Carhenge – A Visit to America’s Version of Stonehenge
Did you know that America has our own twist on Stonehenge? It’s called Carhenge, and if you’re ever near Alliance, Nebraska, you should swing by and check it out.
As part of our “50 States Before Graduation Challenge” we have decided as a family that we must visit at least 2 attractions in each state in order for the state to qualify as “visited.” After leaving South Dakota we decided to continue our road trip through Nebraska on our way back to Denver, so we could cross Nebraska off our list.
The attractions we decided to visit in Nebraska were Dobby’s Frontier Town, Carhenge, and Chimney Rock. Our second stop was Carhenge which is near Alliance, Nebraska.
Carhenge was built in 1987 by Jim Reinders and his family. Jim and the Reinders family took American-made vintage automobiles from the ’50s and ’60s, and arranged them to look like Stonehenge.
Carhenge was assembled in 6 days during a family reunion. Jim called it a “Stonehenge West,” which is our very own American version of Stonehenge.
The cars, which have been painted gray, are arranged trunk down and rise 15-17 feet into the air. The cars are approximately 7 feet wide, which are the same size as the rocks at Stonehenge. The 38 major stones of Stonehenge are represented in the Carhenge display.
Located 2 1/2 miles north of Alliance, Nebraska, Carhenge sits on 10-acres of land that are owned by the City of Alliance. There is also a walking path that leads to an area called the Car Art Reserve that includes several sculpture pieces made of cars and car parts. There is a gift shop on-site, called the Pitstop, that is open seasonally.
For another look at our visit to Carhenge check out our YouTube video below. You can also read about Day 1 of our trip and our visit to Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater and Casa Bonita, and Day 2 of our trip to Colorado Springs and our stops at the Garden of the Gods, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings Museum, the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade, the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, and Magic Town.
You can also go back and read about Day 3 at the Western Museum of Mining and Industry, the Money Museum, the Colorado State Capitol, and the Molly Brown House Museum. Day 4 started with a stop at the Southeast Wyoming Welcome Center and a drive down Happy Jack Road to Curt Gowdy State Park before stopping at the Wyoming State Museum.
Our visit to South Dakota on Day 5 started with a morning visit to Mount Rushmore, and an afternoon exploring Keystone and driving down Needles Highway. On Day 6 we drove from South Dakota to Dobby’s Frontier Town before stopping at Carhenge. This trip is the first trip of our “50 States Before Graduation Challenge” series.
44 Comments
Amanda
I have never heard of Carhenge before. It looks really cool. We love oddities like this. Visiting 2 attractions like this per state is a great idea.
Sara W
Ideally I’d like to see a lot more of each state, but I figure 2 attractions is a good minimum to start with.
Jennifer Van Haitsma
This is really cool! I didn’t know this existed. I will have to check this out at some point.
Sara W
It’s a neat little place. I’d never heard of it until I started researching for our trip.
rebecca
These are awesome pictures of Carhenge! I had never heard of it, but will have to remember if we’re ever in Nebraska!
Sara W
It’s such a fun landmark!
Sana Sareer
I love reading such blogs which tells information about any place that I have not seen. Thank you for sharing this
Sara W
You’re welcome. I love reading posts like this too, which is one of the reasons I started sharing our stories.
Amy
You guys go to the most interesting places!
Sara W
When I plan our trips I try to find things that everyone in our group will enjoy.
Julie M Smith
I just moved from Omaha and had heard of this but didn’t make it.
Sara W
You should go check it out sometime. It’s a neat place.
Jami
I never knew this place existed before reading this. If we ever are in the area, we will have to add this as a stop!
Sara W
I hope you get to visit Carhenge someday.
Alison
This is so cool – definitely a stop we’re adding to our road trip list. I love how it’s built close in scale to the actual Stonehenge, so creative!
Sara W
They definitely put some thought into it!
Lisa Manderino
What a fun roadside attraction!
Sara W
It was really neat.
Lori Nielsen
What a quirky destination! It’s always fun to do something unique!
Sara W
We try to find a mixture of things to see when we travel. I love including at least one fun and unique destination.
Stacey Billingsley
This is cool; I would certainly stop. I would love to see this one day. We were just talking about this not long ago because we stopped at the Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo this summer.
Sara W
I’ll have to look into the Cadillac Ranch. Thanks for the tip.
melissa
This is great! It seems like a very “American” way of celebrating Stonehenge and something very unique to see!
Sara W
I totally agree!
Missy
Such an interesteing attraction. I would visit it on a road trip.
Sara W
It’s definitely a unique place.
kmf
I love quirky roadside attractions like this. And this one is definitely unique and memorable!
Sara W
Definitely!
Barbara
Looks like a fun landmark!
Sara W
It definitely is.
Leslie
So funky! I love it!
Sara W
We loved it too!
Carey
So fun and a creative place. My kids would love to visit this place.
Sara W
It’s a great place for a quick stop.
Leeanne
How fun. Does it have a ‘special vibe?’ I’ve been to the real Stonehenge and it does have a ‘special feeling’ to the area. So I’m just curious if the carhenge does as well or does it have more of a fun party vibe?
Sara W
I’ve been to both and I would say that Carhenge definitely has more of a fun party vibe.
Chantelle
This is the weirdest thing, and I totally want to go here!
Sara W
It does have a way of drawing you in.
Cindy Mailhot
I was just looking at a Route 66 trip if we still aren’t able to travel internationally for a while. This is on the list if we do!
Sara W
It’s the perfect place for a quick stop.
Trisha
I have always wondered the story behind this! Thank you for sharing it! Looks like a fun place to visit.
Sara W
It was definitely a fun place for a quick stop.
Cindy
This would be fun to visit! I didn’t know it existed.
Sara W
I didn’t know about it until I started researching for our trip. It’s a neat little place.