaw Full-Color Eagle, Flag, Battle Cross
Knoxville, TN
Front yard 15-foot-high full-color chainsaw art of a bald eagle, American flag, and fallen soldier battle cross (rifle, helmet, and boots) carved into a dead tree.
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22. Bunny Golf (Gone)
Pigeon Forge, TN
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23. Grinder's Switch: Minnie Pearl
Centerville, TN
Grand Old Opry comedienne Minnie Pearl always said she came from Grinder's Switch. A small sign on a rural country road marks the spot.
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24. Statue of Sam Davis, Boy Hero of the Confederacy
Nashville, TN
Sam was actually 21 when he was hanged by Yankees as a Rebel spy, but in the lore of the South he remains The Boy Hero of the Confederacy.
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25. Monster Truck Rides (Closed)
Sevierville, TN
Visitors could ride around in a balloon-tired pickup truck and look down on all of the puny human vehicles.
Browse all 451 attractions in Tennessee on Roadtrippi.