10 Most Haunted Places in Colorado: Real Ghost Stories You Can Visit
Colorado hides its ghosts in plain sight. Grand mountain hotels, Victorian mansions, and even a city park all carry stories that refuse to fade.
Some of these hauntings are world famous. Others are quiet local legends known mostly to the staff who lock up at night.
This ranked guide counts down 10 of the most haunted places in Colorado. Each one is a real, documented location you can actually visit today. Explore all haunted places in Colorado for even more.
If you plan to hunt for the spirits yourself, pack smart. Our ghost hunting equipment guide covers the gear that matters.
1. Stanley Hotel (Estes Park)
The Stanley Hotel is the ghost story that launched a thousand others. Stephen King stayed in room 217 in 1974, and that single eerie night inspired “The Shining.”
Flora Stanley still plays her piano in the empty Music Room after midnight. Children’s footsteps race down the fourth-floor hallway when no children are registered.
Room 217 is the epicenter, where the spirit of housekeeper Elizabeth Wilson folds guests’ clothes and turns off lights. It stays booked months in advance.
Both “Ghost Hunters” and “Ghost Adventures” have filmed here, capturing EVPs and dramatic equipment malfunctions. That coverage cemented the hotel’s national fame.
You can stay overnight year-round or join a nightly Night Spirit Tour. Ghost Adventure Packages even include investigation gear and expert guides.
2. Molly Brown House (Denver)
The Molly Brown House was home to the “Unsinkable” Titanic survivor from 1894 to 1932. Many believe she never truly left the Capitol Hill mansion she loved.
Visitors see a woman in Victorian clothing descending the main staircase. The smell of J.J. Brown’s pipe tobacco drifts through the library where he once read.
The second-floor master bedroom is the most active spot. Guests photograph strange mists in its antique mirror and feel dizzy near the four-poster bed.
The Travel Channel featured the mansion on “Most Terrifying Places.” Museum director Brian Levitt has even admitted hearing his name called while working alone after hours.
The museum runs public tours Tuesday through Sunday. Special after-hours paranormal investigations sell out fast every October.
3. Brown Palace Hotel (Denver)
The Brown Palace Hotel has hosted presidents since 1892 behind its famous triangular facade. It has also hosted several restless spirits.
A Victorian woman in a black dress walks the second floor, sometimes stepping straight through locked doors. A confused train conductor asks guests about schedules that stopped running a century ago.
The eighth floor is the hotel’s hot spot, especially room 904. Guests wake to find a silent man in early 1900s attire standing at the foot of the bed.
A deadly love-triangle shooting killed Sylvester Von Phul in the bar in 1911. Bartenders still report bottles sliding along the shelves with no one near them.
The hotel operates as a luxury property with no formal ghost tours. You can still explore the historic atrium, bars, and afternoon tea service freely.
4. Hotel Colorado (Glenwood Springs)
The Hotel Colorado opened in 1893 and served as Theodore Roosevelt’s “Summer White House.” Its darkest energy dates to its years as a WWII military hospital.
The Chambermaid of Room 408 still tidies guests’ rooms in her period uniform. A Bell Captain in a pillbox hat offers to carry luggage before vanishing near the lobby.
Room 408 is the most haunted spot, with faucets that run on their own and mirrors that fog with no hot water. The basement tunnels rank a close second.
One investigation team recorded a child’s voice saying “come play with us” in an empty third-floor hallway at 2:30 AM. Legend even claims Roosevelt’s cigar smoke still drifts through the presidential suite.
The hotel welcomes overnight guests with rates starting around $150. You can dine in the restaurant without booking a room.
5. Cheesman Park (Denver)
Cheesman Park looks like a peaceful green space, but it was built on top of a cemetery. An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 bodies were left in the soil when the botched removal of 1893 was abandoned.
Undertaker E.P. McGovern was paid $1.90 per coffin and used child-sized boxes, hacking bodies apart to make them fit. That desecration is blamed for the restless dead who linger.
A sad woman in a white Victorian dress appears near the pavilion at twilight, seemingly searching for her grave. Dogs refuse to walk through certain sections entirely.
The marble pavilion at the park’s center marks the densest burials and the strongest activity. One EVP recording here captured a voice pleading, “help me find my bones.”
The park is free and open daily from 5 AM to 11 PM. Private companies run weekend paranormal walking tours.
6. Redstone Castle (Redstone)
Redstone Castle is a 42-room Tudor Revival mansion built by coal baron John Cleveland Osgood in 1902. Its Gilded Age grandeur hides a deeply sorrowful past.
