Carhenge

Alliance, Nebraska, United States

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

Carhenge is a replica of Stonehenge built in 1987 from 39 automobiles near Alliance, Nebraska, with a circle about 96 feet across. According to its official website, Jim Reinders and about 35 relatives built it as a memorial to his father.

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Carhenge

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42.14225° N, 102.85796° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Carhenge asks a question and answers it with a shrug. Its creator, Jim Reinders, is quoted on the official site replying to "why Carhenge?" with "Why not?" The result is a Stonehenge replica made of cars, standing north of Alliance in the Nebraska Panhandle.

According to the Carhenge website, Reinders had lived in England and studied Stonehenge's design and purpose. After his father's death in 1982 the family discussed a memorial, and agreed to gather in five years to build it. About 35 relatives came together in June 1987 on the farm where his father once lived, and the dedication was held on the summer solstice that year with champagne, poetry, songs and a play written by the family.

The site says 39 automobiles were placed in the same proportions as Stonehenge, in a circle about 96 feet across. Some cars stand upright in pits five feet deep, trunk end down, while those forming the arches are welded in place. All are covered in gray spray paint, and a 1962 Cadillac stands in as the heel stone. A Car Art Reserve nearby holds other pieces, including "Spawning Salmon" by a Canadian sculptor, Reinders' own "Fourd Seasons" made only of Fords, and a set of three bells.

The site says Reinders gave Carhenge and 10 acres to a local group, the Friends of Carhenge, who kept it until it was gifted to the City of Alliance in October 2013. The visitor centre, the Pit Stop, was built in 2007.

Carhenge is free (donations appreciated) and open daily from dawn to dusk, according to its contact page; the gift shop opens seasonally. WOWT repeated in June 2026 that it is open year-round and free to visit.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

An open-air car sculpture circle with a Car Art Reserve nearby. The official site lists free entry (donations appreciated), daily from dawn to dusk, with the Pit Stop gift shop open seasonally, May to September. WOWT reported in June 2026 that it is open year-round.

ACCESS

2151 County Road 59, just north of Alliance, Nebraska, along Highway 87, according to the official Carhenge site. The official site lists the City of Alliance as the contact; walk around the sculptures on foot.

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Our Lady of Peace Shrine

Pine Bluffs, Wyoming

A 30-foot white statue of the Virgin Mary beside Interstate 80 near the Wyoming-Nebraska border, weighing about 180 tons. Cowboy State Daily (2023) reports it by Robert Fida of Frisco, Texas, completed in 1999, in a shrine with kneeling benches, other statues, monuments and a covered pavilion, maintained by the family of founders Ted and Marjorie Trefren.

Public art

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146 km away

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