Foamhenge, an Exact Replica of Stonehenge… Mostly
Last Updated on November 8, 2014 by Jody Halsted
Back in the day, before children, before a mortgage, before a career, Dora the Explorer had nothing on my adventures. The one good thing about having a desk job is that I could check out what everyone else out there was doing, where they were visiting, what they were seeing. Then, when it came time for my two weeks of vacation or we could get away for a quick weekend, I had a whole list of places to go. One place that has always intrigued me was Foamhenge.
No, that is not a typo.
Natural Bridge, Virginia is home to Foamhenge, a full-size replica of Stonehenge made out of styrofoam.
After I flew to Europe from Indiana and Stonehenge was closed, I knew I had to see Foamhenge! We drove nearly 500 miles to Virginia and arrived to find that Foamhenge was closed — high winds had damaged part of the structure and it was awaiting repair. The big “No Trespassing” sign scared us and so we left — it seemed I was destined to never see any sort of “henge” up close and in person.
Mark Cline is the artist behind the construction of Foamhenge and various other sculpture projects. His fiberglass and foam creations are responsible for the smiles of visitors to Dinosaur Kingdom, the Enchanted Castle, the Pirate Adventure and Mummy’s Tour of Doom rides at Virginia Beach and so many more projects. I knew a little bit about Mark before I embarked on my exploration of Foamhenge so when I passed his unmistakable workshop on Lee Highway on my way in to town and then on my disappointing way out of town, I decided to stop and beg my way into Foamhenge.
Surrounded by dinosaurs, monsters, holiday decor, and creations unknown to me, I walked through the gates of his work yard and he approached me. After introducing myself, getting an awesome tour of his workshop and current projects and then posing for some photographs, Mark enthusiastically encouraged us to head up to Foamhenge and check it out.
Foamhenge is located on the west side of Route 11, one mile north of the Natural Bridge in Virginia. It is a free roadside attraction and there is ample parking. This attraction is an exact replica of the original Stonehenge and is painted to look like it. There are signs that explain a little bit about Foamhenge and several signs that are inside jokes because the original intent of the attraction was to be an April Fool’s day joke. This “joke” became so popular with tourists that it is now a well known attraction in the area.
If you feel extra adventurous, I recommend running into Mark Cline down the road at his studio and getting the whole story behind his creations.
I love it! I want to go there!!! So glad you got to see it.