Properly it is Croy Brae, on the A719 between Dunure and Croy Shore, and it is the most reliably delightful five minutes on the Ayrshire coast. Stop in the lay-by, take the handbrake off, put the car in neutral, and it will appear to roll slowly uphill.
What is actually happening
It is an illusion, and a very good one. Along this stretch the road genuinely falls — but the surrounding land falls away more steeply still. With no level horizon to judge against and the slope of the hillside dominating your view, your brain reads the descending road as a climb. The car is simply rolling downhill, exactly as it should.
The name comes from an earlier belief that some electric or magnetic force in the hill was pulling vehicles up it. There is a stone marker in the lay-by that explains the whole thing, which does nothing whatsoever to reduce the effect.
How to get the best of it
Come when the road is quiet, since you need to sit still for a minute. Engine off and neutral gives the cleanest result. It works both ways along the brae, so try it in each direction. Walking it is oddly more convincing than driving it: set a ball rolling and watch it go the wrong way.
It also works on a bicycle, and cyclists coming down the coast from Ayr often report pedalling hard on what looks like a descent.
Practical notes
Free, always open, no facilities. The lay-by is small and can fill on summer weekends. The A719 is a fast road with blind bends — pull fully into the lay-by, and take care if you get out.
It takes five minutes, so treat it as a stop rather than a destination. It sits perfectly between Dunure Castle and Croy Shore a mile below, and is a fixed point on the Carrick castle coast day trip from Girvan. With children in the car it is the highlight of the drive.
