There are certain specific locations throughout this nation were the laws of physics just do not seem to apply. Places where water flows skyward and people can actually walk up walls. So, what does one do if they discover a site of such anomalism activity? You charge admission of course! The American Mystery Spot is a time-honored classic amongst roadside tourist traps. With wild claims of antigravity vortexes and dizzying sensations, how could these places fail to entice the curious? Are they all merely off-kilter rooms designed by highway huckster to disorient the equilibrium of the hapless tourist with optical illusions? Or are there really places in America that belay all that science has taught us about the way the universe operates? We can’t really say for sure, but we’re always willing to take a walk up a wall and amble across any ceiling to find out for ourselves.
Located in the redwood forests outside of Santa Cruz, California is an area that has defied the laws of gravity and physics for over 60 years.
The Mystery Spot was discovered in 1939 and quickly opened to the public as a tourist attraction in 1940. It was brought to national attention when a Life Magazine feature in 1948 showed a couple standing inside a cabin on the property demonstrating how the Mystery Spot makes people seem shorter or taller than they actually are. The cabin’s doors, walls and floors all slant in different directions.
As you enter the area, the feeling that you are leaning towards the southwest becomes more acute the closer you get to the center. Even the trees in the area all lean towards the south.
Thousands of people every year have visited this unusual phenomenon, which makes one lose all sense of perspective, velocity and gravity. Compasses spin wildly and some visitors feel queasy and disoriented.
Some claim that magnetic fields are at work at the site that throw off one’s natural equilibrium, making it impossible to stand erect. Theories trying to explain the Mystery Spot abound--from carbon dioxide seeping out of the ground and intoxicating people to secret metals buried beneath the spot by aliens as guidance points by which to navigate their spacecrafts.
The Mystery Spot is located at 1953 Branciforte Drive in Santa Cruz.
The Mystery Spot of St. Ignace, Michigan really lives up to its name. Water flows uphill, chairs balance mysteriously on two legs, and visitors often complain of feeling dizzy or nauseous. This only occurs on a 300-foot parcel of land, which is owned by Dan McCarthy.
Since 1955, tours have been given of the baffling, mind bending Mystery Spot. It’s open from May to October, and is located on Highway 2 West.
Gold Hill, Oregon is home to a quite unusual site, known far and wide as the Oregon Vortex. Promoters of this unusual area claim that the laws of nature mysteriously do not apply within a 165-foot circle on the property, which is located on Sardine Creek Road.
Balls roll uphill, and trees growing in the area feature oddly distorted and curved limbs. Eerily, birds avoid flying above the area.
The Oregon Vortex is a tourist attraction and all are invited to test its mystical properties for themselves.
In 1948, a man built a cabin in a secluded wooded section of Wisconsin Dells. He soon abandoned it, claiming that a mysterious force rendered him unable to walk straight or see correctly while inside. To this day people visit this so-called wonder spot, and most say they are affected by the same strange powers. Water flows upward and objects balance at seemingly impossible angles.
The Wonder Spot is open to the public from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM for a small admission fee. It is off of Highway 12, near the R Place Restaurant.
Somewhere around 1972 the Mystery Hole of West Virginia opened its doors to the general public, and according to the folks at the Hole, it holds the best kept secret in the USA. Though nobody seems to know why. The truth is even their own web page adds to the questions about this place! It states:
“WARNING! Once you take this ten-minute journey you may not be able to contain yourself in the usual manner or refrain from making comments such as, ‘IT MADE MY DAY!’ – ‘I JUST LOVE IT’ - "or ‘IT STOPPED MY HEADACHE.’ One lady said it changed her husband from an old grouch to a nice sweet person, and some have even complained that the admission price is too low and insisted on giving a tip. The one thing they all agree on is ‘It's Different.’ Someone once said that just the thought of seeing the MYSTERY HOLE often caused them to feel strange and hyperactive! This may be the power of perception sending them a signal that it's time to see the MYSTERY HOLE. If at this point your heart is picking up tempo and you feel an urge to explore something very interesting and different, just drop everything right where you are, load up the family, friends, and enemies and go for it! You'll see, feel, and hear some of the most unusual things as you coast along on this short, sweet, almost free, ten-minute trip that will intrigue you all the rest of your life.
This rare treasure of a pleasure spot is open only during the summer season and is truly the alpha and omega of MYSTERY HOLES in these beautiful West Virginia hills, often referred to as ‘ALMOST HEAVEN.’ The hole is located parallel to US Route 60 one mile west of ‘HAWKS NEST’ State Park. About half way between Honey Creek and Turkey Creek near the east end of a series of snake curves. It is sandwiched between an old ARMY type Quonset hut and a dark, lonely void where only vacuum dares to tread.
This may be the last and final attempt to make plain this hard to explain MYSTERY HOLE, where the Law of Gravity seems to have gone berserk and left so many people puzzled and bewildered. Now that you've read and digested this story I believe you understand what you think I've said, but I am not quite sure you realize that what you've read is not what I meant.
The rest of this story is still classed as secret and may never be told. Everyone needs to experience the MYSTERY HOLE for themselves because, ‘Seeing is Believing!’”
So what is it? We’re not sure, but if you’re riding through West Virginia and enjoying the great roads in that state, stop by the Mystery Hole and tell us what you think.
–Dr. Seymour O’Life
Mike’s Mystery House follows the classic template of the other great American Mystery Spots, an enduring roadside classic. The area strangely defies gravity. Visitors are encouraged to walk up walls and perform other seemingly impossible feats.
To defy gravity for yourself, head to Cave City. Mike’s place is at 566 Old Mammoth Cave Road.
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