Monument Madness | Minnesota Unknown 1

Monument Madness 2026

Minnesota has no shortage of quirky monuments, statues, and roadside oddities. Our state is home to giant statues of Vikings, Voyageurs, numerous Paul Bunyans and Blue Oxen, giant animal sculptures of all kinds, various “World’s Largest”s (e.g. Hockey Stick, Snowman, Boot, Ball of Twine…), ever so many giant fish, and much, much more. But which of these kitschy monuments is truly the best in the state? That’s what YOU, the people, get to decide!

We’re excited to announce Monument Madness 2026, a single-elimination tournament to decide which is the best roadside monument in the great state of Minnesota.

Based on your nominations, we present the following “March Madness”-style bracket of sixteen monuments:

Match 1: Wally Walleye (Garrison) vs. Big Fish Supper Club (Bena)

Match 2: Iron Man Statue (Chisholm) vs. Jolly Green Giant (Blue Earth)

Match 3: Big Ole: America's Tallest Viking (Alexandria) vs. Hermann the German (New Ulm)

Match 4: Spoon Bridge and Cherry (Minneapolis) vs. World’s Largest Loon (St. Paul)

Match 5: Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota (Darwin) vs. World's Largest Hockey Stick (Eveleth)

Match 6: Saint Urho Statue (Menagha) vs. Lucette, Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart (Hackensack)

Match 7: Pierre the Pantsless Voyageur (Two Harbors) vs. Big Vic the Voyageur (Ranier)

Match 8: Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox (Bemidji) vs. World’s Largest Paul Bunyan (Akely)

Every day between March 9th, and Monday, March 16th, we will post on Faceboo, Instagram, and TikTok about one of these matches, with details and historical background about each of our contenders. You can vote for your favorite in each match by dropping a comment on each post.

Or, if you prefer, you can fill out this form to cast your votes for all eight matches in round one.

The monument with the most votes from all these sources will proceed to the next round, which will be from March 23rd - 26th. After the showdown of these Final Four, the last round will be posted on March 31st, and the final championship winner announced April 6th.

May the best Minnesota Monument win!