Not something I would drive out of my way for but if you're headed to Bok tower Gardens it's not too far out the way. We decided to give the haunted street a try after seeing it on social media. When you drive up you see The elementary school next door has Casper's their mascot which I loved! We got to the line read the sign and pulled up to the line. I put the car in neutral and guess what..nothing lol which I didn't have high hopes but it was cool to check out the area. read more

Nothing special. I thought it was going to be slightly more exciting, your car just rolls downward... because you're on a hill. That's pretty much it. It's quick and a bit underwhelming, but the town's backstory is kind of cool and it's free, so why not check it out if you're already nearby read more

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Found this randomly whilst looking at the historical part near and it thought it was such a cool spot for a picture. The whole theme behind this hill is also pretty cool. We obviously did what the sign told us to do which was let the car go backwards on its own and it was super fun! read more

Spook Hill - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Lake Wales, Florida

Didn't get it at all at first so had to go back for a second pass. Idk kind of freaky but I was in the area so why not. Check it out read more

Spook Hill - Instructions - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Lake Wales, Florida

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I've been reminiscing a lot recently about spending time in Lake Wales and visiting Bok Tower Gardens as a child. I'm from Indiana, but may parents bought a little place in Lake Wales. It wasn't near the water, but I really grew to love Central Florida. I have so many memories of Bok Tower, feeding squirrels (if you know, you know), walking around Lake Wales, and playing tennis on the public courts. Among these memories was a little place called Spook Hill. I was thrilled to look it up on Yelp and see that it is still around and families are visiting this humble little attraction. I've read some reviews that say Spook Hill is mainly for kids, and I would agree. I remember Spook Hill fondly from my childhood, over 30 years ago. Crazy that it's been around for so long! But I'll tell you who Spool Hill is also for... the dad who wants to seem like the coolest person in the world to their kids. (It could also be a cool mom, of course. But I'm writing from a dad's perspective) Spook Hill is a simple optical illusion where your car seems to go backwards up a small hill. But they have created a small mythology around the attraction about an Indian Chief protecting his land from a vicious alligator. I can just imagine taking my children to Spook Hill and telling them the story of the mighty Indian Chief. Then you have your kids get out of the car and tell them you're going to test to see if the Indian Chief is still protecting this land. I imagine my girls' mouths dropping open as they watch our car slowly go backwards up the small incline. It's silly, but it's unique. And I feel like some of the best family memories are made by little, unique encounters. I'm a testament to this fact, as I remember my parents taking me to Spook Hill more than three decades ago. read more

As an adult, this was a joke. If you're in the area, it will be something to make you laugh. For my kids, I made it exciting. I read the story and the car rolled backwards slowly down the hill and they were all mesmerized by the simple physics of it. It was a cute moment that they kept asking about during our drive home. read more

Spook Hill - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Lake Wales, Florida

Read about this place and just had to check it out. There's not much to it but it's cute and a place my Dad would have taken us to check out when I was a kid. Just one of those little roadside attractions. Doesn't cost anything and could be a cute photo op. Our car did roll backwards although it wasn't nearly as creepy or exciting as I was hoping lol. Cute nonetheless! If you're in the area check it out! read more

Spook Hill - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Lake Wales, Florida

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Just cool!!! Close to Bok Tower botanical gardens. A must visit just for those who wonder... It's an unassuming little side road that is hard to understand. It feels like you are rolling up a hill. At the site there is a sign explaining the hill and what to do. It only takes a few minutes to do but will leave you in awe. Loved it. The best thing... it's free!!! Enjoy the local anomaly!!!! read more

Spook Hill - Spook hill sign. - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Lake Wales, Florida

I love this kind of stuff! We all know there's no spook here. It's not the ghost of a rampaging alligator, there's no Native American spirits pushing your car, it's just a cool effect that tricks your brain into thinking X when it's really Y. It's definitely out of your way, it's a long way to drive for very little return on the gas money spent, but it's still fun. Do it! read more

Kitschy remnant of the old Florida roadside attraction that is 100% free to experience. Cute. Nothing to write home about but glad I visited. read more

Spook Hill - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Lake Wales, Florida

Every town or city needs its ghost stories. This particular illusion makes you believe you are rolling uphill, but you are actually rolling downhill. Still, it is a cool thing to check out and, of course, I am sure that many in the community have fond memories of this cool illusion. As I have said, every community needs its ghost stories. It needs its stories to.make us believe that there are things that go bump in the night. read more

Fun and free optical illusion with a spooky (for kids) story to go with it. This is one of those fun, quirky roadside attractions that's with a slight detour to see especially if you're visiting nearby Bok Tower already. read more

On Halloween I thought it would be fun to review this eccentric attraction I recently visited. Spook Hill is located on 5th Street Lake Wales which lies on the Lake Wales Ridge, an ancient range of sand and limestones hill that used to be islands 2 to 3 million years ago when the sea level was much higher. The hill creates an optical illusion. You pull up to the white line and put your car in neutral, as you roll backwards to appears that you are rolling up the hill. Apparently some people find this terrifying. LOL There are a few legends to explain this phenomenon. One story has it that it is the ghost of a Native American chief Culcowellax who was protecting his village and engaged in a huge battle with an alligator. The battle was so intense that it created Lake Ticowa. The chief emerged victorious and when he died the tribe buried him on the north side of the lake. The tribe later lost their land to settlers. The ghost that causes the cars to move up the hill is either the gator trying to enact his revenge or the chief still trying to protect his land. Another story claims it is the ghost of a pirate moving the cars off the chest of his dead pirate friend that is buried at the foot of the hill. Yet another theory is that there is something underground acting as a magnet drawing the cars up the hill. Spook Hill is quick and it's free and if you are in the area you are obligated to do it once just so you can say you have been there. If you are visiting Bok Towers, Spook Hill is only about a mile away. Next to the hill is the Spook Hill Elementary School whose mascot is a ghost. Too cute! Everyone needs to do this old fashioned Florida attraction at least once. read more

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Seriously?! I get it it's a tourist trap but this is the dumbest. You drive up to a hill and when in neutral, your car rolls backwards.... No kidding, you're on a hill. What did you think would happen? They say it's an optical illusion, I don't know how. You can see the hill and feel yourself driving up an incline on approach. I don't get it. Skip this when passing through. It's dumb. read more

Found out about this place while visiting Bok Tower nearby. Apparently, it is one of the many "gravity hills" that have become part of the roadside Americana culture. I have been to a few and some of them do have weird things that happen or weird feelings (one in Indiana actually caused the gauges in my car to go haywire and static on the radio and another in California actually made me dizzy), others are basically a waste of time. This is kind of between the two types. In order for the "optical illusion" to work, you bring your car up to the white line marked on the road, put the car in neutral and let it roll back. There's no funky magnetic weirdness happening and I didn't get any odd heebeejeebees, but if you stand at the bottom w/the right angle of view, it looks like the car is kinda going up vs rolling down. That's it. There's a whole "legend" that's on the sign marker and if this is your cup of tea or you are mildly curious, than by all means, follow your GPS here (it is actually easier to find it via the elementary school directions) and have a go, but other than that, not worth making it a "destination". read more

We came here after going to Orlando for the day. We read the history behind the hill and the stories and tales. We decided to check it out to see if the stories were true. When you read about Spook Hill, the tale says that your car when at the start of a while line will when in neutral will roll uphill. We thought that would be awesome to experience. We arrived at Spook Hill at approximately 11 pm. Right in the middle of the creepiest time to come. Needless to say we heard weird noises and other sense, hair raising things. We moved the car to the white line. We then put the car in neutral and experienced the full effect of rolling backwards. From the white line you roll downhill as the actual hill is formed. If you look at the hill from far away it has an effect that you're rolling uphill. Overall, it's an legend, it was free and it took up 15 minutes of time. I wouldn't do it again but the experience was cool. read more

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According to local legend an Native American chief and giant alligator got into a fight. The leader won, but the fight created a huge depression. Then in the late 1880s cowboys had wagons that their horses struggled to pull. Fast forward to today. Spook Hill is located near the Bok Tower. Take the obligatory picture in front of the sign and follow the instructions. Drive up to the white line and place your car in neutral. Unfortunately, our connection to the spirit world was off and our car did nothing. The local elementary has joined in on the fun and its mascot is Casper the friendly ghost. Tip: don't use Google maps; it doesn't take you to the right location. Plug in the address on Waze and it will take you there. read more

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Children would be fascinated, as I was 40 years ago. Adults tend to put too much thought into this, which takes the fun out of it!

If your in Lake Wales you should check it out. Maybe not worth an hour drive to see it.

Everyone has heard of these before. You pull up, you put your car in neutral and you're either "Pushed" forward, or you Roll Up hill.. So we followed the instructions and did just that. With the car in neutral, the car began to roll backward, it picked up speed from 0 to 7 MPH, and we rolled "UP' hill backwards. This being a gravity hill, it appears we rolled UP hill, but we, in reality were rolling down hill, according to the grade of the road, but the video I took says otherwise. It was fun, no mater WHAT happened. Try this for yourself if you're in the area. read more

Spook Hill - We picked up speed in neutral going backward UP HILL - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Lake Wales, Florida

