There are a few spots around the world that make your brain argue with your eyes. Cars drift the “wrong” way & people lean without falling. Water somehow climbs uphill.
No, they’re not magical, but they sure feel that way when you’re standing there, and here are ten places like this. Which of these would mess with your sense of balance the most?
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Electric Brae, Scotland
Drive along the coast road near Dunure & you’ll find a short hill that’ll make you check your car’s brakes. Locals call it Electric Brae. But there’s nothing electric about it, and stopping in the marked area makes it seem like your car rolls up the slope.
This is because the sea sits higher than the road, so your eyes are completely fooled by the horizon.
Magnetic Hill, Moncton, Canada
In Moncton, people have been rolling backward up a hill since the 1930s. Pull into the lane & shift to neutral, and suddenly your car creeps uphill. However, there’s no trickery under the pavement.
There’s just a perfectly placed dip that hides the real slope. The place is so popular that a company built a theme park right next door to take advantage of the sheer number of visitors.
Jeju’s Mysterious Road, South Korea
Those who rent a car on Jeju Island might hear locals talk about the “Mysterious Road.” It’s a short stretch where bottles & balls, even buses, appear to drift uphill.
The trees and terrain bend just enough to mess with your sense of direction. Once you know it’s a downhill slope, it somehow feels even stranger.
Spook Hill, Lake Wales, Florida
Spook Hill looks like something out of an old roadside movie. There’s a big painted sign telling you to stop on a white line and shift to neutral. Then, watch your car roll up the hill toward the old schoolhouse.
People used to blame it on buried treasure or a ghostly alligator, but it’s simply the land playing tricks again.
Gravity Hill, Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Gravity Hill is behind farmland near New Paris. There’s no gift shop or big sign, just a quiet road that refuses to make sense, which you can see for yourself if you stop your car at the faded white letters. You’ll feel it inch uphill all by itself.
Even pouring water looks wrong here, as it flows “up” the pavement, and locals love showing it off to new visitors.
Magnetic Hill, Ladakh, India
High up in the Himalayas, the Magnetic Hill near Leh sits about 11,000 feet above sea level, with thin air & bare mountains everywhere. It all feels a little surreal already.
But put your vehicle in neutral, and it’ll seem to climb toward the horizon. It’s all because the empty landscape makes every slope look flipped upside down.
Oregon Vortex, Oregon
Those passing through Gold Hill, Oregon, may see signs pointing toward a place that “defies gravity.” That’s inside the Oregon Vortex.
Here, people look taller or shorter depending on where they stand & balls seem to roll the wrong way. It’s been around since the 1930s.
Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz, California
Somewhere between the tall redwoods & the foggy hills of Santa Cruz is the Mystery Spot, a crooked little shack that’ll ruin your sense of balance.
People walk in laughing. They walk out holding the walls for support. Everything tilts, including the floor & the furniture, and a stream of water somehow slides uphill. Standing straight? That’s impossible.
Magnetic Hill, Orroroo, South Australia
Way out near Orroroo is a lonely road that doesn’t seem to follow the same rules as the rest of Earth. There’s nothing around but dry grass & a huge sky.
But somehow, your car creeps uphill without you doing anything, and travelers have been pulling over for years just to see it happen.
Mount Aragats “anti-gravity” stretch, Armenia
Driving toward Mount Aragats means going through a stretch of road where gravity apparently stops. Even bikes roll the wrong way here.
But that’s not all for weirdness, as the air’s thin & the scenery’s rather intense. And nobody’s in a hurry to explain it. Really, it’s one of those places where the strangeness has to be seen to be believed.
The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article:
