Regent, North Dakota.

This week, Patti Moed asks us to consider sharing images of street art. She writes, “This week, we invite you to join us for LAPC #170: Street Art. Show us your captures of street art in places near and far.” You will find her challenge post and example images here.

When I first thought about the many images of street art I’ve captured, it ran the gamut of statuary in Washington, D.C., to graffiti-filled train cars, to buskers plying their trade live in front of their audience, sculpting, playing music, doing magic, or even an artist in Boulder Colorado who did an aerial act on a ladder being held vertical by passers-by using ropes to hold it steady.

Instead, I decided to share a photo story about a highway in North Dakota. It’s a 30-minute drive (if you don’t stop to admire the street art), from the Gladstone exit on I-94 south to the city of Regent, North Dakota. Traveling westbound on I-94, you will see this giant sculpture of geese flying across a golden North Dakota Sunset. When you get there, take exit 72 north and make an immediate right turn into the small park where you can read about the Enchanted Highway and its larger-than-life sculptures made from scrap metal.

“Geese in Flight” is 90 feet (27 m) high and certified by Guinness as the World’s Largest Outdoor Sculpture. The opening photo, however, is probably my favorite. It’s called The Tin Family.

Drive south on the highway back across the Interstate bridge toward the city of Gladstone, just a mile (2 km) or so south of the Interstate. Continue south through the city and be ready to locate the next sculpture built along the highway. There are many more than I am sharing here in this post. I included this photo of Grasshoppers in the field to help you gauge the size of these sculptures. That short fence in front of the grasshopper is made with the typical 3-4 foot (1 m) fence posts. In addition to the single large grasshopper, there are several smaller grasshoppers nearby. Each sculpture features a theme of North Dakota life, and each has a nearby parking area.

Probably the most elaborate sculpture is Fisherman’s Dream. The under-lake view of a lunker fish attempting to capture a dragonfly with a fisherman on a boat looks on. Under the water, there are several large fish and a sunken fishing boat. The complexity of this sculpture is nothing short of amazing.

To help you gauge the size of this piece of street art, that sunken boat is large enough for kids to climb on. Gary is no “kid”, but he’s a kid at heart, anyway, and he was kind enough to get on the boat to show off the scale of this set of sculptures.

In total, there are seven sculptures along the route, all built by Gary Greff, a resident of Regent and retired schoolteacher who has lived and worked in Regent for many years. Each sculpture represents some aspect of North Dakota. Mr. Greff has more sculptures underway and, even in his seventies, he continues to grow the enchanted highway.

At Regent, you can stay at the Enchanted Castle, a converted school building that is now a hotel, or you can buy miniature versions of these sculptures in the gift shop. If you’d like to stay in the Enchanted Castle, at this time of Covid, it would be best to check for availability. Their website is active and has contact information.

I have posted the images from our travels down the Enchanted Highway to my Flickr account, and you can see the entire album collection here. Alternatively, you can pixel peep at any single image by clicking on it to view it on my Flickr site.

Thanks again to Patti for giving me the opportunity to share a unique collection of public art on the Enchanted Highway in western North Dakota.

John Steiner

Enchanted Highway, North Dakota.

On North Dakota’s section of Interstate 94, stop at exit 72, turn northbound, and take the first right on a gravel driveway to get up close and personal with the giant metal sculpture named “Geese in Flight.” You will see the sculpture before you get to the exit. At 110 feet (34 m) tall and 150 feet (46 m) wide, it was given the honor of the world’s largest scrap metal sculpture by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2002.

When you leave the sculpture parking area, turn left back toward the Interstate and head south on the overpass over the Interstate. “Geese in Flight” is but the first of many sculptures built along the road by Gary Greff, a longtime resident of Regent, North Dakota, some 32 miles (51 km) down the Enchanted Highway.

The larger-than-life sculptures were designed to attract visitors to Gary’s hometown of Regent. What would make people drive all that way to visit Regent? Truth be told, the drive is worth the time just for the rolling hills and natural beauty of the area. The sculptures are just icing on the cake.

A bridge at the south end of the town of Gladstone gives travelers a view of the Heart River as it travels eastward and eventually joins the Missouri River at Mandan. You won’t find any other towns until you get to Regent, but there are plenty of stops along the way to view Gary Greff’s sculptures.

Some of the sculptures are relatively simple, but they are all certainly big. You can gauge the size of this family by the surrounding fence in the background. It is not the goal of this post to share with you every sculpture along the way but to simply share a few to entice you to take the detour off I-94 to drive the Enchanted Highway.

