Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Midas Tümülüsü (Tumulus MM)
The Devil's Column
Weightlifting Hall of Fame
The khao soi at Gedhawa comes with a rich, coconutty broth.
Gedhawa
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The khao soi at Gedhawa comes with a rich, coconutty broth.
Gedhawa
At Nai Mong Hoi Thod, the oyster omelet is worth waiting for.
Nai Mong Hoi Thod
In this deceptively simple dish, top-quality ingredients are paramount.
Kor Panich
Customize your bowl with sliced pork, pork balls, fish cake, and offal.
Rung Rueang
Pasties are an Upper Michigan tradition dating back to mining days.
Lehto’s Pasties
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
For Aguilar-Carrasco, nature is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of all life.
How Can National Parks Be Made Accessible to All? AO Wants to Know.
2 days ago
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville
3 days ago
Here’s which treats you can safely lug home without risking a fine.
Dear Atlas: What International Food Can I Legally Bring Into the U.S.?
4 days ago
Cely’s map is not only accurate, but captures the unique characteristics of Congaree’s trees and waterways.
How One Biologist Drew a Hyper-Accurate, Ranger-Approved Map of Congaree National Park
6 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States West Virginia Ansted Mystery Hole
AO Edited

Mystery Hole

The "mysteries" of this quintessential roadside oddity were almost destroyed by neglect but were saved by fans of kitschy wonder.

Ansted, West Virginia

Added By
Ellen Shenk
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Mystery Hole   Katherine Bowman/CC BY 2.0
Mystery Hole   Katherine Bowman/CC BY 2.0
Mystery Hole   xemmybearx/CC BY 2.0
The unbelievable mystery hole sign   jlb6394 / Atlas Obscura User
  AmyUrbs / Atlas Obscura User
The gorilla-guarded entrance to the Mystery Hole   Collin / Atlas Obscura User
  AmyUrbs / Atlas Obscura User
  Dangmustangg / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  sburke4444 / Atlas Obscura User
  sburke4444 / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

While the heyday of zany roadside wonders designed to lure in smiling families on their yearly road trip is long since passed, West Virginia's delightfully named Mystery Hole continues to endure thanks to the efforts of its wonder-minded owners.

The Mystery Hole attraction was opened in 1973 when original owner Donald Wilson discovered what he claimed was an underground area where the laws of gravity acted more like suggestions. Like many mystery houses of the time that once dotted the American roadways, this odd gravimetric behavior manifested in rooms where people seemed to stand at a distinct slant, balls and even water that seemed to roll uphill, and furniture balanced on impossibly precarious points. While these illusions were located in a basement area (where he could level the land in the strange ways that created his illusions), above ground he built a zany-looking gift shop that was painted in eye-catching carnival colors and which was decorated by kitschy wonders like a sawed-off Volkswagen Beetle that seemed to be crashing into the structure and a big gorilla statue looming over the front door.

Wilson's attraction did fine business during its first decade or so until the road trip culture began to decline, eventually leading to the closure of the Mystery Hole in 1996. Wilson passed not long after, and it seemed that the Mystery Hole would simply be left to vandals and the ravages of time. However, the attraction was eventually taken over by Will and Sandra Morrison who took to sprucing the place up.

Today the Morrisons still operate the Mystery Hole just as it was in the 1970s with the gravity illusions and carnival atmosphere intact. While the simple tricks and goofy scares of the Mystery Hole might seem hackneyed among today's sophisticated technological wonders, the site is a monument to the simple entertainments of a bygone America that have never really lost their charm.

Related Tags

Roadside Attractions Mystery Spots And Gravity Hills Kitsch

Know Before You Go

Check the website for hours and other admission information.

Community Contributors

Added By

ellenshenk

Edited By

Kevin OKeeffe, Collin, MichaelG, EricGrundhauser...

  • Kevin OKeeffe
  • Collin
  • MichaelG
  • EricGrundhauser
  • AmyUrbs
  • Collector of Experiences
  • jlb6394
  • sburke4444
  • Dangmustangg
  • Michelle Cassidy

Published

November 12, 2014

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://cranky-bastard.blogspot.com/2006/11/probing-mystery-hole.html
  • http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/10971
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Hole
Mystery Hole
16724 Midland Trail
Ansted, West Virginia, 25812
United States
38.12399, -81.141112
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Cathedral Falls

Gauley Bridge, West Virginia

miles away

New River Gorge Bridge

Fayetteville, West Virginia

miles away

Bridge Walk

Lansing, West Virginia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of West Virginia

West Virginia

United States

Places 106
Stories 10

Nearby Places

Cathedral Falls

Gauley Bridge, West Virginia

miles away

New River Gorge Bridge

Fayetteville, West Virginia

miles away

Bridge Walk

Lansing, West Virginia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of West Virginia

West Virginia

United States

Places 106
Stories 10

Related Places

  • Connie’s Photo Park.

    Madrid, New Mexico

    Connie's Photo Park

    A little slice of Florida face-in-a-hole kitsch, unexpectedly located in a small New Mexico town.

  • Brooklyn, New York

    Turk's Inn

    A Wisconsin kitsch palace from the 1930s lives its second life in 21st-century Brooklyn.

  • Yermo, California

    Peggy Sue's 50's Diner & Diner-Saur Park

    Like a kitschy mirage in the Mojave, this eatery serves up classic 50s-style diner meals and a dinosaur sculpture garden.

  • The “hill.”

    Karpacz, Poland

    Karpacz's Gravitational Anomaly

    On this Polish road, an optical illusion makes cars seem to roll uphill.

  • Cool mural on the building

    Cave City, Kentucky

    Mammoth Cave Wildlife Museum

    Amazing taxidermy dioramas from the 1960s in a cement building meant to look like an ice cave.

  • The gravity hill.

    Comuna Budești, Romania

    Cavnic Gravity Hill

    A spooky spot along the road where things mysteriously seem to move uphill by themselves.

  • One of the many gruesome dioramas.

    London, England

    The London Dungeon

    One part local history, 99 parts gruesome haunted house.

  • Model A and historic 66 signs

    Kingman, Arizona

    Hackberry General Store

    Don't blink or you'll miss it.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.