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All the United States New Mexico Las Cruces World's Largest Chile Pepper Sculpture
AO Edited Gastro Obscura

World's Largest Chile Pepper Sculpture

This 47-foot chile pepper sculpture welcomes Scoville heat unit obsessed tourists to the Big Chile Inn.

Las Cruces, New Mexico

Added By
Ian Lefkowitz
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Behold, the world’s largest chile pepper.   Carol M. Highsmith
The world’s largest chile pepper is located at the Big Chile Inn.   Jimmy Emerson, DVM
This chile contains 2.5 tons of concrete.   ianlefk / Atlas Obscura User
A 47-foot concrete chile pepper resides in the parking lot of the Big Chile Inn.   ianlefk / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Red? Green? Christmas? It’s safe to say that Las Cruces, New Mexico is America’s epicenter of chile pepper tourism. And if you’re driving to the chile pepper capital of nearby Hatch you’re going to need a place to stay. So where better to rest your head than the Big Chile Inn and Suites, in full view of the world’s largest chile pepper sculpture?

The inn actually predates the giant mimetic capsicum plopped in its parking lot. In the 1960s, the motel was a traditional Ramada Inn. Clint Eastwood once stayed there while filming Hang Em’ High, and memorabilia from the shoot can be found in the lobby.

By 2010, the hotel had gone independent, and management was looking for a new way to stand out. Then-owner David Girle, an engineer from Australia, had friends in the Disney scene. Working together, they imagineered the 47-foot chile behemoth out of two-and-a-half tons of concrete, and made an instant smash roadside tourist attraction.

The chile pepper is in full view of hotel guests and visitors alike. But if you’d like your world’s largest chile peppers to be slightly more… edible, Las Cruces still has you covered. You can head to the Chile Pepper Institute at nearby New Mexico State University to try their homegrown NuMex Big Jim chile pepper, currently the world’s largest chile pepper (actual fruit division) according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Related Tags

Chili Peppers Roadside Attractions Giant Food

Know Before You Go

Travelers are now free to visit and snap photos of the giant chile pepper, regardless of whether or not they're staying at the inn.

Community Contributors

Added By

ianlefk

Edited By

JohnLydus, pcranny, ronniegriff

  • JohnLydus
  • pcranny
  • ronniegriff

Published

October 25, 2023

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Sources
  • https://pepperscale.com/numex-big-jim/
  • https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/community/2018/09/12/las-cruces-big-chile-inn-featured-mercedes-benz-commercial/1281395002/
World's Largest Chile Pepper Sculpture
2160 W Picacho Ave
Las Cruces, New Mexico, 88007
United States
32.312229, -106.807905
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Chile Pepper Institute

Las Cruces, New Mexico

miles away

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Las Cruces

Las Cruces

New Mexico

Places 5
Stories 1

Nearby Places

Chile Pepper Institute

Las Cruces, New Mexico

miles away

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miles away

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miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Las Cruces

Las Cruces

New Mexico

Places 5
Stories 1

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