Oregon Vortex, Optical illusion attraction in Gold Hill, Oregon, United States.
Oregon Vortex is a tourist site in Gold Hill, Oregon, built around a tilted structure that once served as a gold assay office. Balls appear to roll uphill here, and visitors seem to grow or shrink depending on where they stand.
The Old Grey Eagle Mining Company built a gold assay office here in 1904, which later slid off its foundation. The slanted building became the basis for the present-day tourist attraction.
Local tribes avoided this ground because their horses refused to enter. The area earned a reputation as forbidden territory long before the mining building arrived.
The site opens daily at 9 in the morning and closes at 5 in summer, at 4 after Labor Day. Guided tours begin at the gift shop and last about 15 minutes through the main building and surrounding grounds.
Researchers attribute the optical illusions to orientation framing, where the brain compares irregular angles against horizontal reference points. Visitors experience these illusions most strongly when standing inside the tilted building and using the outdoor environment as a reference.
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