Spook Hill

In far western Maryland lies the town of Burkittsville, home to fewer than 150 people. To some, it’s famous as the town where The Blair Witch Project takes place. To others, it’s known for a more enduring, but equally eerie fact: there is a place in town where your car will roll uphill.

Known as Spook Hill, the gravity-defying hill has been delighting and flummoxing locals and visitors alike for decades. No one can agree what’s behind this strange phenomenon. Is it magnets? Is it an optical illusion? Some say the answer is more paranormal; legend has it that the cars are being pushed by the ghosts of soldiers who died at a Civil War battle in Burkittsville. It’s not your car they think they’re pushing, but their cannon. As the story goes, if you try this at midnight, not only will the soldiers push your car uphill, but you’ll hear their footsteps as they do it.