April 18, 2025 • 14 mins
The sparse fields of North Dakota hold a secret …
Mysterious scrape metal statues populate the wind-swept landscape.
The reason behind their labored construction and the harrowing story of the man who built them - that’s a story worth telling.
This is the fable of the Enchanted Highway…
Works Cited:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/videos/meet-the-man-who-built-north-dakota-s-enchanted-highway
https://www.ndtourism.com/regent/attractions-entertainment/family-fun/enchanted-highway
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=the+enchanted+highway.com&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/enchanted-highway
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2155
Noah and Noodles here!
We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.
Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.
Follow each adventure visually at:
https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Cruisin' down the street.
I wonder where this road wouldlead.
So many possibilities.
Care to share what you think.
Oh, noodle Dolls, what do yousee?
Back Road Odyssey.
(00:24):
The sparse fields of NorthDakota hold a secret.
Mysterious scrap metal statuespopulate the windswept landscape
.
The reason behind their laboredconstruction and the harrowing
story of the man who built them.
That's a story worth telling.
This is the fable of theEnchanted Highway.
(00:51):
I park along the small mainstreet of Regent, North Dakota.
A large tin sculpture guardsthe door to my intended
destination, the EnchantedHighway gift shop.
The door creaks slightly as Ienter the modest building.
Inside, a warm smile and brighteyes look back at me.
(01:12):
The man's time-tested featuresbetray the zealous youth he
emotes.
He says only one thing how canI help you?
Only one thing.
How can I help you?
We are driving along Interstate94.
My dog and co-pilot, noodles,is in the passenger seat.
(01:35):
After camping around TeddyRoosevelt National Park for a
week or so, we're ready to headfurther west.
But first the Enchanted Highway, a series of welded sculptures
leading to the small NorthDakota town of Regent.
Before we begin our explorationinto this North Dakota oddity,
(01:58):
we've got to start at thebeginning.
Who built the Enchanted Highway.
There's so much to learn bybeing in a small town, gary
Greff.
The Great Grass Prairie ofwestern North Dakota has few
trees and even fewer towns.
What remains is windblown,sparsely visited and deeply
(02:22):
uninteresting alone.
Sparsely visited and deeplyuninteresting this, at least,
was the perception.
So much so that, from 1990 to2000, the few towns that
remained lost, on average, atleast 20% of their population,
and this includes HeddingerCounty, home to Regent, north
Dakota, and the birthplace ofGary Griff, home to Regent,
(02:47):
north Dakota and the birthplaceof Gary Griff.
Born as most in the area into afarming family, gary later
attends the only school in townand where some look back with
contempt at the small, seeminglydetached towns of their youth.
Gary cherishes the fresh air,close connections and quiet of
(03:09):
Regent, north Dakota, but thecall of opportunity can tear you
away even from the things thatyou love.
After graduation, gary leavesthe small town he grew up in to
become an educator.
Eighteen long years pass andthe sight that meets Gary upon
(03:32):
his return to Regent is anunwelcome one.
I came home and saw that thetown of Regent was dying.
Gary Greff of Regent was dying,gary Greff.
We pulled off the highway andwe're officially now at mile
(03:52):
zero of the Enchanted Highway.
We parked next to the firstsculpture along the highway.
It's called Geese in Flight andis a truly massive sculpture
with silhouettes of geese flyingover mountains over a setting
sun.
My first thought is how didjust one teacher make this?
It's intricate, it's massive.
(04:14):
But before we get into the how,we need to start with the why.
We have a man.
He returns to his childhoodhome to see it dying.
Why is building sculptures thesolution?
I had no art experience, nowelding experience, gary Greff.
(04:42):
Upon returning to Regent, garyasks himself a simple question
how can I help Regent stay alive?
He starts with one painful factand a corresponding question
there's 32.5 miles of bare roadseparating Regent from the
bustling interstate.
(05:03):
How do I make people willing todrive that distance?
The answer comes by chance oneday when Greg notices a mother
and a child pulling off the roadfor a picture with a small
statue.
