Spook Hill

Spook Hill is a relic of Florida’s pre-Disney roadside attraction days, and remains one of the state’s last free tourist traps from that era. In a quiet neighborhood, a one-way road lined with moss-draped oak trees leads up to a soaring incline. A sign arches above a painted white line on the road, spelling out the name in dripping, spectral letters: SPOOK HILL.

The legend of this place, as told by a sign at the base of the hill, probably wouldn’t pass muster with its current wording in 2021. An illustrated ghost grins next to the words, pointing at them with a puffy white finger.

The gist is this: Long ago, an enormous alligator terrorized a Seminole tribe near Lake Wales. After a fierce final battle, both the warrior tribe leader, Chief Culcowellax, and the gator perished. Pioneers later called it Spook Hill.

People often ask Jennifer D’hollander what Spook Hill is all about. But the executive director of the Lake Wales History Museum doesn’t want to give away too much of the secret.

“The whole idea is, are you really moving backwards? Or is it an optical illusion?” D’hollander said. “It’s for the visitor to decide for themselves.”

Spook Hill emerged during the mid-20th century, D’hollander explained, when travel by car was a popular way to vacation across the country.

The local chamber probably added Spook Hill after nearby landmark Bok Tower Gardens was built and dedicated in the late 1920s, said Tina Peak, library director at Lake Wales Public Library. The group felt the need to “kick up the game” and make Lake Wales a whole destination.

“I was born here, so I’m kind of underwhelmed,” Peak said with a laugh. “It’s one of those quirky little early Florida tourist attractions that people still love, and one of the few that you can still go to that doesn’t cost you anything.”