Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

Gnome Road

A collection of fading fantasy tchotchkes lines this dirt road in the Colorado wilderness.

In the area of Red Feather Lakes, Colorado there is a dirt road where, if you pay close attention to the bushes and trees, you will find that you are surrounded magical woodland creatures (or at least their kitschy thrift store equivalent).

The wilderness of Red Feather Lakes, Colorado is the true draw in the area, but it seems that some locals have added an attraction of their own. Known alternately as Gnome Road or Elf Lane, depending on which handmade road sign you end up seeing first, the dirt lane is flanked by little toys in the scrub on either side. Ceramic trolls in mushroom caps stand in the underbrush, chintzy plastic gnomes climb the trees, and little fairy doors can be found built into the sides of the trunks.

In addition to the fantastical creatures, its seems that the wilderness has also become a wayward home for any type of smiling, homeless toy with Spongebob Squarepants figures and fake spiders having also been spotted among the collection.

The quarter mile stretch of road between Lake Hiawatha and Lake Apache holds a number of semi-hidden creatures that seem as though they may have simply been left on the wayside by a careless child, but as the Elf Road sign warns, “Do not take us, break us, or relocate us, as we live here on Elf Lane to watch over children and all the little animals.”