Lake Wales, Florida: Spook Hill

Being a curious and skeptical person, I like to experience and test things for myself. Objective data is my best friend. Since the family and I were not too far from Lake Wales, we decided to check out Spook Hill. We parked at the white line as instructed, put the car in neutral, and released the brake. Our car started rolling backwards -- which appeared to be downhill -- but according to the elevation read out on our GPS, we were going uphill. Pretty weird. Very cool.

A new interactive monument is being created for Spook Hill in Lake Wales. James R. Hahn, the original muralist for the Cabbage Patch Kids, recently got official approval for a 12-foot-tall monument with associated virtual and augmented reality features. It will depict the long-standing Native American legend of an Indian chief, fighting a huge alligator, which "magically" skewed nature and gravity around the famous hill. The monument is planned as a fun, commemorative addition to help spotlight Spook Hill.

The wife and I went to check out Spook Hill for ourselves. The [gravity] effect was lost on us both. The hill looks a lot steeper when you're standing at the sign than it does in the picture.

It was a busy Sunday at the attraction, as we had to wait in a small line to take a turn. I think this may have attributed to our lack of perceiving the effect. Feeling a bit rushed, I don't think we had the time to really take in the surroundings and get the right perspective.

Surprisingly, the pictures give me the feeling that you're looking down and not up a hill.

My son and I wen to visit Spook Hill this weekend. The signs are still visible -- though they are small. To make it easiest I would mapquest Spook Hill Elementary School (321 Dr. J.A. Wiltshire Avenue E. Lake Wales, FL) and the hill is just to the right of the school.

It's a one-way street and we were tempted to turn around and try it again; but, instead we made the loop and did it again.

I visited Spook Hill in July 2006. Once you turn on the road that leads to Bok Gardens (there is a sign for that), you will start to see signs for Spook Hill. They are very small brown signs. The only place one was missing was right before the street you need to turn right on if you are driving west. I turned around after ending up on the South side of the lake and then found it. If there is a sign for Spook Hill Elementary follow that. There is a big sign at the Spook Hill site with directions on how to experience it. I went on a weekday(no one around) and did it about 10 times! It's just fascinating.