Encounter Atlas
Places
Cryptid and UFO places to visit
100 museums, festivals, roadside oddities and guided expeditions, from the steel Mothman in Point Pleasant to a real Bigfoot trap in the Oregon woods. Every listing was checked against a source.
United States
Arizona 1
Arkansas 2
Museum · Fouke, ARFouke Monster MartA convenience store with a mini museum of Boggy Creek clippings, track casts and Legend of Boggy Creek photos, plus a big monster statue out front.Festival or event · Fouke, ARFouke Monster (Boggy Creek) FestivalA spring weekend of talks, vendors and bus tours of Boggy Creek country in the town that inspired The Legend of Boggy Creek.Usually spring, most often March or April. 2027 dates not announced yet
California 6
Museum · Willow Creek, CAWillow Creek-China Flat Museum (Bigfoot Collection)A local history museum in the self-styled Bigfoot Capital of the World, with a whole Bigfoot wing of track casts, photos and newspaper clippings.By donationFestival or event · Willow Creek, CABigfoot DazeThe Bigfoot Capital's hometown party, running for more than 60 years, with a parade and small-town fun. It moved from Labor Day to late June in 2026.Usually last Saturday of June. 2027 dates not announced yetFestival or event · Indian Wells, CAContact in the DesertBilled as the biggest UFO conference around: five days of talks, workshops and night sky watches in the Coachella Valley.Usually late May into early June. 2027 dates not announced yetRoadside attraction · Baker, CAAlien Fresh JerkyAn alien-themed jerky store on the way to Vegas, with spaceship props and flavours like Abducted Cow Teriyaki.Free to visitRoadside attraction · Orleans, CABigfoot Scenic BywayCalifornia Highway 96 along the Klamath River from Willow Creek to Happy Camp, promoted as the region with the most Bigfoot sightings anywhere.FreeRoadside attraction · Landers, CAThe IntegratronA wooden dome George Van Tassel began in the 1950s after messages he said came from Venusians. Today it hosts booked sound baths.Sound baths by booking
Colorado 3
Museum · Bailey, COSasquatch OutpostA Bigfoot gift shop with a museum out back: track casts, a pinned map of trusted Colorado sightings and the infamous "Tremendous Turd".About $6 adults, $3 kidsRoadside attraction · Hooper, COUFO WatchtowerA viewing platform and quirky garden in the San Luis Valley, with campsites for overnight sky watching.About $5Expedition or tour · Fairplay, CORabbit Hole AdventuresColorado outfitter offering Bigfoot night hikes and multi-day camping searches in Park County.About $125 night hike, $650 for three days
Florida 1
Georgia 1
Kentucky 2
Festival or event · Kelly, KYKelly Little Green Men DaysThe tiny town of Kelly marks the August 1955 night a farm family said small glowing creatures besieged their house, with rides, music and alien souvenirs.Usually mid to late August, near the August 21 anniversary. 2027 dates not announced yetExpedition or tour · Campton, KYOut the Top Adventures Bigfoot HuntA night ride in a side-by-side to a scouted spot in the Red River Gorge area, then a guided deep-woods Bigfoot hunt.$80 per person (VIP hunt, 2026)
Louisiana 2
