I love hearing stories and folklore, especially those about hauntings this time of year. I also had no idea how many creepy tales and sightings there are in our parks. Here are a few I found-
Yellowstone National Park’s Old Faithful Inn - Strolling through the log inn, guests find it’s easy to envision ghosts drifting along the inner balconies of the 85-foot-high lobby, or down the dimly lit hallways of the “Old House,” the first portion of the gabled lodge built during the winter of 1903-04. More than a century of hands have rubbed smooth and shiny the dark log railings that run up the stairs and skirt the balconies. The wooden floors are also worn heavily in places where visitors have paused to gaze up at the balconies or the massive stone. At night, giggling shadows created by flames dancing in the fireplace dash across the rough-hewn walls, while the wind send shudders through the inn.
If indeed Yellowstone is haunted by ghosts running wild at night, and not imaginations, whose shadows are they? Could it be that Mattie Culver, who died during childbirth on March 2, 1889, at the now-gone Firehole Hotel once located several miles north of the Old Faithful Inn, fretfully stalks the geyser basin, heart-broken over not living to see her child grow up? When Mrs. Culver died, the hotel’s grounds were too frozen to yield a grave, so her body was placed in two pickle barrels and buried in a snowdrift until spring thaw. Today, not far from her grave, is Dead Maiden’s Spring.
Or perhaps one of the apparitions is that of L.R. Piper, a cashier from the First National Bank of St. Mary’s, Ohio, who, on July 30, 1890, stepped out of the now-gone Fountain Hotel to enjoy an after-dinner cigar — and vanished. It is believed he walked out into the night and inadvertently stumbled into one of the many hot springs that are located nearby. Persons who fall into hot springs disintegrate, and there is often no recovery of them.
Yosemite National Park, Wawona Hotel - During the 1920s, a small plane crashed outside the Wawona Hotel, and the badly injured pilot was taken to Moore Cottage, one of the hotel’s guest units. Tragically, before the doctor arrived, the pilot died from his injuries. Since then, both employees and guests have seen a ghostly figure dressed as a pilot - complete with leather jacket, head gear with goggles and a white silk scarf - walking down Moore Cottage’s inside stairs.
Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds - Employees at this California state park location continue to captivate guests with tales of “The Lady by the Sea,” a beautiful specter seen walking along the coast. Asilomar is also home to a haunted banquet room, where grand galas have been known to continue even after the guests have left and the room has gone dark.
Old Town San Diego State Park - A ghost named “Rudy” at historical Old Town’s Rudolph Schiller Bookstore haunts present-day associates. Since the bookstore’s opening this year, an entire row of books, uncannily about ghost stories, flew right off the shelf onto the floor. Later, while an associate was telling a customer about the occurrence, another book tumbled off the shelf and landed directly in the customer’s hands. This mysterious ghost was named Rudy after the store’s founder, Rudolph Schiller, who built the original building in the 1800s, but which burned down three years later.
Robinson Woods, Chicago, Illinois - You don’t always have to go far into the wilderness to find a haunted woods. Robinson Woods, near Chicago, are home to a Native American burial ground that has some strange happenings associated with it. Reports of mysterious lights and sounds have been reported. The woods is a favorite haunt of paranormal investigators.
What ghosts might you find?
