A couple of tourists driving through rural Utah were stunned by an unexpected roadside gem—an entire gas station built into the side of a rock mountain.
The unusual find in Hanksville was captured in a video by TikTok user Siana (@sianalouise), a travel content creator based in the United Kingdom. The clip has gone viral, attracting more than 104,000 views since it was posted on March 21.
"We have just stopped in a petrol station in Hanksville in Utah. Let me show you how cool this place is," Siana, who did not share her age or last name, says in the video, as she pans the camera to reveal the massive rockface that houses the store. The storefront is marked by a large sign that reads "Hollow Mountain," and visitors pay for gas inside the rock-hewn building.
For Siana, the stop wasn't part of a planned itinerary.
"We came across it during a recent U.S. road trip in March, it wasn't something we planned to visit," she told Newsweek. "We just happened to stumble across it while driving through Utah, and it instantly caught our attention."
The viral post comes as more than a third of U.S. travelers said they were going to take a road trip when asked about what types of trips they were planning to do last year, according to data compiled by Statista.
Road trips were the third most popular type of vacation, with 34 percent saying they would hit the road. Just under half (46 percent) said they'd be visiting family and friends, while 36 percent said they were aiming for a beach getaway, according to Statista.
'This Is So Cool'
The viral video later shows Siana leading viewers into the store, which has rows of snacks, fridges stocked with drinks, and a vaulted rock ceiling. At the back of the shop, near the restroom area, the natural rock surface of the mountain remains exposed.
Outside, she points to a dusty stretch of land nearby. "We've just walked not even that far from the petrol station, and look at these old trucks," she says, highlighting the vintage vehicles scattered around the area. "This is America, this is so cool," she says.
Read more Road trip
She later says, "I just realized as well that the petrol station is called Dinocare," referencing a sign that shows gas prices beneath a green dinosaur figure.
However, a spokesperson for the Hanksville town clerk told Newsweek that the station is officially branded as Sinclair, not Dinocare.
"We locals have always called it the Hollow Mountain," the spokesperson said. "This is our iconic Hollow Mountain gas station. The owner/builder had worked with explosives in mining and wanted to duplicate that in a gas station."
The construction process was as unique as the final result. According to the town clerk's office, the builder "drilled and set dynamite to blast the rock mountain a few rocks at a time and dug it out until it was big enough to house the convenient store."
The Hollow Mountain station has been a roadside feature since the early 1980s and has only changed ownership twice since its construction.
Inside, the store continues to showcase its unusual origins.
"As you make your way back to the restrooms, you can see the actual rock of the blasted-out mountain," the spokesperson said. It has goodies and souvenirs for sale, and it's a great place to stop on the way to scenic Lake Powell for gas and goodies."
Siana told Newsweek that the location's scenery set it apart from other stops during their journey.
"The most unique part was its location—it felt so out of place, tucked away against a dramatic mountainous backdrop. We traveled through a lot of Utah and hadn't seen anything quite like it. It stood out because most of the other stations were modern or simply not as remote and cinematic-looking."
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