Festival or event · Houma, LARougarou FestA free, family Halloween-season festival in Cajun country honouring the swamp werewolf, with costumes, music, food and local culture.Oct 23 to 25, 2026Expedition or tour · Slidell, LAHoney Island Swamp Boat ToursTwo-hour boat trips into the swamp the Honey Island Swamp Monster is said to haunt. You will definitely see gators.About $34 to $38 adults
Maine 1
Minnesota 3
Festival or event · Remer, MNRemer Bigfoot DaysThe self-proclaimed Home of Bigfoot throws a two-day party with storytelling, Bigfoot Olympics, a 5K, a calling contest and BBQ.Usually mid July. 2027 dates not announced yetRoadside attraction · Lake City, MNLake Pepin (Pepie)Lake City says a serpent called Pepie lives in this wide stretch of the Mississippi and offers $50,000 for proof.FreeRoadside attraction · Remer, MNRemer, "Home of Bigfoot"A Chippewa National Forest town that leaned into Bigfoot after a 2009 trail-camera video, with Bigfoot cutouts, casts and a statue at the gas station.Free
Nebraska 1
Nevada 3
Roadside attraction · Hiko, NVAlien Research CenterA Quonset-hut gift shop at the start of the Extraterrestrial Highway, guarded by a giant silver alien.FreeRoadside attraction · Rachel, NVLittle A'Le'InnThe only motel, bar and cafe on this stretch of the Extraterrestrial Highway near Area 51. Order the Alien Burger.Expedition or tour · Las Vegas, NVArea 51 Day Tour (Adventure Photo Tours)A 10-hour trip from Las Vegas in a small 4x4 to the edge of the Area 51 restricted zone, with a driver-guide, lunch and snacks included.About $228 to $295 per person
New Hampshire 2
Festival or event · Exeter, NHExeter UFO FestivalMarks the 1965 Incident at Exeter with a speaker series, kids' activities and trolley rides. The Kiwanis Club runs it and gives the profits to local charities.Usually Labor Day weekend. 2027 dates not announced yetRoadside attraction · Lincoln, NHBetty and Barney Hill MarkerState historical marker on Route 3 for the 1961 Hill abduction story, the case that made "alien abduction" a household phrase.Free
New Jersey 2
Museum · Asbury Park, NJParanormal MuseumKathy Kelly runs this Cookman Avenue museum of the strange and hosts the yearly Jersey Devil Festival on the street behind it.Festival or event · Asbury Park, NJJersey Devil FestivalCookman Avenue closes for costumed cryptids, storytellers, spooky vendors and a film festival honouring New Jersey's famous devil.Usually early May. 2027 dates not announced yet
New Mexico 5
Museum · Roswell, NMInternational UFO Museum and Research CenterRoswell's main attraction tells the 1947 crash story with documents, timelines, alien dioramas and a big research library.$7 adults, $4 kids 5 to 15Festival or event · Roswell, NMRoswell UFO FestivalRoswell celebrates the 1947 crash every Fourth of July weekend with a costume parade, drone show, the Alien Chase run and speakers at the UFO Museum.Usually early July, around the Fourth. 2027 dates not announced yetRoadside attraction · Corona, NMAlleged UFO Skip SiteBLM land near Corona tied to the 1947 Roswell debris story. It is hike-in only, and the BLM sometimes leads guided walks.FreeRoadside attraction · Aztec, NMAztec UFO Crash SiteA plaque on a mesa trail marks the claimed 1948 saucer crash in Hart Canyon. The story is widely called a hoax, but the hike is lovely.FreeRoadside attraction · Roswell, NMUFO McDonald'sA McDonald's built in flying-saucer style with glowing trim and a space-themed play area. Only in Roswell.
