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The cavemen live under the volcano at Prehistoric Forest.

Prehistoric Forest and Mystery Hill (Closed)

Field review by the editors.

Marblehead, Ohio

Global warming? If you want evidence that the forces of nature have already gone bonkers, look no further than Prehistoric Forest and Mystery Hill.

In one half of the attraction you walk through a volcano and travel back in time. Dino statues peer from the trees along a wooded path. A wooly mammoth sprays water at you, a big T-rex head shunts from side to side somewhat ominously, a hidden snake lunges at you in the volcano. A beefy caveman seems to invite cozy pose-with-a-Neanderthal snapshots.

(This trip use to be far more violent. Visitors would board a jeep tram, be handed toy M-16 rifles, and instructed by a panicky prerecorded voice to "Kill the monsters!" and "Everybody aim at once and shoot! " as you puttered past feebly creaking dinosaurs.)

New owner Len Tieman is gradually replacing the old, hand-built dinosaurs with new, hand-built ones of his own. His monsters seem much more realistic than the originals, or maybe the old ones just grew lumpy after years of Lake Erie weather.

The other half of the attraction takes you through a twisted shack, supposedly built in 1953, that rapidly succumbed to twisted gravitational forces. Tennis balls roll uphill. People (even you) lean off the walls at impossible angles. Visitors grow and shrink in size. It's standard Mystery Spot fare, but no less mysterious for its familiarity.

Prehistoric Forest opened in 1963 and closed in 2002. Len Tieman's efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, and the attraction closed for good in 2010.

Also see: Mystery Spots

Prehistoric Forest and Mystery Hill

Directions:
Hwy 2 north to Hwy 269 (Bridge Rd). Hwy 269 north to Hwy 163 (E. Harbor Rd). East on Hwy 163 around two miles.
Hours:
Closed at end of 2010 season.
Status:
Closed

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