Boo! Have you ever been spooked in the night, unsure of what is in the dark? Do you like the thrill of being scared, but in a not so scary way? Indiana has some natural, and not so natural haunted trails and nature preserves. One such location is Indiana Dunes National Park. In the early 1900’s, the area was mostly wilderness, but fisherman along the lakeshore witness seeing ghostly ships in the distance from wreckages past.
In Morgan-Monroe State Forest, there is said to be a haunted trail that weaves through the woods, leading to Stepp Cemetery where apparitions have been reported amongst the old gravestones in the long-abandoned cemetery; additionally, there is a possibly spirited cabin along the trail too, and even talk of the legendary bigfoot stalking the forest.
Mounds State Park has also been rumored to be haunted by not only spirits of Native Americans who lived in the area around the White River, but also by trolls, known in folklore as Pudwudgies, who roam the park property, protecting the mounds. East of Pokagon State Park is Wing Haven Nature Preserve. This location is said to have “eyes in the woods.” Once thought that black magic was practiced here, the area feels dark and ominous.
The Mississinewa Reservoir is known as “Hobbitland” to locals, for it is said that little people with small lanterns chase you through the forest on the reservoir grounds. This is reminiscent of the Pukwudgies legend of Mounds State Park. The Mississinewa area was associated with the War of 1812, and many ghosts are said to wander the land here, as well as reported haunts in nearby local caves.
The Grand Kankakee Marsh apparently holds apparitions too. This wildlife viewing area offers splendid scenery, but do not get caught there after dark (hours are dawn to dusk), because supposedly spirits of Native Americans can been seen peering out from the forest surrounding the caretaker’s cabin. Orbs and mists creep out of the trees and startle unsuspecting visitors.
Clifty Falls State Park has reports of disembodied moans coming from the trees along the trail to the waterfalls, but when investigated, nothing has been found. Perhaps just the moaning of the trees? Perhaps something a little supernatural?
Potato Creek State Park has crying children, saddened by numerous drownings in the waters there, but when the sounds are approached, no one is seen, and at McCormick’s Creek State Park Inn, that was the location of a possible mental asylum, screams and cries along with footsteps can be heard moving along the hallways.
Reports of shadow people and strange lights appearing in the Wabash County State Forest sometimes cause hikers to lose their way. Hikers claim that the trail appears to change before them, leaving them lost and disoriented.
Indiana haunts occur across our state, and these mentioned are but a few. Sometimes in nature, it is left to be explained. The natural phenomena or possibly in these cases, supernatural phenomena, should be left to the native spirits that reside there. And because there is not yet an explanation, we continue to haunt the forests, parks and trails in the Hoosier heartland.
Interested in materials about Indiana and unexplained events? Check out “Spooky Indiana: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore” (398.2 Sch) by S. E. Schlosser, “Haunted Lafayette” (133.1 Dav) by Dorothy Salvo Davis; “Haunted Indiana: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Hoosier State” (133.1 Wil) by James A. Willis or the series Haunted Indiana by Mark Marimen (398.47 Mar). Not in the mood to be scared? You can still check out our guides to local and national parks available in the travel section of the adult collection on the second floor.
If you’d like more information about our local parks and resources, call us at 765-362-2242, ext 117 or send us a message at ref@cdpl.lib.in.us. We’d be happy to help.
Stephanie Morrissette is a library assistant at the reference and local history department at the Crawfordsville District Public Library.
