From strange roadside attractions to wonderfully weird museums, Tennessee is home to the quirky and downright bizarre. Whether you’re visiting for the weekend or just passing through, take a detour to some of these funky attractions.
LessIf you find yourself near Bluff City, do yourself a favor and check out the Backyard Terrors Dinosaur Park. Opened in 2007, this park is home to over sixty homemade dinosaur sculptures, from a towering T-Rex to a stegosaurus and triceratops. Stop by the fossil dig site and explore a variety of exhibits where kids can be paleontologists for the day. Don’t forget to check out their gift shop and take home a souvenir – they’ve got everything from fossil dig kits to dino plushies!
From afar, it might just look like a bunch of metal. But once you get closer, you’ll see that Billy Tripp’s Mindfield in Brownsville is quite the work of art. Work on the art installation started in 1989, and the shape and size have evolved over the years as more pieces of salvaged metal have been added. Each piece represents Billy Tripp’s emotions and feelings during significant events in life. Today, the twisted metal structure is more than 13 stories tall!
If you love your weird attractions with a side of terror, the Bell Witch Cave is a screaming good time. Located in the small town of Adams, you can tour the historic cave, which is believed to be haunted by the spirit of Kate Batts – a witch who tortured the locals. Take a lantern tour of the cave and explore the winding tunnels and rock formations that lead to an ancient Indigenous American burial site. You might just catch a glimpse of Kate’s spirit causing mischief.
How many salt and pepper shakers do you have in your house? It’s probably nowhere near as many as this place. At the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum in Gatlinburg, you’ll find a collection of over 20,000 unique salt and pepper shakers from all over the world. From shakers shaped like fruit to cola bottles and sushi, you’ll be able to find it all in one place in this unusual museum.
If you enjoy a good cup of tea, stop at the Trenton Teapot Museum inside Trenton City Hall. The collection includes over five hundred porcelain teapots from around the world, earning the city of Trenton the nickname “The Teapot Capital of the World.” You’ll find ornate teapots, short and tall teapots and four teapots that belonged to Napoleon!
Looking for things to do in Knoxville? Check out the World’s Largest Rubik’s Cube. On display inside the Knoxville Convention Center, the cube was a gift from Hungary presented at the Knoxville World’s Fair in 1982. Check out the ten-foot-tall colossal cube if you like this popular puzzle game.
You’ll feel like the king of the world when visiting the Titanic Replica in Pigeon Forge. Known as the world’s largest Titanic museum attraction, you can explore recreations of the first- and third-class passenger rooms and the Grand Staircase. Interactive exhibits let you experience what it was like to be aboard the ill-fated maiden voyage of the unsinkable ship. See a reconstruction of the boiler room and a flooded stairwell. You’ll also find a collection of artifacts and memorabilia.
An underground waterfall in Tennessee? You bet! Descend into the depths of Chattanooga's Lookout Mountain on a glass-front elevator and take a guided cave tour. You'll walk through extensive caverns, see unique rock formations, and marvel at the cascading falls. Beyond the waterfall, Lookout Mountain also offers a 40-foot climbing tower and ziplining (the views of the Cumberland Plateau are incredible).