Worth the Drive: The Cadillac Ranch

Texas is a great state to road trip through. It truly has something for everyone.

We recently road tripped through Texas while on our way to New Orleans. While road tripping, if we’re just passing through a state with no intentions of spending time in that state, I often like to look up an attraction/activity or two to do while passing through that state. This really helps break up the long travel periods, and gives us a chance to get out of the car and stretch our legs.

The Cadillac Ranch is a really cool roadside attraction that lets you tap into your inner graffiti artist.

Buried nose deep on a local farmer’s field are 10 Cadillac cars, lined in a row. This is a popular tourist attraction where people are not only allowed to come deface the cars, they’re highly encouraged to do so.

While on our way to the Cadillac Ranch, we stopped at a Wal-Mart in Albuquerque to fill up on supplies and grab several cans of spray paint for our journey to the Cadillac Ranch. You won’t find any spray paint on location, just the odd empty can that someone left behind, so it’s best to stop ahead of time and buy several cans of spray paint to have on hand.

Graffiti tip: neon or bright colored paint seems to show up best on the cars – e.g. orange, yellow and neon green.

The Cadillac Ranch is said to have been created as an art movement. The original creator wanted to make a piece of art that would baffle locals and tourists, and this seems to have worked. We had the opportunity to speak with other road trippers outside of the Cadillac Ranch, and learned that many seasoned road trippers make the Cadillac Ranch part of their annual route. It’s become tradition for many to hit up the Cadillac Ranch while passing through town to their next destination.

Road trip tip: If you type in Cadillac Ranch into your GPS, it will direct you to a ranch near Las Vegas with the same name. This is of course the wrong place. We spent a good half hour driving in the wrong direction before we realized that we weren’t in Texas anymore.

The best way to find the Cadillac Ranch:

You can either punch in these GPS coordinates 35°11′14′N 101°59′13.4′W which will lead you directly there, or you can follow the directions below. It’s fairly easy to find, as it right off the I-40, west of Amarillo, TX.

Directions:

Follow along 1-40 W from Amarillo. Take exit 62A towards Hope Rd. Turn right on 1-40 Frontage Rd and you should see the Cadillac Ranch on your left. The easiest way to spot the Cadillac Ranch is to look for a large group of cars parked alongside the road. It’s a popular tourist attraction, so don’t be surprised if you get there and it’s busy. You can actually see the cars from the interstate, but unless you know what you’re looking for, you can easily miss this fun roadside attraction.

Let’s hear from you. Have you been to the Cadillac Ranch before?