VW Slug Bug Ranch

Amarillo, Texas, United States

Public art

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Current

Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

The original five Volkswagen Beetles stand half-buried in the ground on Sunrise Drive in East Amarillo, Texas, where visitors spray-paint them. Built in 2002 near Conway on Route 66 and inspired by Cadillac Ranch, they were moved to Amarillo in 2024 and are managed, according to ROUTE Magazine, by the Bug Ranch Association.

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VW Slug Bug Ranch

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Approximate location · 35.233° N, 101.791° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Five Volkswagen Beetles stand half-buried in the ground, inspired by Cadillac Ranch, and since 2024 they have been in Amarillo instead of at their original home on Route 66 near Conway, Texas.

According to ROUTE Magazine, the Slug Bug Ranch was conceived in 2002 by the Crutchfield family, who ran the Longhorn Trading Post and the adjacent Rattlesnake Ranch beside old Route 66 in Conway. A Love's travel shop had opened near the same Interstate 40 exit, and the family hoped Beetles buried like the Cadillacs of Cadillac Ranch, which has stood near Amarillo since 1974, would pull travellers back. ROUTE reports the idea did not save the business, which closed in 2003, but the cars stayed and visitors painted them.

In October 2023 KFDA reported that the ranch would close by the end of that month and reopen in January at a site on a nearby county road. By May 2024 the same station reported that the Beetles were moving to the Starlight Ranch Event Center in Amarillo. Starlight Ranch owner Bobby Lee said the owner of the Conway property had called him in November, and that without a move the cars might have been scrapped. A volunteer group, the Bug Ranch Association, runs the new site, and an unveiling was announced for June 14, 2024.

The size of the new installation is reported differently. ABC7 said in May 2024 that it would start with 14 vehicles, while a note added to ROUTE's article says 10 more Beetles and seven former Big Texan limousines joined the original five. Big Texan lists the site as open 365 days a year, with spray paint welcome on the Slug Bugs and limos, concrete sidewalks and handicapped access. Cadillac Ranch is about 15 minutes west on the interstate, according to Dustbowl Highway.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Big Texan lists the Slug Bug Ranch as open 365 days a year, with concrete sidewalks and handicapped access, and invites visitors to spray-paint the Slug Bugs and former limousines. It is an outdoor roadside installation beside the Big Texan RV Ranch and Starlight Ranch Event Center.

ACCESS

On Sunrise Drive along Interstate 40 in East Amarillo, near the Big Texan RV Ranch and Starlight Ranch Event Center. The Big Texan lists the address as 1414 Sunrise, Amarillo, TX 79118.

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