The 5 Most Haunted Places in Colorado

Colorado's dramatic landscape hides a genuinely haunted history. From a hotel that inspired one of the most famous horror stories ever written to parks built on forgotten graves, the Centennial State is a paranormal hotspot. Here are five of the most haunted places in Colorado.

1. The Stanley Hotel — Estes Park

No list of haunted Colorado is complete without the Stanley. This grand 1909 hotel so unsettled author Stephen King during his stay that it inspired The Shining. Guests and staff report piano music playing in the empty ballroom, children laughing in the halls, and lights flickering in room 217 — King's actual room. The Stanley leans into its reputation, and it remains one of the most famous haunted hotels in America.

2. Cheesman Park — Denver

Denver's beautiful Cheesman Park hides a dark secret: it was built over a cemetery. When the city relocated the graves in the 1890s, the job was done carelessly — and many bodies were left behind. Visitors report apparitions, cold spots, and an inescapable feeling of being watched. It's one of Denver's most haunted spots, hiding in plain sight.

3. The Molly Brown House — Denver

Home of the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown, Titanic survivor, this Victorian house museum is said to still host its former residents. Staff report the smell of pipe smoke (Molly's husband J.J. was a cigar smoker), furniture that rearranges itself, and a figure in Victorian dress seen at the windows.

4. The Croke-Patterson Mansion — Denver

This 1891 mansion has a reputation as one of Denver's most actively haunted homes, with reports of phantom construction sounds, a crying baby, and guard dogs that reportedly leapt to their deaths from an upper window on the very first night they were posted there.

5. Buffalo Rose & Historic Golden

The historic mining towns around Denver are full of Old West spirits who never checked out. Golden's oldest saloons and buildings carry stories of gold-rush-era ghosts still lingering where they lived, drank, and died.

See Haunted Denver for Yourself

Reading about Colorado's ghosts is one thing — hearing the stories where they happened, drink in hand, is another. Our Denver haunted pub crawl takes you to the real haunted bars and historic sites of the Mile High City. Come see why the spirits of Colorado just won't rest.