One of the most complex structures is this giant aquatic scene. A fisherman is trying his luck at capturing one of the many fish below the surface as a “lunker” leaps from the water to capture a dragonfly. On the lower left is a small boat that is accessible for people to “climb aboard.”

To help you gauge the size of this display, I happened to catch all six-foot-plus of Gary, (not the sculptor, but one of our traveling companions), as he explored the boat.

Another sculpture features this large family of pheasants. This is only part of the family. The point of all of these displays is to feature sights that are familiar to North Dakotans.

A large silhouette of Teddy Roosevelt on horseback is near a stagecoach where kids can climb aboard and relive a part of the old west.

The final image in my series features the giant grasshopper that I recently shared in a Cellpic Sunday post. What I find most interesting about this sculpture is its layers of sheet metal stacked to make a 3-D grasshopper. It truly is beautiful work with scrap metal.

For those traveling the Interstate and taking the trip to Regent, you might consider stopping at the Enchanted Castle Hotel, enjoy a meal at the Excalibur Steakhouse, or hoist a brew at the medieval tavern. As this is being written during the Covid-19 pandemic, the facilities are all still open, but it would be wise to check availability in advance if you decide to stay.

Returning to the Interstate for eastbound travelers is best accomplished by backtracking along the highway to exit 72’s on-ramp. Westbound travelers along I-94 have another option. Instead of backtracking, from Regent, simply continue west on highway 21. At the “T”, take a right turn onto highway 22 to Dickinson where you can rejoin the Interstate.

John Steiner

In Western North Dakota, a stretch of highway between Gladstone and Regent contains the world’s largest collection of scrap metal sculptures. This giant grasshopper is just part of the display at this location. Just to the right of the large sculpture, you can see one of the much smaller sculptures at this site. Each stop has a large parking area, a place to enjoy the view, and just maybe have a picnic lunch or snack. The 32-mile (51 km) section of highway was the dream come to fruition of metal sculptor Gary Greff.

The last sculpture in the series is near Regent. Westbound travelers along I-94 can take exit 72 south to Regent, then continue west on highway 21. At the “T”, take a right turn onto highway 22 to Dickinson where you can rejoin the Interstate.

About the photo: Captured with my Samsung S20U, this snapshot of the grasshopper was quite bland on an overcast day. After tweaking in Lightroom, I exported it to Luminar 4, and using Luminar’s sky replacement feature, I substituted a late summer North Dakota sky. Feel free to click on the image to enlarge it for a better view, (if your browser supports it.) On an upcoming Travel Tuesday post, I will feature a collection of my favorite sculptures captured along North Dakota’s Enchanted Highway.

John Steiner

Gladstone, North Dakota

If you find yourself traveling along I-94 between Bismarck and Dickinson North Dakota, you’ll probably find it hard to miss the large sculpture of called “Geese in Flight.” At exit 72, (near Gladstone), you’ll find a small parking area underneath the large sculpture. If you travel south on the highway, you will encounter a signpost with a listing of the sculptures along the way and their distance from the Interstate. About three miles down the road, you’ll come across the second sculpture. Welcome to the Enchanted Highway, a 30-mile  (48 km) highway that welcomes visitors with several sculptures along the way. The highway has some beautiful scenery in its own right. The small collection of images featured here are but a sample of the sights along this agrarian highway.

The second sculpture along the way is three miles south of the geese. “Deer Crossing”, “Geese in Flight”  and the other sculptures are all very large. Though it’s hard to tell in the above photo, if you are standing in the parking area of “Deer Crossing” and look north toward the Interstate, you can see “Geese in Flight” rising above the prairie. Remember, the sculptures are three miles apart. I will leave it to you, my readers, to take the trip yourself to view the remaining sculptures.

I was reading an article recently that the sculptor, Gary Greff, is planning to add to the collection and a Kickstarter drive successfully met his funding goal to help him create a giant spider web propped up by prairie wildflowers. If you can’t wait to find out about the remaining sculptures, click here. To read more about the sculptor’s next project, click here.

Along the Enchanted Highway, you will find views of prairie, farmland and small watersheds. The stream above winds its way near the town of Gladstone.

Two trees and a windmill interrupt the prairie near the “Deer Crossing” sculpture. The trip to view the sculptures will add about an hour’s driving time, and whatever time you spend at each parking area viewing the artwork. Happy traveling along the Enchanted Highway through my home state of North Dakota.

John Steiner