Mystery Spot
Mystery Spot
4
About
The Mystery Spot is a gravitational anomaly located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz, California. It is a circular area of effect around 150 feet or 46 meters in diameter. Within the Mystery Spot you will be stunned as your perceptions of the laws of physics and gravity are questioned. But don't take our word for it, come and decide for yourself! The Mystery Spot was discovered in 1939 by a group of surveyors and opened to the public in 1940. The Mystery Spot has amazed and perplexed hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world, and many return time and time again to experience these puzzling variations of gravity, perspective, and height. Some speculate that cones of metal were secretly brought here and buried in our earth as guidance systems for their spacecraft. Some think that it is in fact the spacecraft itself buried deep within the ground. Other theories include carbon dioxide permeating from the earth, a hole in the ozone layer, a magma vortex, the highest dielectric biocosmic radiation known anywhere in the world, and radiesthesia. Whatever the cause is, it remains a mystery.
Duration: 2-3 hours
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- Lisa SSouthbury, Connecticut11 contributionsA fun spot!What a fun and unique experience! Moe was the best tour guide! We are still trying to figure out the secret behind the Mystery Spot! A great stop along our Pacific Coast journey!Visited June 2023Traveled with familyWritten June 13, 2023
- Bonnie SMesa, Arizona14 contributionsAwesome family fun!.Really crazy awesome...we had a blast! It can leave you quite dizzy and off balance. Be careful if you have balance issues Laughed a lot, great fun, especially younger kids, they will be mind blown!Visited July 2023Traveled with familyWritten July 14, 2023
- Linda WLos Angeles, California84 contributionsInteresting but not as exciting as expected.Book your tickets online in advance. The tickets get sold out quickly at the site and you may need to wait for an hour or longer for next available time. The tour was ok, about 25 min long, not as exiting as expected. You will have a tour guide who will guide you to walk up a short hill to a small cabin - the “mystery spot”. You get to stay inside the cabin for like 10 min to get some photos. That’s about it. If you are near the area, it’s an interesting spot to stop by since the ticket is only $10/person. But I wouldn’t go out of my way just to come for the tour.Visited July 2023Traveled with familyWritten July 22, 2023
- Milap SAhmedabad, India146 contributionsDefinitely worth a visitThis is nice place to go with kids, if you have senior citizens in your family it is very difficult for them to maintain balance, it is a unique place where gravity seems to be messed up. Don’t drive immediately after visiting this place as some of us may feel dizzy after touring mystery spot. My family had an awesome time at this placeVisited August 2023Traveled with familyWritten August 4, 2023
- CHMac🎉California176 contributionsFun tour in the woodsThe kids loved it & I did too. Rory was a great tour guide. Funny jokes and a Beatles fan! Our kids were engaged and really enjoyed it. The entire staff we encountered was fun. I didn’t experience anyone “odd.” Buy your tickets online. They do sell out and I did see people being turned away.Visited July 2023Traveled with familyWritten August 7, 2023
- Alexa A2 contributionsAugust Tour reviewRae our guide was great! She was funny and very sweet! She was respectful and had great jokes. Only downfall was the communication between the reservation host and the other guides. We had to wait after our ticket said a certain tour group number. They did not communicate with each other and we had a different tour time then what we reserved and booked in our reservation. One of the female tour guide was rude because the staff did not communicate well. However, our tour guide Rae made up for it with her being very nice and funny.Visited August 2023Traveled with familyWritten August 28, 2023
- ashishBengaluru, India288 contributionsGood if you are passing by, else SkippableIt's a good attraction for 10 bucks and you can spend about an hour here. Though location is out of the way so overall time taken can be longer. Of course, there is no mystery here but simply an optical illusion and perception trick. Could be good for 12-18 yr students to understand why, and silly fun for younger folks.Visited June 2023Traveled soloWritten January 2, 2024
- Dsar6798Memphis, Tennessee159 contributionsSo coolThis place was so cool! The tour was very informative and the guides are really personable. It’s not a terribly long tour, as it’s not a big place, but the whole experience was fun! I’m glad we visited during our stay in Santa Cruz!Visited March 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten March 25, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.0
1,162 reviews
Excellent
465
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158
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FanaticTourGuide
California38 contributions
Oct 2014 • Family
This is a fun activity to fit into your visit when in Santa Cruz. It usually books up pretty fast, so book and pay online ahead of time. The tour guides are very rehearsed and cheesy, but overall, it is pretty entertaining! Our 11 year old son thought it was really cool. It is in the middle of a Redwood forest, but very centrally located. It doesnt consume a lot of your precious vacation time, and isnt very expensive... so make a point of visiting and cross it off your "bucket list"!!
