← THE REGISTER / CENTRAL FLORIDA / POLK COUNTY
Spook Hill
Lake Wales, Polk County
GEOLOGICAL ANOMALY
7STRANGENESS
OUT OF TEN
OUT OF TEN
WHAT IT IS
Stop at the white line, shift to neutral, and the car rolls backwards up the slope.
It is a gravity hill: the surrounding terrain hides the true horizon, so a gentle downgrade reads as uphill. The state marker explains the illusion. The other marker, twenty feet away, explains that a Seminole chief once fought an enormous alligator here and left a depression in the earth. Both signs are official. The elementary school across the street is named after the ghost.
HOW IT SCORES
Rarity7/10
Is there anywhere else like it?
Backstory9/10
How did this come to be?
Disrepair3/10
What is holding it together?
Commitment8/10
How far do they take the bit?
NEARBY
BEFORE YOU DRIVE
- ENTRY FEE
- Free
- HOURS
- Daylight
- BEST TIME
- Midday, so you can see the white line clearly.
- HOW LONG
- 15 minutes
- PARKING
- Residential street, be polite
- PAYMENT
- n/a
- ACCESS
- Stay in the car
COORDINATES
27.9057° N, 81.5852° W
North Wales Drive at 5th Street. Follow the signs from Scenic Highway.
OPEN IN MAPS →DETAILS COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED SOURCES. FEES CHANGE. CALL AHEAD.