Cadillac Ranch off I-40 in Amarillo draws crowds, lives up to study
No matter what the season, tourists stop at the Cadillac Ranch for photos or to paint
An Amarillo tourist destination is among the top 10 “most overcrowded” places in the state, according to a newly released study.
In 2024, Texas welcomed a record-breaking 62 million travelers, according to statistics provided by Canada Sports Betting. It was also discovered which destinations were the most overcrowded, based on those statistics. The team at Canada Sports Betting analyzed TripAdvisor reviews for Texas’ top tourist destinations, and by tracking mentions of terms like “busy” and “overcrowded,” they pinpointed the most packed locations in the state.
According to the results, Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo ranks at No. 7, with 9.95% of the reviews mentioning excessive crowds.
As witnessed by crowds on almost any day, many people are intrigued with the infamous Cadillac Ranch. For some reason, the unusual art — a brain child of The Ant Farm, comprised of Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez, and Doug Michels — became a way to explore public art and architecture. Stanley Marsh 3, a local millionaire, provided the funding and the land for the project in 1974.
Marquez has been quoted as saying that he and Chip were living in the mountains north of San Francisco and saw a children’s book left in a nearby bar called, “The Look of Cars,” which conatained information about the rise and fall of tail fins In cars. He said he didn’t have a lot to do, so he drew it up because he loved the cars.
From earlier information, the group was said to have been given a list of eccentric millionaires in 1972, with Stanley Marsh 3’s name on it. March reportedly said “it’s going to take me a while to get used to the idea (of the Cadillac Ranch), but I’ll answer you by April Fool’s Day.” It was originally located in a wheat field west of Amarillo, but it was moved by a local contractor to a location two miles west, which served as a cow pasture, owned by Marsh 3. At one time, the cars, which have undergone many paint colors throughout the years, was painted black to mark the passing of Ant Farm artist Doug Michels.
To test the Canada Sports Betting report, this reporter struck out one random hot Monday in July and found the area in front of Cadillac Ranch teeming with people. There were at least 12 different cars, full of people who made the windy, dusty trek to see the buried Cadillacs. One of the travelers was Lloyd Murray, with a car full of people who were visiting from West Australia. Murray said — in a thick Aussie accent — that it was interesting and they didn’t have anything like that in Australia, although the landscape is similar to parts of the Land Down Under. He commented that there must be a three-inch layer of paint on the cars.
The art installation of 10 half-buried Cadillacs, located west of I-40 in Amarillo, was originally intended to be a quirky, thought-provoking piece of public art and a tribute to the evolution of the Cadillac tail fin. The cars, ranging from 1949 to 1963 models, were driven into the field and half-buried nose-first at a 60-degree angle, according to information from the Amarillo Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The ranch has been the topic of songs, as well as countless photos, advertising, short videos and even jewelry, for those enterprising souls who pick up the chips of the paint and make them into even more art. Bob “Crockodile” Lile, owner of the Lile Art Gallery on 2719 SW 6th St., features Cadilite jewelry, beautiful creations set with colorful, shaped and polished pieces of paint from the Cadillac Ranch. Bruce Springsteen even penned a song called “Cadillac Ranch” that was on his 1980 album, “The River.”
As far as any plans to enlarge the parking area, the Marsh family who owns the land could not be reached, but Amarillo Museum of Art representatives said they didn’t believe any changes were on the horizon.
Along with Cadillac Ranch, others making the top 10 in the “most overcrowded” list are mostly locations in central and north Texas: the Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Comal River in New Braunfels at No. 1 and 2, respectively; Port Aransas Beach at No. 3; the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas at No. 4; Barton Springs Pool in Austin at No. 5; The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas at No. 6; Enchanted Rock in Fredericksburg at No. 8; the Lost Maples Trail in Vanderpool at No. 9 and the San Antonio River Walk at No. 10.
In addition, coming in at No. 20 on the list is Palo Duro Canyon with 3.36%.
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