New York 4
Museum · Pine Bush, NYPine Bush UFO and Paranormal MuseumThe Hudson Valley's UFO town opened this museum in 2021 to tell the story of the area's many sightings, with exhibits on lights, crafts and the paranormal.Admission chargedFestival or event · Pine Bush, NYPine Bush UFO FairA free Main Street fair with alien cosplay, paranormal talks, live music and a "Best in Galaxy" costume pageant.Usually early June. 2027 dates not announced yetRoadside attraction · Port Henry, NYChamp Sightings BoardA big roadside board on Bulwagga Bay listing over 130 reported Champ sightings in Lake Champlain. Port Henry also throws a summer Champ Day.FreeExpedition or tour · Lake George, NYAdirondack Bigfoot CruiseAn evening sail on the Minne Ha Ha steam paddlewheeler with Bigfoot researchers and a Q&A.$29 adults, $16 kids (2026)
North Carolina 3
Museum · Littleton, NCCryptozoology and Paranormal MuseumFormer mayor Stephen Barcelo fills this small-town museum with an 8-foot Bigfoot, track casts, UFO material, a haunted doll and a shelf of famous fakes.By donationFestival or event · Marion, NCWNC Bigfoot FestivalDowntown Marion goes Bigfoot-crazy for a day of speakers, a calling contest, vendors and a 5K, with free shuttles from parking.Usually late August. 2027 dates not announced yetRoadside attraction · Morganton, NCBrown Mountain Lights OverlookPull-off on NC 181 north of Morganton facing Brown Mountain, where glowing orbs have been reported for over a century.Free
Ohio 4
Festival or event · Loveland, OHFrogman FestivalA cryptid art and makers convention honouring the Loveland Frogman, with costumed frogs, a parade, puppet shows and live reptiles.Usually early March. 2027 dates not announced yetFestival or event · McArthur, OHHocking Hills Bigfoot FestivalA multi-day summer festival with speakers, vendors and family fun. It moved to the Vinton County Fairgrounds in 2025.Usually August. 2027 dates not announced yetFestival or event · Cambridge, OHOhio Bigfoot ConferenceOne of the longest-running Bigfoot gatherings, held every spring since 2005 at the lodge in Salt Fork State Park, a sighting hotspot.Usually early May. 2027 dates not announced yetExpedition or tour · Cambridge, OHSalt Fork Bigfoot Night HikesThe park naturalist leads seasonal after-dark Bigfoot hikes in Salt Fork State Park, one of Ohio's busiest sighting areas.
Oklahoma 1
Oregon 3
Museum · Boring, ORNorth American Bigfoot CenterCliff Barackman of TV's Finding Bigfoot runs this museum near Mount Hood, packed with footprint casts, field gear and a walk-through history of Sasquatch research.$8 adultsFestival or event · McMinnville, ORMcMenamins UFO FestivalBorn from the famous 1950 Trent farm saucer photos, this long-running festival brings speakers, an alien costume parade and a lot of beer to McMenamins Hotel Oregon.Usually mid May. 2027 dates not announced yetRoadside attraction · Applegate, ORThe Bigfoot TrapA big box trap built in 1974 to catch a Sasquatch. It only ever caught bears and now sits open on the Collings Mountain Trail.Free
Pennsylvania 3
Festival or event · Marienville, PAForest County Bigfoot FestivalA three-day June festival in the Allegheny National Forest with 160-plus vendors, TV guests and a famous 5-mile Bigfoot hunt.Usually early to mid June. 2027 dates not announced yetFestival or event · Mount Pleasant, PAKecksburg UFO FestivalThe volunteer fire company celebrates the 1965 "acorn" crash with a parade, food trucks and vendors, all to fund the fire hall where the acorn replica lives.Usually mid to late July. 2027 dates not announced yetRoadside attraction · Mount Pleasant, PAKecksburg AcornThe acorn-shaped replica made for Unsolved Mysteries, modelled on the object witnesses said fell in 1965, now sits at the Kecksburg fire hall.Free
South Carolina 1
Tennessee 2
Festival or event · Gatlinburg, TNSmoky Mountain Bigfoot ConferenceA one-day conference in Gatlinburg with well-known researchers and TV names. Tickets sell in advance.Usually late July. 2027 dates not announced yetFestival or event · Townsend, TNSmoky Mountain Bigfoot FestivalA Bigfoot "birthday bash" on the quiet side of the Smokies with a 5K and fun run, vendors and family activities.Usually early May. 2027 dates not announced yet
Texas 4
Festival or event · Marfa, TXMarfa Lights FestivalWest Texas toasts its mystery lights with a parade, street dances, food and music over Labor Day weekend. Most of it is free.Usually Labor Day weekend. 2027 dates not announced yetFestival or event · Jefferson, TXTexas Bigfoot ConferenceThe original Texas Bigfoot conference, run since 2001 in a historic Piney Woods town, with big-name speakers and vendors.Oct 16 to 17, 2026Roadside attraction · Aurora, TXAurora Cemetery "Alien Grave"A Texas historical marker here notes the 1897 story of an airship crash and a pilot "not of this world" said to be buried in the cemetery.FreeRoadside attraction · Marfa, TXMarfa Lights Viewing AreaA roadside pavilion 9 miles east of Marfa on US 90, built for watching the mystery lights that bob over the desert some nights.Free