Written October 18, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wendy E
Brooklyn, NY24 contributions
Jun 2014 • Couples
PT Barnum surely was right. I would never have visited this place if a friend of mine hadn't raved about it.
Where do I begin? You never have to worry about missing this place because the signs direct you to within one centimeter of the entrance. Although there is no parking fee, the price is included in the admission. Haha! And, the tickets are sold in the gift shop....where you wait until your tour is called. I am always interested in strange and unusal phenomenon, however, the only unusual thing about this place is how many people come here to be hoodwinked. You walk up a steep hill to a ramhshackle, crooked house which is set on a steep angle which makes it impossible to really look like you are standing straight and after a few parlor tricks everyone is convinced that it is an anomaly that causes this. I don't like funhouses or trick mirrors, so maybe that is why I didn't like the Mystery Spot. But, then again, maybe I don't like being taken for a rube either....in any case, I suggest saving your money to go the Boardwalk instead.
Where do I begin? You never have to worry about missing this place because the signs direct you to within one centimeter of the entrance. Although there is no parking fee, the price is included in the admission. Haha! And, the tickets are sold in the gift shop....where you wait until your tour is called. I am always interested in strange and unusal phenomenon, however, the only unusual thing about this place is how many people come here to be hoodwinked. You walk up a steep hill to a ramhshackle, crooked house which is set on a steep angle which makes it impossible to really look like you are standing straight and after a few parlor tricks everyone is convinced that it is an anomaly that causes this. I don't like funhouses or trick mirrors, so maybe that is why I didn't like the Mystery Spot. But, then again, maybe I don't like being taken for a rube either....in any case, I suggest saving your money to go the Boardwalk instead.
Written June 21, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chuck
Santa Cruz, CA472 contributions
Apr 2011 • Couples
Remember driving with your parents on long car trips and seeing the signs for the World's Largest Ball of String or Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox? Well, the Mystery Spot is that type of roadside attraction from yesterday. It's completely funky, inexpensive, and truly mystifying for kids and non-skeptical adults. Sure, the stories are far-fetched, but that's the camp fun of it. Leave your skepticism in the parking lot, take in the story, and enjoy the reaction of the kids in your party. It proves that kids can be entertained without computers or Nintendos!
Written December 15, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Paul Simms
London, UK11 contributions
Sep 2011 • Couples
The only thing mysterious about the Mystery Spot is how somebody has managed to make a popular tourist attraction out of nothing more than a hill with a shack half way up it.
Personally I found the whole thing eye-rollingly banal, not stupefying and unique. There were large crowds, a terrible gift shop, a $5 charge to use a car park which was little more than a patch of dirt (no doubt to make up for the low priced tickets), and an attempt to use 'free' bumper stickers to make you feel like the experience was worth something.
The guided tour itself was delivered by a man who spoke so quickly and quietly that nobody quite knew what was going on. Within minutes the group had begun to engage in its own conversations, making it impossible to then follow the guide at all. The 'incredible phenomena' seemed so simplistic that at least half our group were unengaged and unconvinced. I don't think it requires genius to realise that if a wooden hut is steeply leaning down a hill, you can walk up a sloping wall and you'll be leaning outwards from it. Amazing!
We (myself and my girlfriend) felt this was the biggest waste of time during our 3-day visit to Santa Cruz.
