Halloween is an extra spooky season for C olorado, with its colorful leaves, cold crisp air and several old haunted sites to explore. Here is a list of our top 8 haunted sites to visit this month. For those seeking an extra thrill, visit one of the places below on Halloween!
Stanley Hotel, Estes Park
The Stanley Hotel happens to be the most famous haunted spots in Colorado, thanks to Stephen King's The Shining. The most active spirits that roam the hotel are the former owner F.O Stanley and his wife, Flora. She can be found most often playing on the grand piano she was gifted by her husband in one of the empty ballrooms. Four distinct spirits have been found wandering the corridors- Lucy, Paul, Eddie, and Elizabeth. Guests and staff have recalled hearing children's laughter and footsteps echoing off walls in deserted hallways and seeing the concert hall's lights flickering. Two specific rooms in the hotel have been deemed haunted. Those who have stayed in room 418, including Stephen King, have heard kids playing in the dead of night, either inside the room or right outside the door. In room 407, spirits love flickering on and off the lights and people standing outside looking into the room have seen a ghostly face. The hotel does offer nighttime spirit tours of the creepiest parts of hotel, as well as an underground tunnel. For an extra haunted experience, book a hotel room over the spooky holiday.
Masonic Cemetery, Central City
Located in Central City, the Masonic Cemetery is home to its fair share of paranormal activity and is known as one of the most haunted and creepy cemeteries in Colorado. People have claimed to see orbs of light floating around at night, as well as a little ghost boy that follows visitors around the grounds, ducking behind trees when they try to talk to him. The other ghost that frequents the cemetery is a beautiful woman dressed all in black. She appears twice a year, on April 5th and November 1st, to place columbines on the grave of John Edward Cameron. Wandering around the cemetery at dark is considered trespassing, but the Gilpin Historical Society offers creepy night crawls starting on October 18th. Click here to purchase tickets for the night tour.
Museum of Colorado Prisons, Cañon City
This museum is home to the former women's correctional facility and remains connected to the operating Colorado State Penitentiary. Not only is it eerie from housing artifacts during its time as a women's prison, but visitors have also reported paranormal activity. Keep your eyes, ears, and nose peeled for cold spots and the smell of fresh tobacco around the old laundry room, floating orbs, and the sounds of unexplained coughing and screaming. Cell 19 is sometimes spotted with a ghostly former female prisoner. For spookier experience, take a paranormal tour of the museum. Click here to purchase tickets.
Molly Brown House Museum, Denver
Molly Brown was the famous survivor of the Titanic disaster who lived in a Victorian Denver home. With more than 100 years of history, it's no wonder that paranormal activity occurs within its walls. Molly, her husband JJ, daughter Catherine Ellen, and at least six other spirits from the home's time as a gentleman's boarding facility and home for wayward girls have been spotted. There were instances of light bulbs unscrewing themselves and the door connecting the kitchen and dining room opening and closing. Click here to schedule a tour of the museum.
Cheesman Park, Denver
Cheesman Park is currently a public recreational area in the heart of Denver. Originally, the grounds were the site of Mount Prospect Cemetery- Denver's first graveyard. When the city made the decision to transform the area to a park, a half-hearted attempt was made to move the remains. Visitors have claimed to see spirits walking around the grounds, probably of those still remaining.
Hotel Jerome, Aspen
Hotel Jerome is haunted by three distinct spirits. A spirit of boy that drowned in hotel's pool haunts room 310. He appears to guests wet and shivering, then suddenly vanishes, leaving behind a trail of wet footprints. The other ghosts are Katie Kerrigan and Henry O'Callister. Katie worked at the hotel as maid. Several guests noticed her because of beauty, causing other maids to get jealous and play pranks on her. One of the pranks went severely wrong. They told her that her pet kitten had fallen through ice on nearby pond and drowned. Katie ran out on the frozen over pond, fell through the ice, and drowned. Henry O'Callister was a worker in the mining industry and moved to Aspen to continue working in the industry. He soon fell in love with a Boston heiress, Clarissa. She ended up moving back to Boston and many people believe he died years later because of a broken heart. You can find Henry wandering the halls of the hotel sobbing of a broken heart.
City of Cripple Creek
Cripple Creek is a historic gambling and mining town that has become one of Colorado's scenic tourism destinations. It gives a new meaning to the term ghost town- just about every building is haunted! Some of the most memorable haunted buildings include the town's two casinos and three hotels. Buffalo Billy's Casino is inhibited by the ghost of a young girl who likes to draw on the wall and throw bar glasses in the air. The Colorado Grande Casino is haunted by Maggie, an Irish woman that smells strongly of roses and plays the slots after hours. Room 11 in Hotel St. Nicholas is presumed to be haunted. A guest that stayed there reported that something sat at the end of the bed by her feet, but couldn't see anything there. The following morning, her friend mentioned that she awoke to see a shadow in that same spot. At the Palace Hotel a female ghost in a nightgown is often seen walking around halls carrying another nightgown. Imperial Hotel haunted by a former manager, George Long, who is often heard playing slot machines at night.
Gold Camp Rail Tunnels, Colorado Springs
The Gold Camp Rail Tunnels are located just outside of Colorado Springs. The original nine tunnels were passageways dug into the hills for railroad travel during Colorado's mining time. Three tunnels are fully intact and have been converted for vehicle use, while the others are blocked by spiked gates. There have been reports of children's laughter, dark figures lurking, and even dusty fingerprints left behind on cars that stop in the still open tunnels.