The ghost of Osgood’s wife Alma appears in Victorian gowns, gazing out toward the Crystal River Valley. Guests hear phantom orchestra music and laughter echo from the empty ballroom.
The third-floor master suite, where Alma spent her isolated final years, is the most active area. Visitors often feel overwhelming grief and drop into tears there.
A wedding photographer captured a transparent Victorian woman near the ballroom fireplace in 2015. A visiting medium later shared details about Alma’s unhappy marriage that matched hidden historical records.
The castle offers guided tours in summer and fall, roughly $25 to $40 per person. Overnight paranormal investigations can be booked in advance.
7. Museum of Colorado Prisons (Cañon City)
The Museum of Colorado Prisons sits in a former women’s prison beside the still-active territorial facility. It holds 140 years of incarceration, violence, and lingering spirits.
Visitors feel invisible hands tug at their clothing near the death row artifacts. The angry spirit of Edward O’Kelley, the man who killed outlaw Robert Ford, is seen in the Wild West section.
Cell Number Seven is the most concentrated hot spot, triggering panic and maxed-out EMF readings. The cramped solitary confinement cells rank a close second.
“Ghost Adventures” filmed here in 2013, and crew member Aaron Goodwin was scratched with three claw marks on his back. The 1930s gas chamber is considered the most charged object on site.
The museum is open to the public with $8 adult admission. Special after-hours investigation tours run on select Friday and Saturday nights.
8. The Victor Hotel (Victor)
The Victor Hotel rises three brick stories at nearly 10,000 feet in a former gold rush boomtown. Its walls absorbed a century of mining tragedy and sudden death.
Eddie, a bellhop who died in the elevator shaft, still appears carrying luggage in his brass-buttoned uniform. A grieving Lady in Black haunts the upper floors in Victorian mourning attire.
Room 301 is the hotel’s most dangerous space, tied to gambler Jack Morrison who was shot dead there in 1903. Guests report being shoved and pinned to the bed.
One 2018 guest woke in Room 301 to a large male figure that pressed on her chest and moved closer instead of vanishing. Researchers have identified at least seven distinct entities in the building.
The hotel runs as a bed and breakfast with rooms from about $75 to $150. Tours of the historic district operate May through October.
9. Patterson Inn (Denver)
The Patterson Inn is a Victorian mansion built in 1891 by Senator Thomas Patterson. Behind its elegant Capitol Hill facade, supernatural encounters are a nightly routine.
A woman in a dark dress, believed to be Margaret Patterson, appears at bedsides and smooths empty sheets. A scent of lavender perfume follows her through the halls.
Room 5 is the most active accommodation, where guests feel invisible hands stroke their hair and faucets turn on alone. Staff refuse to clean it without a partner.
Skeptical journalist Rebecca Stone left convinced after her jewelry was rearranged into perfect geometric shapes while she showered. May 14th, Margaret’s death date, reliably brings fresh sightings.
The inn operates as a bed and breakfast, roughly $150 to $300 per night. Guided paranormal tours run the last Friday of each month.
10. Seven Keys Lodge / Baldpate Inn (Estes Park)
The Baldpate Inn sits at 9,000 feet and holds the world’s largest key collection, over 30,000 of them. Built in 1917, it runs on propane light with no electricity, which only deepens the eerie mood.
A woman in a white nightgown drifts the second-floor hallway, said to be an early guest still searching for a lost ring. Keys have been found rearranged in sealed display cases.
Room Eight is the most active spot, where her doorknob reportedly rattles at 2:47 AM. Investigators here once received the repeated name “Margaret,” later matched to a 1923 guest.
A 2017 study logged a 15-degree hallway temperature drop that lasted exactly seven minutes. A brass key from the demolished Colorado Territorial Prison stays colder than its display case.
The inn is open from late May through early October, with rooms from $130 to $250. Day visitors can tour the key collection and dine at the restaurant.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most haunted place in Colorado?
The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park is widely considered the most haunted place in Colorado. Its fame, documented activity in room 217, and constant stream of guest encounters put it at the top.
Did the Stanley Hotel inspire The Shining?
Yes. Stephen King stayed in room 217 in 1974 and had a nightmare about his son being chased through the corridors. That single night directly inspired his novel “The Shining.”
Can you actually visit these haunted places?
Almost all of them welcome the public. Several operate as working hotels or museums, and many offer dedicated ghost tours or overnight paranormal investigations.
When is the best time to visit haunted places in Colorado?
October is the peak season for ghost tours and reported activity across most locations. The late-night hours between 2 AM and 4 AM are when encounters happen most often.
These 10 places are only the beginning of Colorado’s haunted history. Browse the full Colorado directory to find a haunted spot near you.
