Everything OddWay knows about. Narrow it down by what you're after, or where you're going.
Stories a place tells about itself, passed down and still repeated.
Sisseton, SD
Dark red water, unusual springs and dense forest helped give Sica Hollow a long reputation as an uncanny landscape. The park's Trail of the Spirits interprets the natural setting while regional Dakota traditions and later settler stories contributed to its supernatural reputation.
Bete Grise, MI
The pale sand along Bete Grise Bay can produce a squeaking or humming sound when rubbed or disturbed under the right dry conditions. Local legend gives the phenomenon a more romantic explanation, saying the beach sings back to a woman who once called across the water for her lost lover.
Hamden, CT
The long ridge resembles a giant figure lying on its back and is tied to Indigenous traditions involving the giant spirit Hobbomock. A stone observation tower built in the 1930s stands at the end of one of the park's best-known hikes.
Smithtown, NY
Smithtown folklore claims founder Richard Smith received as much land as he could circle in a single day while riding a bull after helping return a kidnapped daughter to a Montauk leader. Historical deeds make the tale doubtful, but it remains central to the town's identity and is commemorated by both a marker and the famous Whisper the Bull statue nearby.
York Harbor, ME
A plaque on a roadside boulder marks a local story connected to the Candlemas Massacre of 1692 and a pair of abandoned snowshoes said to have warned settlers of danger. The modern marker has an added OddWay twist: accounts say it was deliberately placed on a different rock so visitors would not trespass at the actual traditional site.
West Bridgewater, MA
A boulder engraved in 1852 with a melancholy poem about solitude sits in the woods near the Bridgewater Triangle. Later stories connected the stone with death, disappearance and paranormal activity, although those claims are folklore layered onto a genuine nineteenth-century inscription.
Millburn Township, NJ
Tiny handmade doors, houses and miniature scenes appear along a wooded trail in South Mountain Reservation. The installations turn an ordinary family hike into a search for a hidden fairy village tucked into roots, trunks and rocks.
Leicester, MA
The small Friends Cemetery became infamous under the nickname Spider Gates because of its former decorative entrance and wild stories claiming it was an entrance to Hell. The cemetery itself is real, peaceful and open to respectful visitors, while the surrounding watershed property is posted against trespassing.
Adamsville, RI
Local legend claims this three-story tower was deliberately built to block a neighbor's view after a feud, earning it the name Spite Tower. Historical research indicates the much less dramatic truth: it was constructed around 1905 as a water tower supplying gravity-fed plumbing to the adjacent estate. The structure is private property but visible from the public road. Secondary source: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/77134
Wappingers Falls, NY
Spook Hill Road supposedly earned its name when moonlight reflecting from a rocky hillside created a strange glow that terrified horses traveling the old dirt road. The original landscape has changed considerably, but a 2023 Legends & Lore marker in Spook Hill Park preserves the story.
Lake Wales, FL
Stop on Spook Hill, off US 27, put the car in neutral, and it appears to roll uphill. The slope is an illusion — the surrounding land hides the true horizon, so a gentle descent reads as a climb — which has never once stopped anyone trying it with a bottle of water. A public road, so pull over sensibly and watch for traffic.
Fort Gaines, GA
Stop on Spook Hill, north of town, put the car in neutral, and it appears to roll uphill. The slope is an illusion — the surrounding land hides the true horizon, so a gentle descent reads as a climb — which has never once stopped anyone trying it with a bottle of water. A public road, so pull over sensibly and watch for traffic.
Yates County, NY
Stop on Newell Road, put the car in neutral, and it appears to roll uphill. The slope is an illusion — the surrounding land hides the true horizon, so a gentle descent reads as a climb — which has never once stopped anyone trying it with a bottle of water. A public road, so pull over sensibly and watch for traffic.
Rockland County, NY
Stop on Spook Rock Road at US 202, put the car in neutral, and it appears to roll uphill. The slope is an illusion — the surrounding land hides the true horizon, so a gentle descent reads as a climb — which has never once stopped anyone trying it with a bottle of water. A public road, so pull over sensibly and watch for traffic.
Lewes, DE
Captain James Drew, commander of HMS DeBraak when the ship sank off Delaware in 1798, is buried in the historic churchyard at St. Peter’s. Local folklore says his ghost leaves the cemetery on moonless nights searching for his lost crew. The shipwreck and Drew’s burial are historical; the wandering captain is the legend.
Farmer, SD
A remarkable complex of stone shrines, towers and religious structures was built beside St. Peter's Catholic Church using local rock and concrete. Its handmade forms turn the small prairie churchyard into an elaborate folk-art landscape.
New Orleans, LA
The nineteenth-century St. Roch Chapel became associated with healing petitions, and visitors historically left prosthetics, crutches and small offerings of thanks. The chapel and cemetery remain religious spaces, so visit quietly and during lawful access hours.
Menahga, MN
Menahga honors St. Urho, a completely invented Finnish-American folk saint credited in comic legend with driving grasshoppers from Finland. The statue gives physical form to a modern piece of Upper Midwest ethnic folklore.
White Springs, FL
Massive carillon tower, folk-culture exhibits, and Old Florida interpretation centered on 'Old Folks at Home.'
Martinsville, IN
This small cemetery inside Morgan-Monroe State Forest has become the center of a long-running "Lady in Black" legend involving a grieving woman said to linger near an old tree and grave. The haunting is folklore, not established fact, and visitors should treat the active cemetery respectfully and use normal daylight forest access.
Sterling, CT
Stop on Main Street, just before Snake Meadow Hill Road, put the car in neutral, and it appears to roll uphill. The slope is an illusion — the surrounding land hides the true horizon, so a gentle descent reads as a climb — which has never once stopped anyone trying it with a bottle of water. A public road, so pull over sensibly and watch for traffic.
Terre Haute, IN
Terre Haute legend says a bulldog nicknamed Stiffy Green remained devoted to his owner, florist John Heinl, and later became associated with Heinl's mausoleum in Highland Lawn Cemetery. Stories claim the dog's green eyes could be seen glowing near the tomb; the original dog figure is now preserved at the Vigo County History Center, while the mausoleum remains the physical location tied to the legend.
Chunky, MS
A historic bridge associated with the legend of an innkeeper-turned-outlaw named Stuckey and later ghost stories. The folklore is not the same thing as documented history; view the bridge only from lawful public access and do not enter unsafe or posted areas.
Stull, KS
Stull Cemetery became nationally notorious through late-20th-century legends claiming the site was a supernatural gateway. Those claims are folklore, not established fact; this is an active cemetery and visitors must obey posted rules, avoid nighttime trespassing, and treat burials respectfully.
