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.
Sylmar, CA
Stop on Kagel Canyon 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.
Mokulēʻia, HI
Oʻahu's remote western tip combines fossil reef, sea arches, seabird habitat, monk seals, and traditions describing Kaʻena as a leaping-off place for souls. Both road-access sections remain temporarily closed for Hurricane Lowell repairs as of September 10, 2026; verify reopening before routing.
Mākaha, HI
The large sea cave near Mākua is tied to Native Hawaiian traditions involving the shark-man Nanaue and appears in state interpretation of the Kaʻena coast. OddWay should treat it as a culturally significant roadside cave stop, not an invitation to explore deep or unstable passages.
Honolulu, HI
Four large stones near Kūhiō Beach commemorate the tradition of four māhū healers from Tahiti who are said to have transferred their healing powers into the stones before leaving Oʻahu. The site is culturally significant; read the interpretation and do not climb on or treat the stones as props.
Thomasville, AL
This small museum honors Alabama storyteller and journalist Kathryn Tucker Windham, whose books and performances preserved ghost stories and regional folklore across the state. Photographs, writings and personal material connect directly to the woman behind many Alabama supernatural tales.
West Seneca, NY
A Legends & Lore marker at Ebenezer Cemetery preserves the story of Kau-Qua-Tau, a Seneca woman accused of witchcraft in 1821 and killed after fleeing the accusation. Later folklore blamed her spirit for disturbances in a cabin that once stood at the site.
Hoʻolehua, HI
A naturally shaped and partly worked stone near the Kalaupapa overlook has long been associated with fertility traditions and the figure Nanahoa. It is a sacred cultural feature within the Pālāʻau landscape, so visitors should observe respectfully and avoid touching, climbing, or leaving objects.
Sunset Beach, NC
A lone mailbox in the dunes of Bird Island has collected anonymous letters, confessions, wishes, and personal stories from visitors for decades. Reaching it requires a walk along the beach, and the notebooks inside have become a communal archive of strangers’ thoughts. Local information: https://www.sunsetbeachnc.gov/
Kirtland Hills, OH
Stop on King Memorial 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.
Norton, MA
A secluded rock shelter is traditionally associated with Metacomet, the Wampanoag leader known to English colonists as King Philip, during the final weeks of King Philip's War. Modern ghost stories have added phantom drums, voices and lights to the location's much more serious historical significance.
Fountain City, WI
Modern standing stones, stone circles, earthworks, a labyrinth and other monumental landscape features occupy this private garden overlooking the Mississippi River region. The structures are contemporary rather than ancient, but intentionally evoke prehistoric ceremonial landscapes.
Bryson City, NC
At 6,644 feet, Kuwohi is the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and carries deep Cherokee cultural significance. Cherokee tradition associates the mountain with White Bear, chief of all bears, and with a sacred place where bears could heal; the former name Clingmans Dome was officially changed back to Kuwohi in 2024.
Amarillo, TX
A distinctive pueblo-style museum and performance space interpreting Indigenous art, regalia and traditions of the Southwest and Plains.
Mission, TX
A small historic chapel beside the Rio Grande that gave the city of Mission its name and remains a quiet borderland landmark.
New Orleans, LA
This eighteenth-century Creole cottage is wrapped in legends linking it to pirate and smuggler Jean Lafitte. The exact extent of Lafitte's connection is debated, but the surviving building is one of Bourbon Street's oldest and most atmospheric landmarks.
Lāʻie, HI
A wave-cut hole pierces an offshore volcanic islet at this tiny residential wayside. Hawaiian legend connects the scattered offshore rocks with the defeated moʻo Kūiniolo; parking is extremely limited, and visitors must avoid blocking neighboring driveways or entering the adjacent private point.
Webster, MA
Webster Lake is famous for an extraordinarily long alternate name that has become a Massachusetts roadside and linguistic curiosity. The famous spelling is modern and its supposed translation is often repeated inaccurately, but the giant name itself has become the attraction.
Chesapeake, VA
Lake Drummond lies deep within the Great Dismal Swamp and has inspired generations of supernatural stories, most famously the Phantom Lovers tale of a young man searching the lake for his dead bride. Reaching the lake requires using refuge roads, trails or waterways rather than a normal roadside pull-off, and access can vary with refuge conditions.
Concord, NH
This polished, egg-shaped stone was reportedly found near Lake Winnipesaukee in 1872 and is carved with a face, geometric designs and other symbols. Its maker and purpose have inspired more than a century of theories, though the precisely drilled holes have led some researchers to suspect a nineteenth-century origin rather than an ancient artifact. The stone is preserved by the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord.
Vacherie, LA
Laura preserves a Creole plantation complex and tells the intertwined histories of the Duparc-Locoul family and the people they enslaved. Folktales recorded from the region also contributed to later published Br'er Rabbit traditions.
Framingham, MA
Local legend claims pirate William Kidd buried treasure around this otherwise ordinary pond. Historical evidence for Kidd visiting the spot is weak, though another pirate connected with him had regional ties, leaving a durable Massachusetts treasure story.
Hope Township, NJ
The Jenny Jump legend as told inside Land of Make Believe, where an old house tied to the story is preserved. Around 1748 a nine-year-old girl was cornered on a rocky height and her father shouted "Jump, Jenny, jump". Note this is inside the ticketed park, not at Jenny Jump State Forest.
Mammoth Lakes, CA
A roadside marker shaped like a slot machine, complete with handle and reels, telling the story that June Lake's illegal 1930s machines were dumped in the lake ahead of a state revenue raid. Installed around 2010. Divers have looked more than once and found nothing.
Vienna, IL
A memorial inside Camp Ondessonk, the southern Illinois Catholic youth camp founded in 1959 and named for the Huron name given to St Isaac Jogues, meaning bird of prey. Not an open roadside stop: the camp admits day hikers from mid-August to mid-May during set hours and closes the grounds entirely in summer.
