Enchanted Highway

Like many small farm towns on the northern plains, Regent watched its population dwindle through the late twentieth century as young people moved away and the interstate carried traffic past rather than through. Gary Greff, who had grown up there and worked as a teacher and school principal, decided that the town needed something big enough to make travelers turn off the highway.

With no art training, Greff taught himself to design and weld enormous sculptures from scrap metal, farm parts, and salvaged steel, working over many years to build them one by one along the road from the interstate to Regent. His goal was simple and stubborn: give people a reason to come, and give Regent a chance to hang on. The Enchanted Highway grew out of that determination, one giant figure at a time.

The sculptures are enormous, several among the largest scrap-metal works anywhere, and each has a small turnout where visitors can stop, walk up, and take in the scale. A towering family of tin people, a great flight of geese, an oversized grasshopper, leaping deer, a fisherman's dream of huge fish, and more line the route, each welded from salvaged steel and painted to stand out against the grass and sky.

Seen from a distance rising over the fields, the figures are strange and delightful, and up close their scale is genuinely impressive. Because they are spread along the road, driving the highway becomes a series of small discoveries, each sculpture a reward for continuing on toward Regent.

The highway ends in Regent, the town the whole project was built to serve. Greff's efforts extended into the town itself, where his work and related attractions give visitors a destination rather than just a drive. The town leans into its identity as the home of the Enchanted Highway, a small place with an outsized story.

The prairie around Regent is classic southwestern North Dakota ranch country, big and quiet under a wide sky. Reaching the end of the road, travelers have driven through a landscape that is itself part of the experience, empty and open, which makes the sudden appearance of each giant sculpture all the more striking.

The Enchanted Highway is best treated as a leisurely outing rather than a quick photo stop, with time to pull off at each sculpture and take it in. Services are few out here, so it is wise to fuel up and carry water and snacks before leaving the interstate. The road ends in Regent, so plan your visit around reaching the town.

Summer and early fall, with dry roads and long daylight, are the easiest times to drive the highway and photograph the sculptures against green or golden prairie. Winter brings cold and snow to the open plains, and spring can be wet, so a clear, mild day shows the highway at its best.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.