Urban Legends in Colorado

While there are creepy urban legends all over the world, Colorado's ghost stories and myths hold a legendary status, thanks to Stephen King. The Centennial State is home to the Stanley Hotel, where King stayed in room 217 and saw an apparition that served as the inspiration for his book, The Shining. Colorado also harbors legends about skinwalkers, phantom automobiles, and even a gateway to hell just outside of the crumbled ruins of a haunted mansion.

Many spine-chilling ghost stories emerged from the haunting of the Lee property, which is one of the most famous hauntings in America. There is also an abundance of local lore surrounding the infamous Highway 666. This list is a collection of some of the most famous urban legends and ghost stories circulating throughout creepy Colorado.

The Black Forest Haunting

In 1990, Steve Lee moved his family into a log cabin home in the Black Forest region of northern Colorado. They rented it for a year before purchasing it, but once the land was theirs, things started getting weird. Initially, lights and electronic devices kept turning off and on, and eerie noises sometimes filled the air. But things got worse when the children began seeing shadowy figures lurking in the woods. This was followed by a strange odor that wafted through cabin that burned the family's throats and eyes.

Thinking it was pranksters, the Lee family installed motion detectors and cameras. However, the motion detectors would go off when nothing seemed to be happening on the cameras. Eventually, the Lee property tallied up 62 alleged “break-ins,” though not a single one of them could be explained and nothing was missing. Steve Lee added more cameras, capturing more unexplainable phenomena like orbs, beams of light, and sometimes ghostly forms with faces.

The Lees could no longer pretend the cameras were the problem and they contacted the television show Sightings to document what became one of the most famous haunting's in America. The Sightings crew experienced and captured quite a bit of phenomena themselves. Cameras were knocked off tripods, one of their producers experienced an attempted possession, and the medium working with them determined there were multiple spirits in the house and a “rift in space-time” on the property.

The psychic also identified one of the spirits as someone the Lees knew, the son of a friend who everyone believed died of an overdose. His spirit allegedly told the medium that he was actually murdered.

The Stanley Hotel Inspired The Shining

One of the most famous haunts of Colorado is the Stanley Hotel. The Stanley, which served as the basis for Stephen King's The Shining, is over a century old and is home to countless ghost sightings and unexplainable events. One of those ghosts is a former owner of the hotel, Lord Dunraven.

Multiple witnesses have seen a face peering out of the window of his room (room 407) when it wasn’t occupied. One witness staying in the room reported that a light kept turning off and on. Allegedly, the guests acknowledged the ghost, assured him that they’d only be staying two days, and asked him to keep the light on. The spirit left the light alone after that, but proceeded to spend the rest of the night noisily playing around with the elevator just outside the door.

Rooms 217, 401, and 418 have unusually high reports of paranormal activity. Cleaning crews tell of strange noises and seeing impressions on the bed when the rooms are empty. Guests in room 418 report the sounds of children playing in the hall, but when those reports come in, there are no children checked into the hotel.

Ghosts Along The Riverdale Road

Riverdale Road runs through Thornton, Colorado, and is lined with creepy Cottonwood trees where you can allegedly see the hanging bodies of slaves by the light of the full moon. A phantom Camaro with one working headlight can also be spotted driving down this stretch of road. According to legend, there was a bad car accident in the '70s where the driver died. He still speeds down Riverdale Road, looking to challenge late-night travelers in a race to their death. 

Riverdale Road also has its own Lady in White legend. The story starts with a young woman wandering the streets alone at night, looking for anyone willing to give her a ride. However, unlike most hitchhiker legends, this young lady disappears before ever getting into the car, leaving the stunned driver to sit in their own confusion.

Another story warns drivers about a young boy who was killed by a car on his way to school. His spirit walks the Riverdale Road at night, smearing bloody hand prints on street signs as he passes them.

The Ghost Of Jogger’s Hill

Further down Riverdale Road, you’ll come to a dirt path at the crest of a hill known as “Jogger’s Hill.” The legend states that a jogger suffered a hit-and-run where the driver raced off in a panic, leaving him or her to die alone. Now the jogger lurks as a shadowy menace in the area, terrorizing any drivers who stop atop the hill.

