Screaming Heads — Attraction in Ryerson Township

I love all things artistic, so I was intrigued by this place. It is not as gory as it sounds, but still interesting. The owner, a retired artist, built huge concrete heads, hands, and other sculptures all over his property. It is like an outdoors gallery, where visitors are allowed to walk around. It feels like a scavenger hunt, because there is no set route. It is just walking around and discovering art in valleys, over the river, even behind bushes. In the grand scope, it looks fantastic! First, I was greeted by albino peacocks, which I have never seen before. It also has large domes of poles of steel, adding to the mystical atmosphere of the place. The seemingly random sculptures reminding dragons, personified trees, little goblins and gargoyles are not only great subjects for photography, but also make for some of the most interesting conversations. Personally, I was a little disappointed that the screaming sculptures were not as daunting as I hoped, being a lover of horror movies. Yet, a huge collection of sculptures in front of an altar made up for it. Furthermore, there are more cool sculptures across the road from the main property, so there is lots to explore. Oh, it is free to attend! However, there are some hills and valleys beside a river, so it gets muddy sometimes. But other than that, definitely a place...

This is a very interesting art installation. We arrive late in the day on a Wednesday, and basically had the whole place to ourselves. The property itself is HUGE and very beautiful. There was part through the spider we gates that was closed, so we couldn't go in. The trails aren't marked very well and there is no map. We walked to many dead ends and had to turn around, and only saw about 20 heads because we walked in so many circles. We saw more across the street as we were leaving that we had no clue about, which made us realize we had probably had missed a lot, and further investigation on Google confirmed that we indeed had. Most of what we saw was overgrown with grass and weeds. Lots of horse and deer flies, so be sure to spray down with heavy bug spray, and close toed shoes for the overgrown trails. The heads themselves make you wonder what the artist was thinking as he created them, but they are fascinating, and very beautiful in their own way. They might seem creepy and scary to young children, so I would consider that when bringing kids. It would be a good family activity for families with older children though. Personally, I would go back to explore some more, but I would arrive much earlier and plan to spend the whole...

I stopped by Screaming Heads in Burk’s Falls during the day, and it felt like stepping into a surreal open-air gallery tucked away in a huge field. The place was almost empty—maybe 10 people total and about the same number of cars—which gave it a strangely peaceful, almost eerie atmosphere. Workers were setting up tents for the upcoming Harvest Festival, so it was clear the space was gearing up for something much bigger on the weekend.

Walking around, the sculptures themselves were impressive, but I could tell the real magic happens at night. They had fire bins set up where logs would normally be lit to cast dramatic shadows on the art, but in the daytime, they sat unused. Same with the light displays—I could imagine how incredible the massive concrete “heads” would look illuminated against the dark sky with music playing in the background.

Even without the night effects, it was still a cool and unique spot. Free to enter, wide open to explore, and perfect for taking photos of the unusual and haunting artwork. If you’re nearby, it’s worth checking out anytime, but I’d recommend going after dark or during an event to really see the...