Personally I found the whole thing eye-rollingly banal, not stupefying and unique. There were large crowds, a terrible gift shop, a $5 charge to use a car park which was little more than a patch of dirt (no doubt to make up for the low priced tickets), and an attempt to use 'free' bumper stickers to make you feel like the experience was worth something.
The guided tour itself was delivered by a man who spoke so quickly and quietly that nobody quite knew what was going on. Within minutes the group had begun to engage in its own conversations, making it impossible to then follow the guide at all. The 'incredible phenomena' seemed so simplistic that at least half our group were unengaged and unconvinced. I don't think it requires genius to realise that if a wooden hut is steeply leaning down a hill, you can walk up a sloping wall and you'll be leaning outwards from it. Amazing!
We (myself and my girlfriend) felt this was the biggest waste of time during our 3-day visit to Santa Cruz.
Written September 13, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Christina B
Danville, CA41 contributions
Jul 2011
I have vacationed in Santa Cruz over ten times in the past 35 years. Hard to believe that I had NEVER been to the Mystery Spot before last week!
If you don't have a lot of time in the Santa Cruz area, the beaches and the Boardwalk are a priority. However, if you are lucky enough to spend a little more time in the area, the Mystery Spot is a worthwhile outing. It is inexpensive and provocative. There were ten of us, ages 5-70 years old. Even my 70 year old father, who is a total skeptic, thoroughly enjoyed the outing.
It is consistently foggy most mornings in the Santa Cruz area. So schedule a tour at the Mystery Spot in the morning and then you can enjoy the beach in the afternoon when the sun is shining. The tour is less than one hour. The admission is one dollar per ticket more if you schedule in advance online, but probably worth the minor expense if you want a reservation.
Bumper stickers provided at the end of the tour!
If you don't have a lot of time in the Santa Cruz area, the beaches and the Boardwalk are a priority. However, if you are lucky enough to spend a little more time in the area, the Mystery Spot is a worthwhile outing. It is inexpensive and provocative. There were ten of us, ages 5-70 years old. Even my 70 year old father, who is a total skeptic, thoroughly enjoyed the outing.
It is consistently foggy most mornings in the Santa Cruz area. So schedule a tour at the Mystery Spot in the morning and then you can enjoy the beach in the afternoon when the sun is shining. The tour is less than one hour. The admission is one dollar per ticket more if you schedule in advance online, but probably worth the minor expense if you want a reservation.
Bumper stickers provided at the end of the tour!
Written July 27, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MyTravelTales
South Windsor, CT512 contributions
Don't exptect something big. This is a very small place - worth spending may be an hour.
I don't believe there is anything strange about this what science cannot explain. It is all about gravity and slopes. The place is such that you don't understand what the vertical is - it is very crooked. On top of that, the cabin is at a different angle - so you lose all perspective. We did, and that is why the photos did not come out ideal - at the right angle. You need to be very careful while shooting.
You do feel dizzy, things look unnatural and strange, and heights do seem to change.
It is a pretty place, too.
I don't believe there is anything strange about this what science cannot explain. It is all about gravity and slopes. The place is such that you don't understand what the vertical is - it is very crooked. On top of that, the cabin is at a different angle - so you lose all perspective. We did, and that is why the photos did not come out ideal - at the right angle. You need to be very careful while shooting.
You do feel dizzy, things look unnatural and strange, and heights do seem to change.
It is a pretty place, too.
Written July 17, 2005
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Frankie J
45 contributions
Jul 2019 • Couples
The Mystery Spot is an unexplained natural phenomenon. Tickets are $8/ person and $5 for parking. They do multiple scheduled tours during the day, make sure you book yours in advance. We went on a Thursday and it was a 5 hour wait for the next tour. The tour itself is 30 minutes long. There is walking up a very steep path and there is no doubt you will get nauseas from the oddness and steepness of the spot. The tour guides are very funny and friendly.