Paranormal Activity In The Hotel Colorado

The guests at the Hotel Colorado are often awoken in the night by strange sounds and flickering lights. Some are plagued by sightings of a little girl with a ball wearing a Victorian-era dress, while others recount how their personal items were moved around or missing. Both bell tower suites are reportedly haunted and the elevator seems to have a mind of its own at times. Stories tell of a female presence that has a habit of watching male guests as they sleep and of an abundance of strange odors wafting throughout the hotel without any discernible source.

The screams of a woman can often be heard throughout the hotel, believed to belong to a deceased chambermaid. According to the lore, she was involved in a love triangle which ended with one of her lovers murdering her in one of the guest rooms. Her former room has been turned into storage because the paranormal activity within that room is too intense to remain open to the public.

The Gates Of Hell Lead To A Mansion Of Fire And Death

According to local legend, the “Gates of Hell” lie near Riverdale Road in Thornton, Colorado. Rumor has it that this stretch of road leads to rusted iron gates that open to a place of satanic worship and human sacrifices. Behind these gates also rests the charred ruins of an old mansion, a haunted tree, and a chicken coop that leads directly to hell.

The mansion was built by David Wolpert during the gold rush. He married and had children, two of whom were deaf and mute. Legend has it that he was provoked by demons to murder his entire family and burn the house to the ground. People say they can still hear their screams echoing through the night.

Only the looming iron gates and Wolpert's chicken coop were left standing after the fire. They say the eerie gates serve as a warning to stay away from the hellish madness surrounding the area, while the chicken coop is allegedly where the demons convinced Wolpert to commit the murders.  

Beware The Drums Of Third Bridge

The Third Bridge, also known as the “Ghost Bridge,” is located out in a prairie in the middle of nowhere and crosses over Kiowa Creek. The haunting of this area began with a massacre of Native Americans. According to legend, you can hear their drums beating from a distance, and the longer you stand on the bridge, the louder the drumming gets. Some even claim to have heard the pounding of hooves across the bridge at night.

Driving Along The Devil's Highway, Route 666

Driving Along The Devil's is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list 10 Chilling Stories And Urban Legends That Prove Colorado Is The Creepiest State

The infamous Route 666, nicknamed the "Devil's Highway," runs through four states, one of which is Colorado. It was renumbered as Route 491 in 2003 in hopes of dispelling the fear surrounding the demonic numbers. However, changing the numbers didn't take away the unexplainable phenomena that occurred, and is still occurring, on this cursed road. Admittedly, the accident rate has significantly decreased since the renaming.

When it was still known as Route 666, this stretch of highway had an unusually high accident rate. People driving along the Devil’s Highway have reported creepy incidents, such as a black phantom sedan that follows dangerously close no matter how high the speed. Many have pulled over only to realize there's no car behind them.

There are also tales of a pack of "hell hounds" that terrorize innocent travelers. The beasts somehow manage to keep up with the vehicle, regardless of how fast or recklessly the driver maneuvers the car. Many believe these hell hounds are responsible for shredding tires and causing terrible wrecks. Some have even claimed that the beasts are capable of jumping into the windows and mauling people.

The Skinwalkers Of The Four Corners

The Skinwalkers Of The Four Co is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list 10 Chilling Stories And Urban Legends That Prove Colorado Is The Creepiest State

Colorado is rich with legends of Native American culture, one of which is about the Skinwalkers. The Navajo have passed down stories of those able to shapeshift into different animals. Local lore describes a coyote with the eyes of a man that runs alongside cars, hitting the hood while transforming into a man that has the glowing yellow eyes of an animal.

As terrifying and aggressive as that sounds, there are many who insist a Skinwalker's appearance outside of a car should be taken as a warning to not continue down the road. If the traveler ignores that warning, an evil shaman will appear in the backseat of the car and cause an accident.

The Ridge Home Asylum

The Ridge Home Asylum is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list 10 Chilling Stories And Urban Legends That Prove Colorado Is The Creepiest State

The Ridge Home Asylum was operational from 1912 to 1991, serving the mentally disabled of all ages. Allegedly, the patients were kept drugged and some were even severely beaten. One staff member was arrested for abusing patients and bragging about it to friends. Even during its operational years, the asylum was believed to be haunted. Patients and staff reported strange noises, apparitions, laughter, children running down the halls,  and objects moving on their own.

After the mental institution closed its doors, local youths considered breaking into the abandoned asylum a rite of passage. The Ridge Home was certainly creepy enough - when it closed, all of the equipment, toys, and old furnishings were left behind. The building was demolished in 2004, replaced by a Super Target which is supposedly haunted by ghostly phenomena.

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