JOHNSTOWN – Today, we are exploring Gravity Hill in Bedford County, a series of concrete blocks in Blair County along Interstate 99 and what's known as the “rock men of Rockton” in Clearfield County.
Down a few back roads in Bedford County lies a road that some say defies gravity.
"There's all sorts of speculations as to why Gravity Hill works, from an optical illusion to warps in the Earth's gravity," Dennis Tice, director of the Bedford County visitor’s bureau, said.
Whatever the case may be, the hill attracts people from far and wide.
"We estimate about 20,000-30,000 people come here every year," Tice said.
We decided to put the hill to the test and try it out ourselves.
"So, we're at the start line, we put the car in neutral, take your foot off the break and here we go, start going up hill," Casey Lehecka said, demonstrating.
"You start out a little bit slower, but once you pick up some momentum, you're cruising at about 3 to 5 miles per hour, and after about 100 yards, here we are at the finish line of Gravity Hill."
While we were there on a recent morning, three different carloads of people came by to check out this rare phenomenon.
About 40 miles up the road, off of the I-99 exit onto 17th street in Altoona, lies 350 concrete anchors that might look like tombstones at first glance.
“These anchors were installed in 1992, and what they are is drilled rock anchors, and their purpose is to stabilize the hillside,” said spokeswoman Tara Callahan, from PennDOT.
There were three different options that would've solved this problem.
"We don’t have them anywhere else in our six-county region," Callahan said.
In northern Clearfield County, in the town of Rockton, statues of people can be seen along Route 322.
But these aren't normal statues. They're made by stacking smaller rocks.
"Well, the people who are involved with these statues started about two years ago," said Denny Shaffner, from the Clearfield County Historical Society.
There's about 10 to 12 “rock men of Rockton” that just want to make people smile.
"When people drive by, there is something to look at that's out of the ordinary and something that can make them happy," Shaffner said.
You can send me your ideas for a “What the Lehecka?” segment by tweeting me at @wxlehecka, messaging me on my Facebook page or emailing me at news@wjactv.com.
ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ5aarrXB0Z6qaK%2BYlsFuwMeeZKWdmJqwrK2OsJ%2BarF2ptaZ5y56fnpublnqmxM%2Blpquhnpx6dHnDop2fnaKau7V5y5qlnaWRp7i0