World's Largest Elkhorn Arch

THE SMALL TOWN OF AFTON, Wyoming, tucked away in the Star Valley near the Wyoming-Idaho border, boasts an enormous arch made entirely of elk antlers.

The arch spans all four lanes of U.S. Route 89 as the highway passes through downtown Afton. The arch is 18-feet tall and 75-feet wide. Smaller elk antler arches flank each side of the arch’s base. Although Jackson Hole’s elk antler arches are more widely known, the antler arch in Afton is believed to be the largest in the world.

First conceived by the Afton Chamber of Commerce in 1956, the Elkhorn Arch was completed in July 1958. It’s composed of 3,011 intertwined elk antlers and weighs over 15 tons. The arch was constructed at an estimated cost of $2,500. Today, the antlers, popular as an aphrodisiac in Asian medicine, are valued at an estimated $300,000.