Ghost stories around the campfire are always fun, but especially so during the fall, when Halloween haunts turn camping trips into spirited getaways. From campgrounds near haunted mansions, ghost towns, and abandoned ski areas to historic cemeteries within a campground’s property, these are some of the best places to camp come Halloween.
Skidaway Island State Park Near Savannah’s Haunted Homes, GA
Image via The Dyrt camper, Cristina G.
Paranormal activities are downright normal in Savannah, one of the most haunted cities in America. This is where you’ll find the Sorrel-Weed House, a historic landmark used as the opening scene in “Forrest Gump” that’s said to be haunted by the ghosts of past residents who’ve died at the property. You can take a guided ghost tour of the mansion to this day.
Elsewhere in Savannah, dinner is served nightly at Pirate’s House, a classic seafarer’s tavern with a basement that’s also said to be haunted. Camping at Skidaway Island State Park is a 20-minute drive away and lets you escape the city and explore salt marshes and tidal creeks.
Winter Island Park Near Salem’s Witch Trials, MA
The site of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1851 Gothic novel, The House of the Seven Gables, the historic home of the same name in Salem is now a National Historic Landmark and said to be one of the most haunted mansions in the town known for its 17th-century witch trials. Visitors can take a tour of the museum or attend a spooky evening storytelling session.
You’ll find tent and RV camping nearby at the city-owned Winter Island Park, a campground and boat ramp on the water in Salem Harbor. Located just a few minutes from downtown, you can ride a trolly from your campsite into town.
Inn Town Campground Frights for the Whole Family, CA
One of the oldest continually operating hotels in the West, the National Exchange Hotel, which first opened in downtown Nevada City in 1856, is also one of the country’s most haunted. Reoccurring spirits, including a young girl skipping rope, have been spotted throughout the hotel over the years.
You can pitch a tent or park your RV a mile away at the Inn Town Campground, a privately owned campground that earns points for its festive Halloween spirit and frightful decorations. Formerly the site of the Nevada City Chinese American Cemetery, the campground still has a few remaining relics leftover from the old graveyard, including a monument and marker where Chinese American miners were once buried during the region’s Gold Rush era.
The campground celebrates Halloween with a lit-up ghostly downtown façade and witches and goblins around the property.
Cold River Campground Near Stephen King’s Home, ME
Moon rising behind clouds at dusk at Nubble lighthouse shining brightly, in Maine. The beacon is also referred to as Cape Neddick light. The area is also haunted by the ghost ship Isadore.
Stephen King fans may know Bangor as the inspiration for the fictional town of Derry, which appears in several of King’s scariest books.
While you’re in town, you can visit King’s home, which is surrounded by wrought-iron fencing and is said to be haunted, as well as the Mount Hope Cemetery, the second oldest garden cemetery in the U.S., where the film adaptation for King’s 1983 horror novel Pet Sematary was filmed.
Cold River Campground, just across the Penobscot River from Bangor, has a well-stocked country store on site and hosts a Stephen King weekend each fall.
Woody Mountain Campground Near a Haunted Hotel, AZ
Photo via The Dyrt camper, Derek C.
Downtown Flagstaff’s Hotel Monte Vista has been around since the 1920s and is listed on the U.S. Registrar of Historic Places. It’s also allegedly haunted, with sightings of ghosts including a woman in a rocking chair, a phantom bellboy, and a long-lost bank robber.
The hotel and its staff are full of legendary stories—like how the hotel is connected to the city’s famous underground tunnels and how the place once housed a popular speakeasy during prohibition.
Woody Mountain Campground, on historic Route 66, is one of the closest campgrounds to downtown Flagstaff and has a coffee and wine lounge, a camp store, and a hiking trail on the property.
Geneva Park Campground Near “Headless Ed,” CO
Image via The Dyrt camper, Bailey P.
Guanella Pass was once the site of a now-abandoned ski area called Geneva Basin, which closed down in 1984. These days, all that’s left of the old ski resort is the former ski patrol hut, which now serves as a makeshift backcountry cabin that’s open to day or overnight visitors.
The ski area is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Edward Guanella, also known as “Headless Ed,” the son of the pass’ namesake who died in a ski lift accident at the time of the resort’s closing. Geneva Park Campground, just down the Guanella Pass Scenic Byway, has trailheads nearby and quiet campsites set amongst a forest of lodgepole pines.
Malabar Farm State Park Near a Famous Haunted Prison, OH
Ohio State Reformatory
The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield looks like a castle, but it was once a historic prison, home to some of the country’s most violent criminals. The jail closed in 1990, and the grounds—now a museum open to visitors—were used as a film location for “The Shawshank Redemption.”
Phantom spirits have been sensed on the grounds by paranormal enthusiasts. Nearby Malabar Farm State Park—which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places—has 15 primitive campsites and a 1940s maple syrup cabin you can stay in, as well as guided farm tours and hiking trails.
Verlot Campground Near a Ghost Town, WA
It takes a full-fledged hike to reach the ghost town of Monte Cristo, once a mining boom town back in the 1890s.
To get there, you’ll walk four miles each way along a deserted roadway paralleling the South Fork of the Sauk River. A few relics, including rail trestles, old cabins, and mining materials, from the town’s gold and silver mining heyday remain. It’s a ghost town, but whether there are any ghosts of long-forgotten miners still lingering about, you’ll have to find out for yourself.
Verlot Campground, down the road from the Monte Cristo trailhead on the scenic Mountain Loop Highway, has 26 sites within Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and views of Mt. Baker on a clear day.
