Apple Valley Hillbilly Garden and Toyland Museum

If you’re in the Paducah area, this site is not to be missed! The property once housed a small gas station and residence, but as years went on and items piled up, a strong warning from local authorities to clean up the property resulted in the junk turning into sculptural art.
If you’re lucky, the owner Keith or his son will greet you as you pull up and offer a guided tour of the property. Take the tour! They are very charming and proud of their hard work turning this land into an amusing roadside attraction while preserving their family’s history.
Hopefully you will also get to see the the Toyland «museum», which is actually an un-​climate controlled shed LOADED with toys dating back from the 1800’s to present. You will stand there for 15 minutes going «I played with that!» over and over again. For collectors: these toys are not preserved in anyway, so don’t go nuts when you see the varied state of disrepair some of the toys are in. It is still a fabulous representation of American childhoods throughout the decades.
Apple Valley Hillbilly Garden and Toyland Museum is great kitschy fun if you are road-​tripping it along US 24. Admission is free, but the owners will not balk at any donation you see fit so they can grow and maintain their collection.
TIP: if you are going in the summertime, BRING BUG REPELLENT! Most of the «Hillbilly Garden» is located in the deep woods, and the Toyland area is located by a chicken coop, so the ‘squitos are rampant!!!