Tips, leads, stories from travelers, plus Roadsideamerica.com Team reports on quirky museums, ironic monuments, and must-see oddities! Trip planning caution: Some tips may not be verified. Over time, attractions change, move, burn down. What's a vacation without a little risk? Submit your own tip.
Results 1 to 5 of 11... Page of 3 [Next 5 items]
- Altadena, California - Haunted Gravity Hill I heard there's a hill in the Pasadena/Altadena-area that's haunted. If you're driving down the hill, stop. Put the car in neutral and your car will roll back up the hill.
As the story goes, a girl took her parents' car out for a joyride with some friends, they spun out of control on the hill and now their spirits try to help others who might be in the same predicament.
Or sometimes it's a bus load of school children--their little hand prints are sometimes said to be seen on windows, trunk lids, and on bumpers when powder is spread on them afterwards.
Now whether someone died there or not is debatable, but the actual effect is entirely an optical illusion. Though it appears you're drifting uphill, you're actually heading down it. Still, for a cheap thrill, and in the spirit of Halloween, take your friends there, tell them some cockamamie story about a convertible of drunk-driving cheerleaders colliding with the marching band's bus after the "big game" and watch their eyes bulge as the car jerks up the so-called magnetic hill. [Christine Amarantus, 11/16/2008]
Haunted Gravity Hill:
Address: E. Loma Alta Dr., Altadena, CA
Directions: From the 210 in Pasadena, head north on Lake Avenue. Turn right onto Altadena Drive. Turn left onto Porter and go until it ends at E. Loma Alta Dr. Turn left on Loma Alta. Go over a few dips, and around a couple of corners. Go up the hill and right around the second sign for Sunnyoaks is where it starts. You will be facing "downhill," evergreen trees to your left with something that resembles a flood control channel past that, a wall of rock and dirt to your right. If you go over a bridge after curving to the left you've gone too far.
Admission: Free.
Hours: Public road - exercise caution.[Show Map] - Jacumba, California - Gravity Hill In addition to the Desert View Tower and rock art formations located in Jacumba, there is a "gravity hill" similar to the one in La Jolla, California. In Ko Pah Road, the side road which leads you into the tower, has the ability to roll your car uphill. This phenomenon located on Devil's Canyon. Try it with your car in neutral, water, balls, whatever and you'll be left in amazement! [elchrist, 08/08/2005]
- La Jolla, California - Gravity Hill Tried this one with my boyfriend. You have to go with someone because only the passenger can see the [rolling uphill] effect. It does seem like you are going uphill when you are indeed going downhill. I could feel the truck driving downhill but it looked like I was going up. You may have to do this a few times to feel the effect fully. Or trade with the driver, etc. [Nichole G., 01/03/2009]La Jolla Gravity Hill:
Address: West Muirlands Dr., La Jolla, CA
Directions: W. Muirlands Drive between Nautilus St. and Fay St. Best tested traveling from Nautilus to Fay St. Once you are on W. Muirlands line up your right rear tire with the telephone pole on the side of the street with the fairway (it has three yellow stripes). Put the vehicle in neutral and roll on![Show Map] - La Jolla, California - Gravity Hill This really works! It's easy to find the pole with the three stripes. The fence for the fairway is covered with ivy or something similar. The hill is just steep enough that when you are rolling up it and look back, it seems really steep! [Alicia C., 07/18/2008]
La Jolla, California - La Jolla Gravity Hill The first thing that makes this hill interesting is that you roll forwards up the hill, not backwards like all the other hills I've tested. It looks like a dud at first glance compared to some other hills, but your vehicle
will crest the hill you are rolling "up" then proceed on a long downhill stretch
where you will eventually have to stop your vehicle yourself -run out of road. This
roll uphill to a downhill thing really trashes my current ranking system, but that's how
'scientific research' goes, I suppose. The uphill to a downhill section also provides
the highest speed of any hill tested to date, 33.1 mph, and the longest roll, .28
mile. Worth the trip if you are in the area. [Greg Brown, 05/25/2001]
Page of 3 [Next 5 items]