Seeing this, the educator, withno welding or sculpting
experience, thought to himselfwhat if I made that?
(05:29):
How hard could it be?
It's a little windy.
We parked at mile three.
The sculpture's called DeerCrossing.
It's deer, right obviously,maybe 100 feet high, jumping in
(05:51):
a line and right away, asidefrom it looking beautiful.
I have to ask how does somebodywith no experience decide one
day yep, what I'm gonna build, Isee it in my head and this is
what I'm going to build, despitenot knowing how to do it by
(06:11):
myself?
How does and did Gary approachmaking these with literally no,
no experience?
It takes me about six years todo a sculpture Six years, gary
Greff.
The first sculpture Gary makesis also the most iconic A giant
(06:36):
tent family made of oil welltanks, fuel tanks and scrap
metal.
To make his first andsubsequent sculptures, he
teaches himself how to weld.
He wills each statue'scompletion and Gary works
outside nearly every day on hissculptures Rain, snow, wind.
(06:57):
The pieces are simply too bigto fit in any studio.
As for the materials, to fit inany studio.
As for the materials,everything comes from a dump or
is otherwise cheaply acquiredand repurposed.
And through the years and yearsand years of work, trial and
error, doubt from neighbors,hard physical and mental labor,
(07:19):
various now iconic sculpturesbegin to emerge.
The enchanted highway begins totake shape.
We're at mile 15.
The statue is underneathgrasshoppers in the field, giant
grasshoppers are nearby, giantgrass blades, and it is pretty
cool.
We're at mile 19.
(07:40):
Here Fisherman's dream,probably my favorite so far we
have a fisherman pulling in aneven bigger mass of fish, maybe
50 feet in the air.
Well, other fish, othervegetation swim underneath.
It's one thing to have the ideafor something, but to actually
carry it out, that's incredible.
(08:01):
Mile 24, pheasants on theprairie Noodles is really
curious about this one.
Mile 26, theodore Rooseveltrides.
Again, it's a giant outline ofTeddy Roosevelt on a horse.
Mile 30, the famous, world'slargest tin family Seems like a
(08:23):
happy bunch.
And here we are.
Mile 32, at the end of theEnchanted Highway, that is, if
we didn't drive another halfmile.
What ties into Enchanted?
But a castle, gary Greth.
(08:44):
Gary's ambition, his creativitydoesn't stop at the highway.
He figures at the end of the32.5 mile stretch.
There should be a hotel.
Regent itself should also be adestination.
But after being laughed out ofbanks, his ideas belittled, loan
(09:07):
request denied, gary had toonce again get creative.
And when his old high school isup for sale, gary once again
gets creative.
This is right where I sat whenI graduated high school.
This is right where I sat whenI graduated high school, gary
Greth sitting at his bar at theExcalibur Steakhouse in the
(09:31):
newly established EnchantedCastle, regents, new Premium
school turned medieval castlehotel.
Here we are at last, at the endof North Dakota's Enchanted
Highway.
We're standing in front of theEnchanted Castle.
In front of the castle-esquefacade there's maybe a 70-foot
(09:55):
metal knight battling a dragon,made, of course, by Gary himself
.
And here's what I'm thinkingnow.
What a better way to celebrateRegent, to make it a destination
.
What could be a better reasonas well to have something like
this than to save your town, totruly craft something out of
(10:16):
nothing, to save something thatyou love?
I don't know.
It's a great cause, and to methat's what makes the Enchanted
Highway here in Regent, northDakota, magical.
Just as Gary transformed thesparse North Dakota landscape
(10:38):
into a destination, transformedthe sparse North Dakota
landscape into a destination, heconverts the teacher rooms,
administrative spaces and hallsof his beloved high school into
a building, bolstering the oncedying town.
Although the population of thetown of Regent still remains
around 200 people, thesculptures laboriously built by
(11:01):
Gary in rain, in wind and insnow lure roughly 920 cars per
day towards his beloved Regent.
That's 920 people who otherwisewould have continued on their
way.
All from the efforts of one manwho saw nothing and made
(11:25):
something.
The story of North Dakota'sEnchanted Highway is a call.
It's a reminder to us all that,although sometimes you feel
powerless to events beyond yourcontrol, as long as you're
around you still can spark thechange you want to see.
(11:48):
Everybody has it in them.
If I can do it a person thatdidn't know how to weld didn't
have an art class I can go builda 110-foot metal sculpture.
You can do whatever you putyour mind to.
Gary Greff.
The man at the counter thanksme a present glint in his eye.
(12:15):
I leave the Enchanted Highwaysouvenir shop, get in my van,
pet my dog Noodles and start todrive backwards towards the
interstate I left.
And as I leave Regent, as wepass the various sculptures we'd
just stopped to visit, Irealized that man with the glint
(12:38):
in his eye, the knowing look,the weathered features he made
what I'm driving past.
That was Gary Greff.
And after beating myself forthe missed opportunity to talk,
to get insight, to get to knowhim, I stop and I think to talk
to get insight, to get to knowhim, I stop and I think the
(13:00):
Enchanted Highway is and neverwas about Gary Greff, nor would
he want it to be.
Gary doesn't seek recognition,praise.
To visit Regent.
That's enough.
That's the goal.
And all of this flies throughmy mind as Gary, his cherished
(13:23):
town and the enchanted highwayleading to it fade from view.
It's Noah here.
Thank you for listening toBackroad Odyssey.
Every minute you spend with usmeans the world it really does.
With that said, I have somefinal thoughts.
You could easily drive pasteach statue and think to
(13:50):
yourself those are cool, butit's the reason for their
construction, the story thatmakes locations like this worth
visiting, worth talking about.
So I'll leave you with achallenge Next time you see
something like that on the sideof the road, remember to be
curious, ask questions.
You never know what story thenawaits, and other than that,
(14:11):
teddy Roosevelt National Park isnearby.
Consider giving that a visit aswell.
We'll be doing a future episodeon the park Genuinely a unique
space, often overlooked, and thehistory is deeply fascinating.
Finally, finally, if you findvalue in the show, in what we're
trying to shed light onoverlooked locations and stories
(14:34):
, share your favorite episodewith a couple friends.
Really helps Noodles and Icontinue to put the work we'd
like to into each episode.
Thanks again for traveling withus.
Be good to each other.
Where to next?
Backroad Odyssey.
Cruisin' down the street.
I wonder where this road wouldlead.
So many possibilities.
Care to share what you think.
Oh, noodle Dolls, what do yousee?
Back Road Odyssey.
(00:24):
The sparse fields of NorthDakota hold a secret.
Mysterious scrap metal statuespopulate the windswept landscape
.
The reason behind their laboredconstruction and the harrowing
story of the man who built them.
That's a story worth telling.
This is the fable of theEnchanted Highway.
(00:51):
I park along the small mainstreet of Regent, North Dakota.
A large tin sculpture guardsthe door to my intended
destination, the EnchantedHighway gift shop.
The door creaks slightly as Ienter the modest building.
Inside, a warm smile and brighteyes look back at me.
(01:12):
The man's time-tested featuresbetray the zealous youth he
emotes.
He says only one thing how canI help you?
Only one thing.
How can I help you?
We are driving along Interstate94.
My dog and co-pilot, noodles,is in the passenger seat.
(01:35):
After camping around TeddyRoosevelt National Park for a
week or so, we're ready to headfurther west.
But first the Enchanted Highway, a series of welded sculptures
leading to the small NorthDakota town of Regent.
Before we begin our explorationinto this North Dakota oddity,
(01:58):
we've got to start at thebeginning.
Who built the Enchanted Highway.
There's so much to learn bybeing in a small town, gary
Greff.
The Great Grass Prairie ofwestern North Dakota has few
trees and even fewer towns.
What remains is windblown,sparsely visited and deeply
(02:22):
uninteresting alone.
Sparsely visited and deeplyuninteresting this, at least,
was the perception.
