I visited the Swetsville Zoo near Fort Collins and its iron animalia with Kate in July while we explored northeastern Colorado.
The Swetsville Zoo is well known among aficionados of America’s roadside culture. With help from the city of Timnath, the garden of junkyard prehistoria has weathered road expansion and other issues.
Ex-farmer Bill Swets started the Zoo for his welded creations in the 1980s, and lives there still along with his family, adding new creations regularly. Others of his massive metal models appear around the U.S. and the world, with several prominently displayed at another well-known roadside attraction, Hole N’ the Rock in Utah, just a bit south of Moab.
Swets’ creations are fabricated from scrap metal and junk auto parts. The Zoo features dinosaurs, bugs the size of cars or houses, lizards, birds, and even a prehistoric rock band. While most of the exhibits are marked “Do Not Touch,” there are several inventive interactive sculptures as well. There are even a few picnic tables by the river, so feel free to pack a lunch and eat in the shade of a scrap-steel golfer and his Tyranosaurus caddy.
The Zoo is open daily and usually free, and great for the whole family.
All photos taken with my iPhone 4 using Hipstamatic.