Magnetic Hill is a Gravity Hill in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada where our senses are tricked in believing the road is on a decline when it is actually going up. The optical illusion is created by the rolling terrain.
In 1931, people noticed motorists had to accelerate at the base of the road to prevent rolling backward and nicknamed it Fools Hill. In 1933 a group of St Johns newspaper reporters brought out scientific equipment to investigate the mystery and that drew in additional tourists to the area. A local woman, Muriel Lutes named the site Magnetic Hill and started selling ice cream and souvenirs to the visitors. By the 1950’s, Magnetic Hill was the third most popular tourist destination in Canada after Niagara Falls and Banff National Park. It’s still very popular today.
These Gravity Hill roads exist in a lot of areas and in my opinion this is one of best ones. The photos don’t do justice to the optical illusion you see while you’re in a car. It costs $6 to drive on the road. There is a zoo, shops, restaurants and water park at the Magnetic Hill site.
Sounds like fun…what I used to love were those steep hills in rural areas where you get to the too and seem to fly over the top. Like a roller coaster, except I hate roller coasters…
It is really fun. What really impressed me was a small road like that was the third most popular tourist destination in all of Canada in the 1950’s. Just shows how important the family road trip has been.