Mystery Hill

from Winter Times 2022-23

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Adventure awaits at Mystery Hill

PHOTO BY MARISA MECKE Riding the water down the racetrack, the rubber ducks at Mystery Hill donned their helmets to compete in the Duck Derby.

BY MOSS BRENNAN

In the winter — and really anytime during the year — Watauga County’s own Mystery Hill offers a unique experience along with fun for all ages. More than 70,000 visitors each year go to Mystery Hill to experience the historical landmark’s “gravity vortex.” Despite your best efforts to stand upright, these gravitational anomalies force your body into a 45-degree angle, water will flow uphill, and balls will roll upward right before your eyes.

But there’s more to Mystery Hill than

IF YOU GO:

10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Sunday 129 Mystery Hill Lane, Blowing Rock, NC 28605 (828) 264-2792 mysteryhill.com

the feature attraction. Try tomahawk throwing. Or, don’t think you are photogenic? Think again at Professor Finnegan’s Old Time Photo Parlour.

Have you ever seen an arrowhead? Well, how about thousands of

SEE MYSTERY ON PAGE 83 FILE PHOTO Jonas Stockner holds on tight during a mechanical bull ride at Mystery Hill.

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arrowheads at Moon Mullin’s Native American Artifacts Museum! It is one of the world’s largest private collections of Native American artifacts in the world, featuring items from 20 states, with more than 250,000 different pieces.

Try the Hall of Mystery, which features a variety of hands-on science activities, including optical illusions, a shadow wall, a flying mirror and more.

The many activities and events typically sell out by mid day so online reservations and scheduling is recommended.

The 1903 Dougherty House Museum was the home of Appalachian State University’s founder. It was the first home in the region to have electricity. Explore what life in Boone and the High Country was like in the early 1900s.

Mystery Hill is located at 129 Mystery Hill Ln. in between Boone and