If, and only if, you are in Lake Wales or very close (such as visiting Legoland), then definitely check this place out. However, if you are in Orlando or West Palm Beach, do not drive here with the only goal of experiencing this phenomenon (unless you are really bored). Simply put, this is a fun and interesting off-beat experience that is 100% FREE. So, you, in essence, are pretty much getting your moneys worth with this excursion. The Yelp directions via the iPhone app are spot on and Spook Hill is just East of the Spook Hill Elementary School. If there are other cars there -- WAIT YOUR TURN. Read the cute sign, drive slowly to the white line in the road, stop, put your car in neutral and BE CAREFUL looking backwards as your car mysteriously rolls uphill and you try to keep your car in the middle of the road and not crash into another dumb tourist. I did this about four or five times and it was definitely interesting and entertaining, but I was just passing by on my way via a side trip to Orlando and I did not make a vacation out of visiting this destination. read more

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Spook Hill in Lake Wales has been touted as a GRAVITY DEFYING tourist attraction where you park your car in neutral and your CAR ROLLS UPHILL. There are signs throughout the city directing you to Spook Hill. There's a big black & white sign in the northbound direction North Wales Drive near the Spook Hill Elementary School that you can't miss (see photo) explaining the Legend of Spook Hill and instructions reading: STOP CAR ON WHITE LINE, PLACE IN NEUTRAL, AND LET IT ROLL BACK. I pulled my car up to the white line located on a slight upgrade at the bottom of the hill, put it in neutral, and let it roll backwards. Well, duh!! The car rolls backwards on the downgrade gaining a very tiny bit of momentum to roll up a very short distance on an upgrade to a stop, for no more than 100 feet total from the white line to about the large tree on the right side of the street. I repeated the process a few more times stopping my car over the white line with a similar outcome. I would have thought my car would roll further uphill than that! BS! BS! Overall, I was a bit disappointed, but I made the trek to Lake Wales to check out the buzz. Well, that's my 90 minute side trip to this "over-hyped" attraction between Tampa and Orlando, via SR 60 & US Hwy 27. I can now say to my friends that "I've been to Spook Hill." (Sigh) NOTE: Spook Hill (North Wales Dr) has a one way traffic pattern northbound from the Spook Hill Elementary School to Burns Ave. Watch out for other cars behind you. read more

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Cute location and story, but the car rolled down the hill as expected. Its not supernatural.

Waste of time. We were driving from Tampa to orlando and made the way here, and there's a sign (the photos here in Yelp show you) about a little history & what to do in your car... but the actual hill didn't do anything it states. No feeling or mirage or optical illusion. Bummed. read more

It didn't work like advertised, but this definitely the best thing to in lake whales!

Driving east to west and back and forth on State Road 60, I've had the opportunity to drive through Lake Wales, Florida, on occasion. When doing so, I've frequently stopped at Spook Hill, a popular gravity hill located on a significant range of sand and limestone hills. When parked in neutral "on the white line," your car will appear to "roll up" the spooky hill while actually moving in reverse. More about the story than the actual experience, my kids and their friends enjoy it. Not something I would drive out of my way to visit, Spook Hills is a fun 30 or so minute distraction while driving through Lake Wales. An off-beat and fun attraction, it's free, you can take a few photos, and the kids will talk about it for hours. I often find myself riding the white line 3 or 4 times for the benefit of the kids. Spook Hill is located directly across the street from Spook Hill Elementary School, which conveniently adopted "Casper the Friendly Ghost" as their school mascot. In this day and age of "political correctness," I'm surprised no one has forced a name change of this attraction. /s/ William E. Lewis Jr. Vero Beach, Florida read more

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Spook Hill. Nothing happened. My dad said something happened back in the 40's when he went as a kid. Maybe the cars are different now...?? They neighborhood next door is pretty spooky though read more

Spook Hill - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Lake Wales, Florida

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Gravity arising as an emergent phenomenon from the thermodynamic concept of entropy, something fun that proves Newton and Einstein had a fairly clear understanding of how things work, although I don't know if the FDOT planned this or if it was a freak act of genius. read more

Spook Hill - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Lake Wales, Florida

Figured we would check this out after dinner since it was free and a co-worked had raved about it. It was okay, I can't complain since it didn't cost anything and was only five minutes from where we ate. I'm glad we went, we can now check it off the list, I thought it would be a more than it was though! Interesting optical illusion nonetheless! read more

Spook Hill is some pretty famous local flavor in the Lake Wales area. The hill is adjacent to an elementary school, also named Spook Hill, and is famous because it is a gravity hill. A gravity hill is a place where the layout of the land creates an optical illusion and cars placed in neutral appear to roll up a hill. When you appear at the site there is a sign with some honky story and then instructions to explain how to make the hill work. A white line is painted on the ground. You pull up to that white line, put your car in neutral and take your foot off the break. The car will then roll back down the hill but gives the illusion of rolling up to anyone watching from behind. To best experience Spook Hill you need to watch another car do it (or go with a friend and take turns so that each of you can see exactly what is occurring). When you are in your own car trying to witness the phenomenon it is much more difficult. read more

