Magnetic Hill-Moncton-New Brunswick-20170620

The Magnetic Hill is an example of a

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 ...

, a type of optical illusion created by rising and descending terrain. It is located at the northwestern edge (in the Magnetic Hill Area) of the city of Moncton in the Canadian province of

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. The general area is at the base of a ridge named " Lutes Mountain", which rises several hundred feet above the surrounding

Petitcodiac River The Petitcodiac River is a river in south-eastern New Brunswick, Canada. Referred to as the "chocolate river" by local tourist businesses, it is characterized by its brown mud floor and brown waters. The river has a meander length of and is lo ...

valley.

History

In the 19th century, a cart path was built from the city in the south onto the ridge. The path was subsequently expanded during the early 20th century and during the age of the automobile, ca. 1931, it was noticed that at one point near the base of the ridge when driving south, motorists were required to accelerate in order to prevent rolling backward (i.e., what appears to be uphill). The novelty became known as "Magnetic Hill" and was more-or-less an amusing local attraction for residents and visitors to try. Eventually with the rise in tourism after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, along with local highway construction which saw a "Mountain Road" bypass built further west from Magnetic Hill, the roughly 1 kilometre segment of gravel road became one of Moncton's prime tourist attractions (along with the

tidal bore Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (serv ...

on the Petitcodiac River). Magnetic Hill is now a historic property.Historic Places
of Canada. To experience Magnetic Hill today, drivers must pay up some money to drive their cars to the end of the road (which has been preserved). When a car is placed in neutral, it will begin to roll backwards, apparently uphill. Observers will also note that water in the adjacent drainage ditches also seemingly runs "uphill." Magnetic Hill is one of several Canadian icons mentioned in the Stompin' Tom Connors song "Cross Canada", later covered (as "C-A-N-A-D-A") by

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian, ( hy, Րաֆֆի, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is a Canadian singer-lyricist and author of Armenian descent born in Egypt, best known for his children's music. He developed his career as a " ...

on his ''

Bananaphone __NOTOC__ ''Bananaphone'' is a children's album released by Raffi and Michael Creber in 1994. The album is best known for its title track, which uses puns such as "It's a phone with appeal!" (a peel) and nonce words like "bananular" and "inte ...

'' album.

References

External links

{{coord, 46.136319, -64.889696, display=t, type:city Gravity hills Roadside attractions in Canada Parks in Moncton Tourist attractions in Moncton Heritage sites in New Brunswick Hills of Canada

History

See also

References

External links