Photos of Fencepost Art Near Great Basin National Park

January 17th, 2009

Mad Cow Driver in Great Basin National Park

The Mad Driver in Great Basin National Park

This is a strange gallery, admittedly. Great Basin National Park is located 5 miles from Baker, NV…at the end of the road called Highway 488. This road, which runs up towards the park on a rather steep and very steady upgrade…is incredibly scenic to drive as the peaks of the park totally dominate the view.

Yet, there are other things to look at on the drive up to Great Basin National Park from Baker. You see, strung out all along the road between Baker and the parks entrance, is a significant collection of what I call “Fencepost Art.” Sometime in the past, perhaps out of boredom, either people from Baker itself or people who happened to be visiting the park, began to create odd and very unique pieces of art along the highway. Some of these art pieces are on the fence posts. Others are on the ground. Yet others are in old and rusted out cars.

In any event, what probably started out as something to do when bored, has become a tradition apparently…with people who visit the park stopping along the road and erecting their very own “piece of Nevada road art.” And indeed…I saw this personally happen…as a large family cobbled together from various things in their camper a creation I call Racquet Man…the first photograph which I took and is on this site. So who says this site doesn’t have some “historical significance.”

In any event, enjoy this unique and rather odd gallery on Exploring Nevada.

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