Nothing spooky here. You put your car in neutral at the bottom of a hill and surprise...your cars goes backwards slowly. Nothing supernatural, nothing spectacular. Lame. That's all there is to it. read more

Don't go with a bunch of cynical children like I dId. If that mythical alligator would have smacked the iPhone out of their little hands they would have enjoyed the optical illusion, but he did not and they did not. read more

A few short miles from Bok Tower Gardens is one of Old Florida's quaint points of interest. I have read about it in various books and online, and included the stop while in central Florida visiting some of the classic stops. I followed the signs and located Spook Hill. Following the instructions of putting the car in neutral at the white line on the street. It appeared the car was rolling backwards instead of forwards as described. Maybe my eyes were locked on the wrong thing, or that Spook Hill Elementary was on the left hand side and obstructed the horizon as it used to be but I did not experience what many claimed. However I did enjoy participating something that was widely attempted many decades in the past by road trip motorists. I recommend it if you are already in the area. Would not if you have to travel a significant distance. read more

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I visited Spook Hill with my grandparents during my childhood - and I remembered being really impressed with it as a kid. Since my fiancé and I were in the area (visiting Bok Tower), we decided to take a small detour to have our car mysteriously roll backwards down the hill. There aren't any bells and whistles to this "Old Florida" attraction, but that's okay, because it's free and you don't even get out of your car. Essentially you drive up to a sign, read the history and directions, advance to a white line on the road, put your car in neutral and then roll on back. A few things to note (aka learn from our mistakes) - try not to go around the time that school starts or ends, Spook Hill Elementary (who appears to have Casper as their mascot, so cute!!) is right next to Spook Hill itself. We got caught in a school zone and had to deal with parent pick up traffic. Also - be super aware of your surroundings from a traffic standpoint. The locals drive up and down Spook Hill as part of their commute - so there were cars zipping around us as we were rolling backwards. read more

It didn't work! Maybe a Prius C is too light to tap into the magnetic fields of spookiness, but we tried to figure out the gravity effect about five times. Each time our car just rolled backward. read more

Just a fun old Florida town that's very cute and quite. In the spring and late fall the entire town smells of orange blossoms. It is a real special place. Downtown Lake Wales is very close to Spoke Hill with a few restaurants and hair salons. It feels like a old Florida citrus town with a lot of history. Still today orange juices is made in lake Wales. read more

This place is great .....if you want to laugh yourself silly. Before headed in towards the hill head just south and park in the little parking facing the hill and wait. To notice all the gullible folks who try this over and over again ....some ppl come back around and do it again it's hysterical. We sat there for at least 20 minutes and watched everybody try this and fail miserably . The sign will tell you plain as,day roll back .....not foward! If you reading this and try it it was fun to watch you prove gravity still works read more

Spook Hill - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Lake Wales, Florida

People need to stop hating on Spook Hill. It is amazing. After driving two hours from Orlando and through areas of the beautiful, rolling Central Florida countryside, dotted with trailer parks and meth labs, as well as the cultural experience of getting gas at stations run by people with missing teeth, you are heavily rewarded by this attraction made popular during a time when people still bought snake oil. Stop on the white line, put your car in neutral, and wait for the fun to begin. Seriously, this is a great thing to do on a Friday night when you're over the bar scene but are, for some mysterious reason, still drunk. read more

This is an excellent place to visit if you have children or have an interest in how the mind perceives things. It is free, it is a real gravity hill, it is part of quirky Florida history and it makes a good road trip. The trees, curb, and hill give the impression that you are rolling backward. I had the feeling from the vehicle. The same time I had this sensation, my wife who was outside of the car said I was just rolling down a hill. We had a lively discussion about which side of the sign to start on. She then tried it on her own and she said that she felt the pulling. If I stood too far off the side of the road it seemed as if the car was just rolling down hill, but if I stood in the middle the car appeared to be rolling up hill. Go with an open mind, don't have high expectations, and enjoy the trip. read more

Don't go out of your way to go here... but if you're already in the Lake Wales area, it's definitely worth a visit. The sign alone is hilarious. And the people-watching is even better. Stick around for a while on a Saturday or Sunday to watch the cars cruise in. When we arrived this Saturday, there was a pack of bikers by the sign, probably there to laugh at people like us. We cruised around for a bit, watched a couple of other cars try it out, then tried it for ourselves. I don't think my boyfriend actually put the car in neutral. We rolled up the hill... but I think the car was still in drive! Or maybe the gator possessed our car. Who knows? Who cares? At least it was free! read more