Gravity Hill in Numidia, Pennsylvania

The name of the town invokes mysticism, magic and mystery. The fact that only roughly 250 people live in this tiny village certainly doesn’t hurt the mystery. That makes the tiny town of Numidia pretty easy to miss.

There are a couple of reasons to visit this sleepy town. In fact if you’re a racing lover, this place will appeal to you even more. One of the biggest attractions Numidia is known for is its drag strip. Thousands of spectators flock every year to the Numidia Dragstrip to watch rocket fueled cars race down the ¼ mile speedway.

Yet there’s another spot in this mountain village that not many know about, but those that do get to test their own cars out on this magical spot. Instead of diving as fast as you can down a straightaway, here you do almost the exact opposite. With little help from you other than a gear shift, you can drive your car backwards up a hill, while in neutral on the rural road known as Gravity Hill. Locals have been challenging each other for years to defy gravity. Placing your car in neutral on the right spot gives the illusion that your car is rolling uphill on its own. There are numerous of these gravity hills located throughout the world. Most claim that there are magnetic pulls or supernatural powers at work. That’s why you’re able to defy gravity. The fact that this gravity hill is quite rural, yet easily found helps it to stand out above some others. It’s also mainly only known to the locals, and is not used to attract tourists, and being in a town called Numidia, well, that’s just pure magic.

Video ride on Gravity Hill

Gravity Hill Lewisberry, Pennsylvania

In the small town of Lewisberry, Pennsylvania lies a strange road that most of the locals know about. Pleasant View road or ghost hill, as it's commonly referred to, is what is known as a gravity hill. There are lots of these hills around the world, including one in Bedford county, Pennsylvania that the county uses to attract tourists. The county of York doesn't advertise theirs, nor do they encourage the tourist traffic there.

If you never experienced a gravity road, or have never heard of one let us explain. On a gravity hill, you put your car into neutral and it rolls back UP the hill. Bottles, balls, or empty cans will appear to roll uphill. It seems impossible. It seems to break all laws of gravity. There is no real explanation for this phenomenon, other than that it is an optical illusion. Since I am not a surveyor, I'm not positive of this, but it certainly seems to be the most likely explanation.

As with most of these places there are tales of ghosts and the supernatural at work. The most often told tale associated with this mysterious spot involves the local football team. The story states that in the 1970's the local high school football team lost the brakes on their bus. The bus continued to roll through the intersection, and ran over the adjacent hill top. There were no survivors. To prevent this from happening again, the deceased football players push your car back up the hill so you don't meet the same fate as they did. It's said that if you put a a white powder or flour on the hood of your vehicle you'll see hand prints. Outta the Way has tried this and all we noticed was a mess. But until the day we can hire a surveyor, we're gonna continue to believe it's the lineman of the local football team pushing us back, push 'em back, waaayyy baaacckk!!
More local Outta the Way places

Gravity Road: Bedford County Pennsylvania

Looking for a place to defy gravity? Located on the back roads of New Paris, Pennsylvania lies one such spot. On Gravity Hill Road you can watch balls, bottles and liquids roll uphill. If you’re brave enough, you can put your car in neutral and roll right up the hill with it.

Gravity hills are located throughout the world. They are located in Barbados, Scotland, Portugal and Korea, as well as hundreds of other locations. >Though most don’t advertise theirs as a tourist stop as much as the County of Bedford. The Visitors Bureau offers maps, t-shirts, bumper stickers and even hats advertising the location.

The apparent finding of this particular spot seems pretty likely.Shortly after World War II, the local postman put his automobile in neutral while he sorted the daily mail. What an amazing surprise he got when he then realized he rolled up the hill.

So how is all this possible? Is it a magnetic pull, an optical illusion, a lack of gravity or spirits pushing you back? We think we know the answer but suggest that you just give a visit and decide for yourself.

More on Gravity Road and other nearby Outta the Way spots

Magnet Hills & Gravity Hills

Gravity: We can all comprehend it; even the youngest child rolling a ball understands it. But what if I told you there were places on Earth where these laws of gravity no longer existed. What if you could watch a ball roll uphill, or even see liquid slowly move in the opposite direction! What if I said you could put your car in neutral and accelerate back up a hill without the help of the engine? Would you call me crazy? A few who know me very well may, but not for these reasons. Truth is these places exist all over the world!

Commonly they are referred to as gravity hills, magnet hills, or mystery spots. A few are even popular tourist destinations, but most are found in rural locations and are really only known by the locals. With these mysterious spots are also lots of legends, usually referring to paranormal or supernatural powers at work. Many tales involve friendly spirits actually guiding your car away from a danger that awaits. Others believe these places have a strange magnetic field, which attributes to the attraction of more spirits, but also has a strange magnetic pull on your vehicle. The most common and most sensible theory on gravity hills is that they're simply an optical illusion. The land layout and the surrounding landscapes actually fool your eye into believing that gravity is actually being defied and objects are rolling uphill.

I'm guessing Isaac Newton isn't going to be rolling in his grave anytime soon. But you can be assured that Outta the Way will keep looking for these mysterious places and will still enjoy them with utter amazement. Will also keep our theory to ourselves that it's really Newton's spirit just playing a cruel joke on all of us!

Gravity Hill Video Click Here!

Bedford County, Pennsylvania

In the April zine of Outta the Way we take you for a ride on the lost highway. An abandoned stretch of turnpike complete with tunnels. You'll be daring each other to pass through these dark hollow monsters. We'll also travel on a road where the laws of gravity no longer seem to apply. Soon you'll be rolling bottles, cans, balls, and even your car uphill. And finally we'll point you to some odd roadside attractions, including a giant coffee pot, and an old abandoned amusement park nestled in a wooded area adding a very creepy feel to a child's storybook imagination. So get outta the way, we're going Outta the Way.