Get a Little Spooked at Spook Hill in Lake Wales, Florida
Have you heard of Spook Hill in Florida? If you’re looking for weird things to do in Florida, you definitely need to stop by here. Spook Hill is located in Lake Wales, Florida, which is 60 miles east of Tampa or 55 miles southeast of Orlando.
Spook Hill is a gravity hill, meaning it’s an optical illusion where cars appear to roll up the hill. I’ve read that these gravity hills are located in many areas across America and people find out through word of mouth. Spook Hill is somewhat unique as it's officially recognized by Lake Wales and the town added a legend to make the attraction a little more interesting. The sign at Spook Hill reads:
“Ages ago an Indian town on Lake Wailes Lake was plagued with raids by a huge gator. The town’s great warrior chief and the gator were killed in a final battle that created the huge swampy depression nearby. The chief was buried on its north side. Later pioneer haulers coming from the old army trail atop the ridge above found their horses laboring here… at the foot of the ridge… and called it Spook Hill. Is it the gator seeking revenge, or the chief protecting his land?
STOP CAR ON WHITE LINE, PLACE IN NEUTRAL, AND LET IT ROLL BACK.”
make sure you take a picture with the Spook Hill sign like Miss Kuma
I’ve heard about Spook Hill for years, so one morning, I finally decided to go check it out with my corgi, Kuma. She likes to take any trip with me, so she was down to go. It was about an hour drive and very easy to find. We came upon the sign describing the legend and then proceeded to the white line as instructed.
Drive up to the white line and let your car roll back on it's own at Spook Hill
Once you drive up to the white line, you put your car in neutral and the car automatically starts moving backwards on it’s own. I did this several times and I swear each time I did it, my car moved back faster and faster. You can see the hill doing it’s thing in the video above.
It’s not the most exciting thing to do in the world, but I had a good time experiencing it with Kuma. Now I can cross that off my list of weird things to do in Florida.
Pretty cool how this gravity hill thing works
Since I was in the area, I wanted to see if there were any pet friendly restaurants nearby and found a cute little restaurant called Back Porch Restaurant in Lake Alfred, Florida. If you’re heading back towards Interstate 4, this will be a perfect location to stop by and get some lunch before hitting the road.
My cute little lunch at The Back Porch Restaurant
Back Porch Restaurant has a simple menu where you select your choice of soup, salad, sandwich and dessert. I chose the French Onion Soup, Irma Special Salad, Turkey on a Croissant and the Country Trifle with strawberries, custard, cake and cream. Everything came in a cute little picnic basket and it was all very delicious; especially for only $9.
Always happy to discover new pet friendly locations with Kuma
If you’re in the mood to do something a little different in Florida or looking for pet friendly locations, stop by these unique places in Lake Wales and Lake Alfred!
SPOOK HILL
ADDRESS: 600 N Wales Dr Lake Wales, FL 33853
THE BACK PORCH RESTAURANT
ADDRESS: 115 County Rd 557A Lake Alfred, FL 33850
HOURS: Tue - Sat: 11AM - 3PM / Sun & Mon: CLOSED