Haunting Colorado
If you are looking for a haunting, get your thrills at these five Colorado hot spots! These locations aren’t just eerie during the month of October. Spooky and paranormal activity can be found any time of year at these haunted destinations.
1. Cheesman Park
Cheesman Park, nestled near downtown Denver, is an outdoor recreational haven for locals. The park contains 80 acres of trails, fountains, and more than 50 species of trees. It may also contain nearly 2,000 bodies hidden below the surface. Cheesman Park has a bit of dark history. Originally known as Prospect Hill Cemetery, the land eventually became the Denver City Cemetery. The acreage served as a cemetery from 1858 until 1890. In January of 1890, US Congress was convinced to convert the cemetery into a new city park. It turns out relocating thousands of bodies is no easy task! Not all the gravesites were removed by the time the new park opened in 1907. Some remains have been found accidently by workers in the park. However, many bodies still remain in Chessman Park. Perfect grounds for a haunting!
2. Stanley Hotel
No “Haunted Colorado” list would be complete without the Stanley Hotel! Stephen King’s novel, The Shining, helped bring the hotel to fame. However, the Stanley Hotel had a reputation long before King’s visit as a paranormal hot spot. Sightings of the late Mr. Stanley himself and pianist Flora Stanley are common in the lobby and concert hall. Maids and past guests are also found haunting the halls of this grand hotel. Unlike many haunted locations, no murders have occurred at this site. Nor is it built on any burial grounds! It is theorized that most of the ghosts that roam the halls are spirits of previous visitors that love the hotel dearly.
3. Molly Brown House Museum
Margaret Brown was also know as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” Margaret Brown was one of the Titanic survivors and a notorious philanthropist. Her house in Denver is one of the most popular spots in Colorado to visit when looking for paranormal activity. The spirits of Molly, her ex husband J.J., and her mother, Johanna, still appear within the mansion from time to time. The smell of J.J.’s tobacco pipe will occasionally waft through the house. Johanna will occasionally visit the room she lived in. Also, a female entity wearing a Victorian dress is often sitting at the dining room table. Workers claim this spirit also likes to rearrange the furniture.
4. Museum of Colorado Prisons
Opened in Cañon City in 1871, this prison has ample and haunting historical value. Visitors to the museum have claimed to feel lingering presences in parts of the establishment. The old laundry room smells of tobacco that isn’t anywhere in the vicinity. In Cell 19, visitors can sometimes hear coughing, and photographs taken in the room may feature ghost orbs of past inmates. This museum features the noose used for the last execution by hanging in Colorado, as well as the last gas chamber.
5. Silver Dollar Saloon
This historic building resides in an old mountain boomtown, Leadville. This saloon is the perfect place to experience paranormal activity. Many notable patrons, including infamous Doc Holiday, prospector Horace Tabor, and unsinkable Margret “Molly” Brown, used to frequent the saloon. If you are lucky, ghosts appear in film photographs. An old noose, used for hangings back in the day, sways from the rafters. Long deceased lovers, Horace Tabor and Baby Doe, have been spotted snuggling in the corner of the bar. However, the lovers only reportedly appear when blizzard conditions exist outside. Interestingly, in the winter of 1935, 81 year old Baby Doe reportedly ran out of firewood alone in her cabin. She froze to death during a severe snowstorm.
