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Recently your humble blogger picked up a copy of the wondrously offbeat Weird California (left), a “travel guide to California’s local legends and best kept secrets.” Written by folklorist triumvirate Greg Bishop, Joe Oesterle and Mike Marinacci, the 2006 book devotes several pages to so-called “Gravity Hills” throughout the Golden State, including one in nearby Altadena.
So what exactly are these mystery spots? According to Weird California:
“Debate rages among believers and skeptics about the phenomenon of ‘gravity hills’ — where cars placed in neutral seemingly roll up the slope… Locals and visitors pepper the locations with stories of tragedy that just ratchet the weirdness up a few notches.”
In this case the tale involves an old Indian from a bygone era killed while rushing his carriage headlong down the hill to the bridge. Now his spirit remains, intent upon “pulling back” modern drivers from a similar fate.
Truth or Nonsense?
Altadena Gravity Spot. Photo: M. Imlay
Ever the skeptic and having a little time to kill, your humble blogger decided to check into this stretch of anti-grav highway (left) in the vicinity of East Loma Alta Drive and Rubio Canyon. Thankfully, Weird California supplied precise instructions:
“Exit Lake Avenue north from Route 134. Right at East Altadena Drive, left on Porter, then uphill to East Loma Alta Drive and go left again. After a couple of dips…a flood-control spillway appears on the left. Stop in front of the first house at the right.”
Which I did, placing my Jeep TJ in neutral. The vehicle didn’t roll back up the hill, but it did remain at a standstill on the downward slope, apparently challenging gravity. After several tries in different places the Jeep finally inched ever so slowly backward against the incline. I was able to repeat this phenomenon a total of four times.
Creepy.
Parking the Jeep, I took a few tennis balls and placed them on several points along the roadbed (being careful to wait for lulls in traffic, of course). Like the Jeep, six out of 10 times the balls stayed in place. Twice they slowly rolled several inches “uphill” and twice they quickly rolled sideways into the curve’s steep bank toward the opposite shoulder and dam spillway.
Breaking the Laws of Physics?
Personally, your humble blogger thinks it’s all an optical illusion. While driving the road it feels like you’re on a consistent downward sweep. However, examining the roadway from the opposite shoulder tells a different story. While the overall course does flow downhill, small portions veer, level and slope in varying, almost imperceptible degrees along the way.
Hit one of these spots exactly, and your vehicle reacts perfectly naturally — halting or even rolling backwards “up hill” — even though your eyes and inner ear are insisting you should be traveling forward and downward instead.
Feel free to test this hypothesis for yourself. But be careful. The “Gravity Hill” is bounded by two blind curves, and other cars often careen out of nowhere fast.
“Magical” as this mystery spot may be, it’s powers won’t likely protect you from the tragical phenomenon of a sudden impact — legends about an old Indian’s ghostly roadside assistance notwithstanding.