Giant Globes

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon Village, Arizona

This giant globe is in the main visitor center at Grand Canyon National Park's South Rim.
Directions: S. Entrance Rd, Grand Canyon Village. A fee is charged to enter the park.
Last Visited: September 2022.

Lowell Observatory

Flagstaff, Arizona

This giant globe, located in the observatory's Rotunda Museum, allows the visitor to choose from among several different dynamic displays of the Sun and the Earth. In this photo, the globe is displaying the path of the 2017 total solar eclipse on the Earth.
Directions: 1400 W. Mars Hill Rd. Admission fee is charged.
Last Visited: September 2024.

Motel Du Beau Travelers Inn

Flagstaff, Arizona

This patio globe doubles as a propane heater.
Directions: 19 W. Phoenix Ave. Private property, but the globe is easily visible from the sidewalk.
Last Visited: July 2016.

Phoenix Zoo

Phoenix, Arizona

This giant globe dominates the visitors entranceway to the zoo.
Directions: 455 N. Galvin Parkway (in Papago Park). Fee is charged to enter the zoo, but the globe is outside the entrance.
Last Visited: March 2010 (Update November 2012: Globe is now gone).

Arizona Science Center

Phoenix, Arizona

This globe is user-controlled; an internal projector shows dynamic weather systems, plate tectonics, or global events. The user also controls the orientation and rates of animation and rotation.
Directions: 600 E. Washington St. Admission fee is charged.
Last Visited: June 2010.

Arcadia High School

Phoenix, Arizona

Caption on statue's plaque: ATLAS, KING OF ARCADIA, TITAN COMMANDER, SYMBOL OF ENDURING STRENGTH.
Directions: 4703 E. Indian School Rd. (at 47th St.)
Last Visited: October 2011.

Robert L. Duffy High School

Phoenix, Arizona

9/11 Memorial

Tucson, Arizona

This memorial to the victims of the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks was constructed in 2002 by artist David Campbell and a group of local high school students.
Directions: Southwest corner of Irvington Blvd & Benson Highway.
Last Visited: April 2012.

Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum

Tucson, Arizona

This giant globe is in the University of Arizona's Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum.
Directions: 115 N. Church Ave Suite 121. Admission fee is charged.
Last Visited: June 2022.

Leisure World

Seal Beach, California

This Leisure World globe is even larger than the one in Mesa. It appears to have a motor to allow it to rotate, but was not rotating when I visited.
Directions: On the west side of Seal Beach Boulevard, 1/2 mile south of Interstate 405. Leisure World is a gated community, but the globe is outside the entrance.
Last Visited: October 2010.

Aquarium of the Pacific

Long Beach, California

This globe is made of countless stitched-together satellite photos, specially selected to show an earth without clouds.
Directions: 100 Aquarium Way. Admission fee is charged.
Last Visited: January 2001.
Update April 2011: I have received a report that this globe is no longer on display at the aquarium.

Griffith Observatory

Los Angeles, California

Since this photo is so old (1986), and the Observatory has undergone extensive renovation since then, the globe may be long gone.
Directions: 2800 E. Observatory Avenue (in Griffith Park). Admission fee is charged.
Last Visited: Photo taken April 1986.

California Academy of Sciences

San Francisco, California

At the time of my visit, these giant globes in the Natural History Museum portion of the California Academy of Sciences were in an area that was under construction and not immediately accessible to the public.
Directions: 55 Music Concourse Dr. Admission fee is charged.
Last Visited: March 2018.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

Albuquerque, New Mexico

I took this photo of a world-shaped hot air balloon in 1975, at the fourth annual balloon fiesta; I don't know if the balloon still exists.
Directions: Balloon Fiesta Park, 5000 Balloon Fiesta Parkway NE. Admission fee is charged.
Last Visited: Photo taken October 1975.

Big Molecule of the Cognition Enhancer

Santa Fe, New Mexico

This courtyard globe next to the giant molecule sculpture doubles as a propane heater.
Directions: 441 Greg Ave.
Last Visited: July 2017.

All Veteran's Memorial Plaza

Farmington, New Mexico

This giant globe is a 4-foot rotating marble sphere on a fountain.
Directions: The memorial plaza is a short walk from the Animas River Walk parking lot at River Rd and S. Tucker Ave.
Last Visited: July 2022.

Planet Hollywood

Las Vegas, Nevada

On a column outside of Caesar's Palace.
Directions: 3500 Las Vegas Blvd S.
Last Visited: May 2018 (now gone).

Museum of Science

Boston, Massachusetts

These three giant globes (one of the Earth, two of the Moon) are in Boston's Museum of Science.
Directions: 1 Science Park. Admission fee is charged.
Last Visited: June 2019.

National Museum Of Natural History

Washington, D.C.

This giant globe of the Moon hangs from the museum ceiling.
Directions: 10th St & Constitution Ave NW.
Last Visited: March 2023.

Planet Word Museum

Washington, D.C.

This giant globe hangs from the ceiling in an interactive gallery.
Directions: 925 13th St NW. Admission fee is charged.
Last Visited: March 2023.

Daguerre Memorial

Washington, D.C.

This 11-foot-tall bronze and granite sculpture by Johnathan Scott Hartley memorializes French artist and photography inventor Jacques Louis Mande Daguerre (1787-1851), and is topped by a granite globe of the Earth.
Directions: 600 7th St NW, outside of the National Portrait Gallery. Behind fence, but easily seen from street.
Last Visited: March 2023.

Our Cabaña

Cuernavaca, Mexico

Our Cabaña is one of the four World Centres of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
Directions: Rio Mayo 1 esquina Rio Lerma, Colonia Vista Hermosa, Cuernavaca, Morelos (private property).
Last Visited: October 2009.