Washington 3
Festival or event · Metaline Falls, WAMetaline Falls Bigfoot FestivalA small-town June weekend for Sasquatch fans in Busta Park, in Washington's far northeast corner.Usually late June. 2027 dates not announced yetRoadside attraction · Cougar, WAApe CanyonGorge on Mount St. Helens named for a 1924 story of miners besieged by rock-throwing 'apemen'. A popular trail runs alongside it.FreeRoadside attraction · Toutle, WANorth Fork Survivors BigfootA towering concrete Bigfoot beside a gift shop and an A-frame half-buried by the 1980 Mount St. Helens mudflow.Free to look
West Virginia 9
Museum · Sutton, WVFlatwoods Monster MuseumBraxton County's visitor centre doubles as a shrine to the 1952 Flatwoods Monster, with early sketches, an original 'Home of the Green Monster' sign and plenty of merch.FreeMuseum · Point Pleasant, WVMothman MuseumThe world's only museum devoted to the red-eyed Mothman, with witness accounts, news clippings from 1966 and 1967 and a pile of Mothman memorabilia. It sits a few steps from the steel Mothman statue and runs tours of the TNT area.Small admission feeMuseum · Sutton, WVWest Virginia Bigfoot MuseumA small family-run museum a few blocks from the Flatwoods Monster Museum, with local footprint casts, a full-size Bigfoot figure and a binder of West Virginia sightings.FreeFestival or event · Point Pleasant, WVMothman FestivalHuge crowds fill downtown Point Pleasant for speakers, vendors, food trucks, live music and hayrides. It is the biggest cryptid party in the country.Usually third weekend of September. 2027 dates not announced yetFestival or event · Summersville, WVWest Virginia Bigfoot FestivalHosted by the West Virginia Bigfoot Museum. After years in Sutton it moved to Veterans Memorial Park in Summersville for 2026.Oct 9 to 11, 2026Roadside attraction · Flatwoods, WVFlatwoods Monster Chair TrailFive 10-foot chairs shaped like the 1952 monster are spread from Flatwoods through Sutton to Gassaway. Photograph all five for a "Free Braxxie" sticker.FreeRoadside attraction · Point Pleasant, WVMothman StatueBob Roach's gleaming stainless-steel Mothman, about 12 feet tall with spread wings and red eyes, has stood downtown since 2003. Everyone takes the photo.FreeRoadside attraction · Point Pleasant, WVThe TNT Area (McClintic Wildlife Management Area)Old WWII explosives works north of town, still dotted with concrete igloos, where four young people first reported Mothman on November 15, 1966.FreeExpedition or tour · Point Pleasant, WVMothman Museum TNT Area ToursGuided tours of the TNT area where Mothman was first seen, sold through the Mothman Museum. They sell out early in spring.$25.95, museum entry included
Wisconsin 3
Festival or event · Belleville, WIBelleville UFO DaysA village parade, games and alien costumes in Library Park, started after a 1987 police sighting of a strange object over town.Usually the last Saturday of October. 2026 dates not announced yetFestival or event · Elmwood, WIElmwood UFO DaysThe self-declared UFO Capital of Wisconsin has thrown this summer festival since 1978, with sighting bus tours, speakers, tractor pulls and an alien parade.Usually last full weekend of July. 2027 dates not announced yetRoadside attraction · Rhinelander, WIWorld's Largest HodagRhinelander's horned, grinning Hodag, a lumberjack hoax from 1893, guards the visitor centre. Lit at night.Free
Wyoming 1
Canada
Alberta 1
British Columbia 5
Museum · Harrison Hot Springs, BCHarrison Visitor Centre and Sasquatch MuseumFree museum in the village where the word Sasquatch was born, from the Sts'ailes Sa:sq'ets. Casts, carvings, a longhouse room and an 8-foot statue for photos.FreeFestival or event · Harrison Hot Springs, BCSasquatch DaysCo-hosted by the village and the Sts'ailes Nation, with war canoe races, cultural programs and Sasquatch talks on Harrison Lake.Usually mid June. 2027 dates not announced yetFestival or event · Courtenay, BCSquatch Watch Vancouver IslandA three-day Sasquatch conference in the Comox Valley with presenters, a vendor market and a gala dinner, partnered with the Queneesh Indigenous Community Society.Oct 30 to Nov 1, 2026Roadside attraction · Kelowna, BCOgopogo StatueKelowna's most photographed public art: a fibreglass Ogopogo on the downtown waterfront, sculpted in 1960.FreeRoadside attraction · Harrison Hot Springs, BCSasquatch Provincial ParkLakes, trails and campgrounds just north of Harrison Hot Springs, renamed for the Sasquatch in 1968.
