Roadside America: Eaglemount Rockery

We executed a U-turn that was both dangerous and illegal because I’d seen something that looked like a paper-mache stegosaurus dining on the corner of a tin-roofed shed. The cartoony dinosaur was not a figment of my imagination and the shed was a replica of a pioneer era jail building. Eaglemount Rockery, an odd little property just south of Port Townsend is home to a number of creations – sculptures of Native Americans, a mini White House made from beach stones, some totem poles, a concrete Mount Rushmore and so many more oddities.

The current owners purchased the property from the “artist” in 2003 and have been lovingly restoring the work. It’s free to visit (though when I was there, there was a donation box) and if you simply can’t get enough of the place, you can rent one of the little overnight cottages. I couldn’t quite make sense of the place, and the little handout I picked up was of very little assistance, but that didn’t stop me from wandering the grounds in a state of bemusement for an hour or two.

Eaglemount Rockery is on Highway 20 on the left hand side as you’re heading south from Port Townsend. Watch for the roof nibbling dinosaur; you really can’t miss it.

[Photo Credit: Pam Mandel]