Written July 9, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
whatelseispossible
Orange, CA42 contributions
Aug 2018 • Family
I have mixed emotions about our experience. The place itself is fascinating but the tour experience is largely influenced by the guide you get. Our guide Moe was full of corny and crude jokes that make the tour painful toward the end. The saddest part was that he thought he was funny. He also made some very inappropriate jokes in the presence of children. One of them was when he was taking a picture of a young couple and had a girl bend forward and have a guy stand behind her very suggestively and make a thumbs up sign. All of that in front of a large group of people, including kids under
13. That made me feel very uncomfortable.
I wish we left his group and went with a different guide. His self centered jokes ruined it for me and my family.
Additionally, once you get off the main road to the mystery spot entrance, the road is TERRIBLE- very bumpy with a lot of potholes. If you have a low or lower car it will damage it.
It was something to experience once, but I would not repeat it.
13. That made me feel very uncomfortable.
I wish we left his group and went with a different guide. His self centered jokes ruined it for me and my family.
Additionally, once you get off the main road to the mystery spot entrance, the road is TERRIBLE- very bumpy with a lot of potholes. If you have a low or lower car it will damage it.
It was something to experience once, but I would not repeat it.
Written August 2, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Linlin H
Hong Kong, China14 contributions
Jul 2017 • Family
We went there with daughters aged 7 and 9. All of us enjoyed the trip. The gravity effect and visual illusion was fun. You may bring along a tennis ball and a small bottle of water for experiments. After this short visit about 30min, we headed to Santa Cruz for a seafood dinner.
Written July 15, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
cara f
Capitola, CA240 contributions
Mar 2014 • Family
Unless you have very bored young children, nothing else to do and too much money on your hands, avoid this place. It is full of parlor tricks and I feel sorry for the young folks who conduct the "tours". Go to the beach - you are in Santa Cruz.
Written December 10, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rocio7g
San Francisco, CA20 contributions
Do they allow dogs?
Brian B
17 contributions
I don't know. I didn't see any, but I wouldn't recommend it. You do get disoriented and sometimes finding your footing is difficult. Having a dog there would make it dangerous, especially if the animal also feels the same effects.
Could I go to the Mystery Spot and not do the tour?
007bshampa
Pune District, India27 contributions
The tour is the mystery and the solution. Other than that there are only trees to see. It would be a scenic drive without a point. Enjoy the tour.
Why do i get and feel sick. And the world is spinning like vertigo.
dandksmommy
Fair Oaks, CA
It's an optical illusion. That's it. Your eyes/brain is playing tricks on you and your belly. If you just take a moment to focus on one single object while standing still, you will stop spinning. There is no magnetic field. Look it up online.
Yael D
Ramat Gan, Israel70 contributions
traveling with a 4.5 year old and a toddler from SF to SLO and stopping at Monterrey bay. Is it worth stopping here? will the girls get anything out of it?
puneet265
Agra, India753 contributions
The tour guides are very good. They involve every one especially children. Even if they cant understand the mystery they will enjoy the presenter.
Drive is good.
Must visit with children or alone.
Not to forget Chai (TEA) and samosa for indian tourists in canteen
We will be traveling through with a small dog. Are dogs allowed?
MJH
Green Valley, AZ221 contributions
I agree with the other people who responded in regards to your dog. I don't agree with the 'total ripoff'. It's just something fun to do, and I have spent the same amount of money for a 2 minute quick thrill (with an hour wait in line) at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.
Belinda B
Fresno, CA
How do you get there via public transportation?
GuestGroup
Ukiah, CA73 contributions
Considering that the location is off the road, I would suggest a Taxi. It is also a few minutes outside of Santa Cruz.
cocurlgurl
nj25 contributions
How long does the tour take? How much total time should be allotted for a visit?
Margo M
Laguna Hills, CA50 contributions
You should allot at least an afternoon for the entire experience. Sometimes you have to wait for a tour to start, but there is plenty to look at, so give yourself 2-3 hours between parking, touring and wandering around checking out the scenery.
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