A North Dakota Road Trip That Ends at a Castle

A giant metal grasshopper, a roadside maze and a towering sculpture called the Farmer Family are not the usual landmarks between an interstate and a small North Dakota town. On the Enchanted Highway, they are the opening act.

The route runs from Interstate 94 to Regent, with large-scale metal sculptures spaced along the way and pull-offs that let travelers get out, stretch their legs and look properly at the work. It is a drive to take on purpose, not a quick detour for a single photo.

At the far end sits the route’s fittingly unconventional finish: a medieval-themed hotel created inside a former local school. The building gives the Enchanted Highway somewhere to land, turning a sculpture drive into a full overnight stop, dinner outing or family gathering.

The Enchanted Highway asks drivers to slow down. Each sculpture has its own roadside pull-off, so the trip develops in stages rather than as one long look through a windshield. One stop becomes another, and soon the highway itself has a pleasantly treasure-hunt quality.

The pieces are enormous and made of metal, but they are not all solemn public-art monuments. At one pull-off, children can ride a grasshopper sculpture; another includes a maze. Those little diversions help break up the drive for families, though the big forms are entertaining for adults, too.

Farmer Family is among the sculptures that has made a particular impression on travelers. Its title alone gives a sense of the route’s homespun, proudly regional character: this is monumental work with a sense of humor, built for an open landscape rather than a gallery wall.

In Regent, a smaller Whirly Gig sculpture offers one more bit of mechanical fun. Pressing a button sets it in motion, a modest interactive flourish after miles of oversized metal creatures and scenes.

The hotel occupies a former school or high school, and its old classroom layout is still central to how the place works. Instead of trying to disguise that past completely, the conversion uses the building’s generous rooms as an advantage.

The interior is deliberately medieval-inspired, with a castle theme that makes a sharp departure from ordinary highway lodging. It is quirky, quiet and a little theatrical in the best roadside sense. Even travelers passing through Regent may find the building worth a look without making it an overnight stay.

That former-school scale also explains why the property can do more than provide a bed. There is room to eat, meet, play basketball and settle in with a larger family group without everyone being scattered across a standard motel parking lot.

The rooms are known for being spacious, clean and comfortable, an easy benefit of putting lodging into spaces that once had to hold students and desks. The extra square footage changes the rhythm of a stay: there is room to unpack, sit down and not immediately feel hemmed in by luggage.

Some rooms include a small dining area with its own television, sink and mini refrigerator. In a few layouts, there are two televisions, one near the beds and another by that dining space. That arrangement is especially handy when a traveling family does not have identical ideas about what to watch.

Some bathrooms have a double vanity and a large shower, with the toilet set separately beside the shower area. A handful of accommodations include hot tubs or jacuzzi tubs, although those features are not in every room.

There is also a separate hot-tub or therapy area at the property. It has been described as very hot and more therapy-oriented than a casual splash-around feature, so it is best understood as its own facility rather than an assumed extension of every guest room.

A day of sculpture stops can end without another drive to find dinner. The property includes a tavern or bar as well as a separate steakhouse or dinner area, giving the evening more than one mood.

Steak is a recurring highlight, including steak-and-shrimp meals for diners who want a classic supper after the open-road portion of the day. The separate dining areas also make sense for groups: one table can settle into dinner while another gathering takes shape nearer the tavern.

The tavern is cozy and well stocked, with room for travelers to have a drink and unwind. All ages are welcome in the tavern, while bar seating is reserved for guests 21 and older. A strawberry milkshake cocktail has appeared among the more playful drink orders.

Breakfast is available as well, with simple morning offerings that have included cereal, toast, bagels, fresh fruit and coffee. It is a sensible start before heading back down the highway or continuing across western North Dakota.

One of the building’s most useful surprises is the gymnasium or basketball court. Hotel guests can use it, and the space has also handled birthday-party and group activities. Not many overnight stops offer a place where children can burn off energy while the adults finish talking over dinner.

The property has hosted large family groups and student groups, and the gym gives those visits a practical center. It is one more reminder that the former school was adapted for gathering, not merely divided into sleeping rooms.

Families can make a weekend of the combination: sculpture pull-offs on the way in, a meal on site, time in the gym and a night in a room larger than the usual roadside option. The castle theme keeps the setup from feeling like a generic event facility.

The Enchanted Highway and the hotel are closely tied to Gary, the artist-owner whose sculpture project took decades of fabrication and installation work. When he is at the property, he may share stories about the school’s transformation and the long-running work of getting the highway sculptures into place.

That personal connection gives the destination an appealingly local scale. The giant metal forms are undeniably ambitious, but their endpoint is not a visitor center designed to keep everyone at arm’s length. It is a converted school in the artist’s hometown, with lodging, food and a gym behind its castle-like theme.

Regent is well off the interstate, and that remoteness is central to the trip. The drive from I-94 is part of the destination, with enough pull-offs to make it worth allowing real time rather than treating it as a brief exit-and-return stop.

The hotel’s clean public restrooms make it a practical pause for people touring the sculpture route, even if they are not staying the night. It has also served as a comfortable place for travelers to wait out bad weather while moving through the area.

A couple of gas stations in town can help with the return trip toward the interstate. Regent also has small-town extras such as gift shops and ice cream stops, nice additions when the road trip calls for one last browse or a cone before heading out.