So much so that, from 1990 to2000, the few towns that
remained lost, on average, atleast 20% of their population,
and this includes HeddingerCounty, home to Regent, north
Dakota, and the birthplace ofGary Griff, home to Regent,
(02:47):
north Dakota and the birthplaceof Gary Griff.
Born as most in the area into afarming family, gary later
attends the only school in townand where some look back with
contempt at the small, seeminglydetached towns of their youth.
Gary cherishes the fresh air,close connections and quiet of
(03:09):
Regent, north Dakota, but thecall of opportunity can tear you
away even from the things thatyou love.
After graduation, gary leavesthe small town he grew up in to
become an educator.
Eighteen long years pass andthe sight that meets Gary upon
(03:32):
his return to Regent is anunwelcome one.
I came home and saw that thetown of Regent was dying.
Gary Greff of Regent was dying,gary Greff.
We pulled off the highway andwe're officially now at mile
(03:52):
zero of the Enchanted Highway.
We parked next to the firstsculpture along the highway.
It's called Geese in Flight andis a truly massive sculpture
with silhouettes of geese flyingover mountains over a setting
sun.
My first thought is how didjust one teacher make this?
It's intricate, it's massive.
(04:14):
But before we get into the how,we need to start with the why.
We have a man.
He returns to his childhoodhome to see it dying.
Why is building sculptures thesolution?
I had no art experience, nowelding experience, gary Greff.
(04:42):
Upon returning to Regent, garyasks himself a simple question
how can I help Regent stay alive?
He starts with one painful factand a corresponding question
there's 32.5 miles of bare roadseparating Regent from the
bustling interstate.
(05:03):
How do I make people willing todrive that distance?
The answer comes by chance oneday when Greg notices a mother
and a child pulling off the roadfor a picture with a small
statue.
Seeing this, the educator, withno welding or sculpting
experience, thought to himselfwhat if I made that?
(05:29):
How hard could it be?
It's a little windy.
We parked at mile three.
The sculpture's called DeerCrossing.
It's deer, right obviously,maybe 100 feet high, jumping in
(05:51):
a line and right away, asidefrom it looking beautiful.
I have to ask how does somebodywith no experience decide one
day yep, what I'm gonna build, Isee it in my head and this is
what I'm going to build, despitenot knowing how to do it by
(06:11):
myself?
How does and did Gary approachmaking these with literally no,
no experience?
It takes me about six years todo a sculpture Six years, gary
Greff.
The first sculpture Gary makesis also the most iconic A giant
(06:36):
tent family made of oil welltanks, fuel tanks and scrap
metal.
To make his first andsubsequent sculptures, he
teaches himself how to weld.
He wills each statue'scompletion and Gary works
outside nearly every day on hissculptures Rain, snow, wind.
(06:57):
The pieces are simply too bigto fit in any studio.
As for the materials, to fit inany studio.
As for the materials,everything comes from a dump or
is otherwise cheaply acquiredand repurposed.
And through the years and yearsand years of work, trial and
error, doubt from neighbors,hard physical and mental labor,
(07:19):
various now iconic sculpturesbegin to emerge.
The enchanted highway begins totake shape.
We're at mile 15.
The statue is underneathgrasshoppers in the field, giant
grasshoppers are nearby, giantgrass blades, and it is pretty
cool.
We're at mile 19.
(07:40):
Here Fisherman's dream,probably my favorite so far we
have a fisherman pulling in aneven bigger mass of fish, maybe
50 feet in the air.
Well, other fish, othervegetation swim underneath.
It's one thing to have the ideafor something, but to actually
carry it out, that's incredible.
(08:01):
Mile 24, pheasants on theprairie Noodles is really
curious about this one.
Mile 26, theodore Rooseveltrides.
Again, it's a giant outline ofTeddy Roosevelt on a horse.
Mile 30, the famous, world'slargest tin family Seems like a
(08:23):
happy bunch.
And here we are.
Mile 32, at the end of theEnchanted Highway, that is, if
we didn't drive another halfmile.
What ties into Enchanted?
But a castle, gary Greth.
(08:44):
Gary's ambition, his creativitydoesn't stop at the highway.
