Weird outdoor & roadside things to do in Los Angeles
Weird outdoor and roadside things to do in Los Angeles — 5 of them, from Watts Towers of Simon Rodia, Cabazon Dinosaurs and The Wisdom Tree, Cahuenga Peak. Folk-art environments, unexplained monuments and roadside oddities worth pulling over for, all outdoors and mostly free. They spread across Watts, Los Angeles, Cabazon, California, Hollywood Hills / Griffith Park, Agua Dulce and 1 more area, so two or three can make a whole afternoon. 5 of them cost nothing. Every entry is hand-vetted against real sources — not scraped off a top-ten list or averaged out of crowd ratings.
-
Watts Towers of Simon Rodia
Italian immigrant tile-setter Simon Rodia spent 33 years (1921-1954) building these seventeen interlocking spires by hand, the tallest reaching nearly 100 feet, using no scaffolding, bolts, rivets, or welds. The skeletal steel armatures are wrapped in wire mesh and mortar and studded with broken glass, seashells, pottery shards, tile, and bottle bottoms he scavenged. In 1955 Rodia gave the property away and walked off, never returning. As of June 2026 the on-site guided tours and arts center are paused for campus renovations (set to resume in July 2026), but the towers themselves loom over the neighborhood and are easily seen from the surrounding sidewalk.
-
Cabazon Dinosaurs
Sculptor Claude Bell built these two colossal concrete dinosaurs beside Interstate 10 starting in 1964 to lure travelers to his Wheel Inn diner; Dinny the Apatosaurus took eleven years and Mr. Rex the T. rex followed. The diner is long gone, but the giants remain, and you can climb a staircase inside Dinny's belly to a gift shop. They are famous from their cameo in Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
-
The Wisdom Tree, Cahuenga Peak
A single solitary pine clings to the spine of Cahuenga Peak, the lone tree in the area that survived the 2007 Hollywood Hills fire. Hikers leave notes, trinkets, and offerings in an ammo box and a mailbox at its base, an evolving shrine to a tree that someone reportedly planted with saplings bought at a local Vons. The rugged out-and-back climbs to a ridgeline with the Hollywood Sign visible on the next summit over.
-
Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park
Tilted slabs of sandstone jut from the desert floor at a dramatic 45-degree angle, up to 150 feet high, exposed by movement along the San Andreas Fault system. The otherworldly formations have stood in for alien planets in countless productions, most famously as the backdrop to Captain Kirk's fight with the lizard-like Gorn in the original Star Trek. The Pacific Crest Trail runs right through the park, and you can scramble straight up the iconic angled rock faces.
-
Galleta Meadows Sky Art Sculptures
Across roughly 3,000 acres of open desert, landowner Dennis Avery commissioned artist Ricardo Breceda to plant about 130 rusted-steel sculptures with no fences, signs, or admission. Prehistoric mammoths, sloths, and a saber-tooth stand near the road, but the showstopper is a 350-foot serpent with a dragon's head that appears to dive in and out of the sand across the highway.
Weird outdoor & roadside things to do in Los Angeles — FAQ
Which weird outdoor & roadside oddities in Los Angeles are the strangest?
Ranked by how strange they actually are: Cabazon Dinosaurs, The Wisdom Tree, Cahuenga Peak and Watts Towers of Simon Rodia. Cabazon Dinosaurs — Sculptor Claude Bell built these two colossal concrete dinosaurs beside Interstate 10 starting in 1964 to lure travelers to his Wheel Inn diner; Dinny the Apatosaurus took eleven years and Mr.
Where in Los Angeles are they?
Across Watts, Los Angeles, Cabazon, California, Hollywood Hills / Griffith Park, Agua Dulce and Borrego Springs. Each listing gives the neighborhood and address so you can cluster a couple into one outing.
Are any of the weird outdoor & roadside oddities in Los Angeles free?
Yes — 5 are free to visit, including Watts Towers of Simon Rodia, Cabazon Dinosaurs and The Wisdom Tree, Cahuenga Peak. The rest are mostly low-cost.
Is this a good weird date in Los Angeles?
That's what the list is built for. Every entry has a specific move rather than a vague recommendation — at Cabazon Dinosaurs, for instance: Climb up inside the brontosaurus together, then split a snack from the Waffle-Saurus truck in the shadow of the T. rex.
How were these weird outdoor & roadside oddities chosen?
An agentic research system digs for the genuinely obscure — the spots even locals miss — and every one is verified against real sources before it makes the list. We deliberately skip the landmarks already on every Los Angeles guide.