The World’s Largest Ball of Twine

Been on my todo list for over 4 years! Finally made it!
It is definitely off the beat n path and probably took us an extra 2 hours on the road to the east cost.
The ball of twine is great, the caretaker is adorable and she leaves her phone number on the website so you can call her and she will bring you some twine to wrap around the ball! How cool is that!
IT’s a fun place to stop, little more hills and interesting things on the side of the road than the 70, but definitely a slower speed!

I drove a couple hours out if the way to see this. It is so bizarre I had to check it out. It was the highlight of my return trip. There was nothing else to see in western Kansas so I just drove home.

It’s everything you thought + more. This is a huge stinky (yes, stinky!) ball of twine. Four of us took a road trip across Kansas to see this thing. In case a viewing is not enough, there is also a festival. Cawker city, you are one-​of-​a-​kind, and so is your enormous ball of twine.

I’ve seen some strange and quirky things in my travels but this may top the list. I must admit I didn’t happen upon Cawker City, Kansas by accident I was traveling across the state and while eating breakfast in a town I’ve since forgotten there was mention of this giant ball of twine on the place mat under my plate of bacon and eggs. Even though it was completely out of the way and completely screwed my travel schedule I realized I was as close to this funky attraction as I may ever be in my live so why not.
After driving for what seemed like hours for hours I arrived in front of this giant gazebo housing a big ball of baling twine my first thought was so this is what they do out here in the middle of nowhere in their spare time between slopping the hogs, cutting wheat or building tornado shelters. Well any-​hoot this thing was pretty cool and for at least 5 minutes I was in total awe and then I jumped back in my rental and booked it out of town. So this may not be one of your bucket list items nor was it mine at the time but I’m kinda glad I’ve been there and done that.
Bucket List
X — 1. Ride a train across The top of the Alps
X — 2. Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge
X — 3. Niagara Falls
X — 4. Bungee Jump
5. Grab a Seat on Space X
6. Climb Mount Everest
7. Go Halibut Fishing in Alaska
X — 8. Go see the Worlds Biggest Ball of Twine
9. Drive a few laps around a super speedway
X-​10. Visit Hawaii

I hit this on a whim while driving cross country and I’ll tell you what– it’s worth seeing. Yes, the ball of twine is only a ball of twine. But the countryside getting there is quite beautiful and the people in the area are very friendly. Rather than just drive through Kansas as you hustle from whatever leftist city it is you’re driving to, from the leftist city you just departed, take time to get off the interstate and investigate this wonderful part of the country. It’s like a John Cougar Mellencamp video with the sound turned down.
My only regret is that there was really no place to buy anything, at least not when I passed through early in the day. So try and run your tank down and buy gas in or around Cawker City. These good folks went through the trouble of constructing an enormous ball of twine, I think the least we can do is try to reward them financially because, in all seriousness, it really is worth the detour.

I drove through the middle of town late at night on a cross country trip and spotted the attraction as I was passing by. My friend was asleep in the car, so I backtracked on foot with my camera to document this wonder. When I got back to the car, I showed my friend and she was eager to take a gander at the curiosity!
We posed and looked, and read, and touched (just a little – there was a cricket to be pointed out). It was neat. I’m still sad about missing the awesome Kansas City public library, though. :-/

Brian K. wasn’t kidding when he said this thing is hundreds of miles away from anything, but I made the trek out there anyway. It is what it is – a big ball of twine. I wouldn’t say that it’s necessarily worth the trip for most people, but I like to find random things in random places and this certainly fit the bill. Other people must have the same agenda though because the log book had entries from nearly every day.
If you’d like to add twine to the ball, contact Linda Clover and she’ll hook you up:
And Cawker City in general? Interesting for a city girl, that’s for sure, but the locals were wonderful and very welcoming.
CORNER BAR & GRILL HOLLA!

Wait — there’s a festival!!! They didn’t mention that in my crazy roadtrip book!
The most important thing to add is that, after living in CA and Washington DC, the most amazing thing happened here…
I’m standing across the street from the ball of twine (yes, it’s seriously just in the middle of this neighborhood that you’d expect to see a McDonalds etc in)
anyway, here I am, holding up my camera and… the CAR’S ACTUALLY STOPPED TO LET ME TAKE A PICTURE!!!
Okay — I’ve never seen anything like that before. Seriouslly– people stopping their CAR’S in the middle of the road just so I can get an un-​interrupted picture of this HUGE ball of twine?! OMG. Talk about service. Wow.
Kansas is cool

Alright, someone has to bring attention to the weird tourist attractions of the U.S. I drove all the way through Kansas during my cross country trip just to see this thing. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING else within hundreds of miles, so if you made the trip all the way out here just to see a stupid ball of twine, you must be a very special (and I mean «special» in the good way,) kinda person.
If you’ve never seen 18,000 pounds (1300 miles) of twine wound into a ball and happen to be passing through rural Kansas, you really need to see this thing. Apparently there is a Twine Festival in the summer, which I unfortunately missed, and there is a Ball of Twine hotel, which was closed when I visited. Someday, I plan to make the pilgrimage back for the festival. And then I will be extra special.