He figures at the end of the32.5 mile stretch.
There should be a hotel.
Regent itself should also be adestination.
But after being laughed out ofbanks, his ideas belittled, loan
(09:07):
request denied, gary had toonce again get creative.
And when his old high school isup for sale, gary once again
gets creative.
This is right where I sat whenI graduated high school.
This is right where I sat whenI graduated high school, gary
Greth sitting at his bar at theExcalibur Steakhouse in the
(09:31):
newly established EnchantedCastle, regents, new Premium
school turned medieval castlehotel.
Here we are at last, at the endof North Dakota's Enchanted
Highway.
We're standing in front of theEnchanted Castle.
In front of the castle-esquefacade there's maybe a 70-foot
(09:55):
metal knight battling a dragon,made, of course, by Gary himself
.
And here's what I'm thinkingnow.
What a better way to celebrateRegent, to make it a destination
.
What could be a better reasonas well to have something like
this than to save your town, totruly craft something out of
(10:16):
nothing, to save something thatyou love?
I don't know.
It's a great cause, and to methat's what makes the Enchanted
Highway here in Regent, northDakota, magical.
Just as Gary transformed thesparse North Dakota landscape
(10:38):
into a destination, transformedthe sparse North Dakota
landscape into a destination, heconverts the teacher rooms,
administrative spaces and hallsof his beloved high school into
a building, bolstering the oncedying town.
Although the population of thetown of Regent still remains
around 200 people, thesculptures laboriously built by
(11:01):
Gary in rain, in wind and insnow lure roughly 920 cars per
day towards his beloved Regent.
That's 920 people who otherwisewould have continued on their
way.
All from the efforts of one manwho saw nothing and made
(11:25):
something.
The story of North Dakota'sEnchanted Highway is a call.
It's a reminder to us all that,although sometimes you feel
powerless to events beyond yourcontrol, as long as you're
around you still can spark thechange you want to see.
(11:48):
Everybody has it in them.
If I can do it a person thatdidn't know how to weld didn't
have an art class I can go builda 110-foot metal sculpture.
You can do whatever you putyour mind to.
Gary Greff.
The man at the counter thanksme a present glint in his eye.
(12:15):
I leave the Enchanted Highwaysouvenir shop, get in my van,
pet my dog Noodles and start todrive backwards towards the
interstate I left.
And as I leave Regent, as wepass the various sculptures we'd
just stopped to visit, Irealized that man with the glint
(12:38):
in his eye, the knowing look,the weathered features he made
what I'm driving past.
That was Gary Greff.
And after beating myself forthe missed opportunity to talk,
to get insight, to get to knowhim, I stop and I think to talk
to get insight, to get to knowhim, I stop and I think the
(13:00):
Enchanted Highway is and neverwas about Gary Greff, nor would
he want it to be.
Gary doesn't seek recognition,praise.
To visit Regent.
That's enough.
That's the goal.
And all of this flies throughmy mind as Gary, his cherished
(13:23):
town and the enchanted highwayleading to it fade from view.
It's Noah here.
Thank you for listening toBackroad Odyssey.
Every minute you spend with usmeans the world it really does.
With that said, I have somefinal thoughts.
You could easily drive pasteach statue and think to
(13:50):
yourself those are cool, butit's the reason for their
construction, the story thatmakes locations like this worth
visiting, worth talking about.
So I'll leave you with achallenge Next time you see
something like that on the sideof the road, remember to be
curious, ask questions.
You never know what story thenawaits, and other than that,
(14:11):
teddy Roosevelt National Park isnearby.
Consider giving that a visit aswell.
We'll be doing a future episodeon the park Genuinely a unique
space, often overlooked, and thehistory is deeply fascinating.
Finally, finally, if you findvalue in the show, in what we're
trying to shed light onoverlooked locations and stories
(14:34):
, share your favorite episodewith a couple friends.
Really helps Noodles and Icontinue to put the work we'd
like to into each episode.
Thanks again for traveling withus.
Be good to each other.
Where to next?
Backroad Odyssey.
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