Exit 374 in South Dakota drops you in front of a 60-foot bull head made of railroad steel

It’s made from railroad tie plates

You’re driving Interstate 90 through eastern South Dakota, and a 60-foot steel bull’s head rises out of the tallgrass like it grew there.

The thing weighs 25 tons, roughly the same size as one of the carved faces on Mount Rushmore.

It marks the entrance to Porter Sculpture Park, a 10-acre outdoor art collection just off exit 374 near Montrose, about 25 miles west of Sioux Falls.

TIME magazine put it on its Top 50 American Roadside Attractions list in 2010, and the bull is only the beginning.

Wayne Porter learned to weld as a kid

Wayne Porter grew up in rural South Dakota and picked up welding in his father’s blacksmith shop. By age 10, he had already made his first sculpture, a small bull’s head he cut from iron with a torch.

He went on to South Dakota State University and came back with degrees in political science and history. After college, he raised sheep back home but kept building sculptures on the side.

Eventually, he sold the flock. He decided he was better at shaping steel than farming.

Visitors kept pulling over to look

Porter first set up his finished work outside his father’s blacksmith shop in St. Lawrence, a town of about 200 people. Drivers started pulling off the highway to look, and some wanted to pay.

He found a stretch of land near Interstate 90 where more people could reach him and hauled his sculptures over. The park opened in the fall of 2000 and has kept growing since.

New pieces go up regularly, so a second visit can look different from the first.

Dragons and dinosaurs dot 10 acres of grass

More than 60 large-scale metal sculptures sit across 10 acres of tallgrass prairie. You’ll walk past dragons, dinosaurs, a giant hammer, oversized fish, and a row of vultures staring you down.

Bold paint jobs pop against the flat green and gold of the open grassland. Porter builds all of it from recycled scrap metal, old farm equipment, and railroad tie plates.

Several of the biggest pieces, including the bull’s head and a towering horse, are visible right from the interstate.

He built the bull without a single blueprint

The bull’s head is the park’s centerpiece, 60 feet of welded railroad tie plates standing over the prairie. Porter built it in two massive sections with no blueprints, no sketches, and no engineering calculations.

When a crane operator asked if an engineer had confirmed the two halves would fit together, Porter told him no, but trusted his own eye. They fit perfectly.

You can walk inside the base and find smaller sculptures tucked within the structure.

You can actually touch the sculptures here

Forget the velvet ropes. Porter Sculpture Park lets you put your hands on the art, snap as many photos as you want, and bring your dog along for the walk.

Porter himself is usually on-site during the open season, greeting visitors and telling the stories behind each piece. Talk to him if you get the chance.

Many visitors say that conversation is the best part of their stop, because every sculpture comes with a story you won’t get from a sign alone.

Poems on signs add another layer to the art

Porter writes original poems and posts them on signs next to many of his sculptures. Some are funny.

Some make you stop and think. The combination of massive welded steel and handwritten words sitting out on open prairie doesn’t feel like any museum you’ve been to.

Wildflowers, birds, and butterflies move through the grass around you. Cattle graze in the neighboring pasture.

The whole setting adds a mood that a white-walled gallery could never match.

The loop trail takes about 30 minutes

A self-guided loop trail runs about a third of a mile through the park and passes every sculpture along the way.

The path is mowed grass cutting through the prairie, and most people spend 30 minutes to an hour walking it. Golf carts are available if you have trouble with the distance.

Wear closed-toe shoes, because the trail runs through working ranchland. You set your own pace here, and there’s no crowd pushing you along to the next piece.

His tools are over a century old

Porter has never taken an art class. He says he’s terrible at drawing and math.

Every sculpture he builds comes from instinct, even the ones that reach several stories high.

Some of his tools date back more than a century, including a grinding pedestal and anvils passed down from his father’s blacksmith shop. His go-to material is one-eighth-inch thick steel, which he shapes with a hammer.

He once said he’s creatively “backlogged 200 years” with ideas for new work.

A 25-foot Alice in Wonderland rabbit is coming

In July 2025, the park held Porterchela, a free music and art festival with 11 musical acts, food trucks, and walking tours of the sculptures. It was the park’s first major event in 25 years.

Porter has also teased what’s next: a 25-foot-tall white rabbit themed around Alice in Wonderland, covered in mathematical equations. Visitors now come from across the country and from other countries.

Porter says he plans to keep adding new sculptures for as long as he can.

The park runs May through October

Porter Sculpture Park opens for the 2026 season on May 15 and closes October 15. Hours run 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., seven days a week.

Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for ages 13 to 17, and free for kids 12 and under. The address is 45160 257th St., Montrose, S.D. 57048.

Take exit 374 off I-90 and head south about a quarter mile. A golf cart is available if you need it for the trail.

Visit Porter Sculpture Park in South Dakota

You can find Porter Sculpture Park right off Interstate 90 at exit 374, about 25 miles west of Sioux Falls near Montrose.

The self-guided trail loops about a third of a mile past more than 60 recycled metal sculptures, including the 60-foot bull’s head and 40-foot horse. Golf carts are on hand for anyone with mobility needs.

The park is open May 15 through Oct. 15, from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. Admission runs $10 for adults, $5 for teens, and free for children 12 and under.

Dogs are welcome.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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