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All Canada Yukon Watson Lake Watson Lake Sign Post Forest

Watson Lake Sign Post Forest

Roadside collection of 65,000 signs.

Watson Lake, Yukon

Added By
Alex Timian
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A lane of signs in the forest   life_of_gillman/Flickr
A lane of signs in the forest   life_of_gillman/Flickr
Winter in Watson Lake   walrus/Flickr
Distances across the world to the Yukon   mariancall/Flickr
Entrance to the forest   musubk/Flickr
A taste of home for many visitors   erictherad/Flickr
Worldwide signage   zoe52/Flickr
  samantha102489 / Atlas Obscura User
  cherene / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
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About

There’s really no place like home, and there is no way to better remember your roots than a visit to the Sign Post Forest in Canada.

Deep into the Yukon alongside the Alaska Highway, a collection of 65,000 signs have amassed over the last 70 years. The forest was founded in 1942 when a construction worker doing work on the highway brought his own sign to mark the distance to his hometown in Illinois. Since then, the tradition of leaving a sign behind has created a diverse collection from around the world.

As the forest has grown in signs, an adopt-a-post program has funded more space for mementos. By the time the forest turns 100 in 2042, there will undoubtedly be thousands of more signs, each displaying the hometown from one of the forest's visitors. Following in the tradition of its nostalgic origin, a time capsule was placed in the Sign Post Forest in 1992 with the intent to open it in 2042. Even if the world radically changes in the next 50 years, the Sign Post Forest is a unique record of how towns and roads across the world once looked.

Related Tags

Museums And Collections Outsider Art Collections Signs

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Follow signs from Watson Lake

Community Contributors

Added By

atimian

Edited By

Blindcolour, samantha102489, cherene, jobosound

  • Blindcolour
  • samantha102489
  • cherene
  • jobosound

Published

September 12, 2011

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Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_Post_Forest
  • http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/the-sign-post-forest-of-watson-lake.html
Watson Lake Sign Post Forest
Watson Lake, Yukon, Y0A
Canada
60.065433, -128.703116
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Photo of Yukon

Yukon

Canada

Places 11
Stories 1

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Yukon

Yukon

Canada

Places 11
Stories 1

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