Mystery Hole is located in
Ansted, West Virginia
Ansted is a town in Fayette County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The population was 1,404 at the 2010 census. It is situated on high bluffs along U.S. Route 60 on a portion of the Midland Trail a National Scenic Byway near Hawks Nest over ...
, near
Hawks Nest State Park
Hawks Nest State Park is located on in Fayette County near Ansted, West Virginia. The park's clifftop overlook along U.S. Route 60 provides a scenic vista of the New River, some 750 feet (230 m) below. The hydro-electric project tunnel that ...
and Cathedral Falls in
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
. Mystery Hole was founded by Donald Wilson in 1973.
Mystery Hole, immediately adjacent to the
Midland Trail
The Midland Trail, also called the Roosevelt Midland Trail, was a national auto trail spanning the United States from Washington, D.C. west to Los Angeles, California and San Francisco, California ('' though the Lincoln Highway guide published i ...
(
U.S. Route 60) in
Fayette County advertises itself as a
gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
-defying wonder. It is reminiscent of
tourist trap
A tourist trap is an establishment (or group of establishments) that has been created or re-purposed with the aim of attracting tourists and their money. Tourist traps will typically provide overpriced services, entertainment, food, souvenir ...
s of days gone by. It includes side show-esque attractions such as balls that roll up hill. There is also a
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...
, chopped in half, seemingly crashed into the side
Soon after founder Donald Wilson closed the attraction in 1996, he died and Mystery Hole was neglected and damaged by vandals. It has since reopened under new ownership and has been restored to its original kitschy glory.
[Shenk, E. (2018). Atlas Obscura. Retrieved from https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mystery-hole]
See also
*
Gravity hill
A gravity hill, also known as a magnetic hill, mystery hill, mystery spot, gravity road, or anti-gravity hill, is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces an optical illusion, making a slight downhill slope appear to be an uphi ...
References
External links
Mystery Hole website
Buildings and structures in Fayette County, West Virginia
Gravity hills
Roadside attractions in West Virginia
Tourist attractions in Fayette County, West Virginia
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