10 National Parks That Are Allegedly Home to Ghosts or Monsters
There are plenty of stories about visitors being haunted by various creatures at national parks all across the country, but here are 10 of the most well known.
Crater Lake, which is the deepest body of water in the United States, is considered a sacred location to the Klamath Indians. Legend states that a spirit by the name of Llao was thrown into the lake by a spirit named Skell and was eaten by the monsters that live in the lake. One tourist in a rowboat claimed to see a huge creature swimming under the boat in 2002.Rangers also regularly spot campfires on Wizard Island, but have found no evidence of people on the island.
Since 2000, there have been at least 60 UFO sitings in the area. There have also been unexplained cattle mutilations in the area. Some claim that within the park are portals to another universe.
It's said that if you steal from Pele, the volcano goddess, she will punish you. This doesn't stop tourists walking off with volcanic rock all the time. There have been reports of them facing negative consequences after stealing from the goddess, and thousands of pounds of mail get sent back to "Queen Pele" every year, in hopes to have the curse removed.
The Jersey Devil is said to live in the New Jersey Pinelands, and you can apparently hear it at night on Batona Trail.Â
The Wailing Woman is a ghost who is said to have killed herself at the Grand Canyon in the 1920s after hearing her husband and son had died hiking. She is said to haunt the Transept Trail on stormy nights.
The ghost of slave and Mammoth Cave explorer Stephen Bishop is said to appear from time to time. You can also apparently hear the coughs of patients who were treated at a tuberculosis hospital that was in the area in the 1800s.
Spearfinger, a witch who would pretend to be an old woman and take children before using her stone finger to cut out their livers, haunts the Norton Creek Trail. There is also another story that there is the ghost of a man who was murdered while looking for his daughter haunts the area, manifesting himself as a light to lead hikers.
If you're at Devil's Den at Gettysburg National Military Park, be on the lookout for a barefoot ghost who is known as "The Hippie" or "Tennessean" who will point to Plum Run stream and tell you "What you're looking for is over there."
Miwok Indians believed Yosemite's waterfalls were haunted. They thought there was an evil wind called Po-ho-no that draws people close to the cliff before throwing them off.
There are apparently a few ghosts wandering around Old Faithful, including a bride who was decapitated on her honeymoon. Another woman, wearing clothes from the 1890s has appeared at the foot of a bed in one of the rooms at the Old Faithful Inn.