Manitoba 2
Festival or event · St. Laurent, MBManipogo FestivalSt. Laurent on Lake Manitoba celebrates Manipogo, the humped lake monster named in 1960, with a winter festival.Usually first week of March. 2027 dates not announced yetRoadside attraction · Falcon Lake, MBFalcon Lake Incident SiteIn May 1967 prospector Stefan Michalak said a landed craft burned his chest here. Parks Manitoba has run anniversary hikes to the site.
Nova Scotia 2
Museum · Shag Harbour, NSShag Harbour UFO CentreA small seasonal museum on the shore where, in October 1967, witnesses reported a lit object dropping into the sea and the RCMP and navy went looking.Festival or event · Yarmouth, NSShag Harbour UFO ExpoThree days of talks near the anniversary of the 1967 Shag Harbour incident, with a bus tour to the crash area and the old CFB Shelburne site.Usually early October. 2026 dates not announced yet
Ontario 1
Quebec 2
Roadside attraction · Magog, QCMemphré SculptureA sculpture of Memphré, the Lake Memphremagog monster, in the lakeside Parc de la Baie-de-Magog.FreeRoadside attraction · Pohénégamook, QCPonik SculptureQuebec's lake monster Ponik, reported since 1874, is honoured with a huge sculpture at the lakeside resort.Free
Around the world
Argentina 1
Australia 2
Roadside attraction · Kilcoy, AustraliaKilcoy Yowie StatueThe self-styled Yowie capital of Australia put a big Yowie statue in Yowie Park after a famous 1979 sighting nearby.FreeRoadside attraction · Murray Bridge, AustraliaMurray Bridge BunyipPress the button at Sturt Reserve and a roaring animatronic Bunyip rises from its riverside cave. It has been scaring kids since 1972.Free
Brazil 1
Japan 1
Nepal 1
Sweden 1
United Kingdom 4
Museum · Drumnadrochit, United KingdomThe Loch Ness CentreThemed rooms walk you through the story of Loch Ness, its famous sightings and its hoaxes, and you can add a sonar cruise on the loch itself.£15 adults online, £18 walk-inRoadside attraction · Mawnan Smith, United KingdomMawnan Church (Owlman)A clifftop church in Cornwall where two sisters said they saw a man-sized owl with red eyes over the tower in 1976.FreeRoadside attraction · Woodbridge, United KingdomRendlesham Forest UFO TrailA 3-mile waymarked walk past the spots linked to Britain's most famous UFO case, the December 1980 lights near the RAF/USAF bases.FreeExpedition or tour · Drumnadrochit, United KingdomLoch Ness Deepscan CruiseA sonar-equipped boat trip on Loch Ness from the Loch Ness Centre, with a combined cruise and exhibition ticket available.£25 adults online, £40 with the Centre
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