8 Haunted Spots In Aspen, Colorado Promise Chilling Fall Getaways
When autumn paints the mountains in fiery gold, whispers of the past rise with the evening chill. Shadows lengthen over forgotten streets and creaking floorboards echo with footsteps that no longer belong to the living.
Aspen turns from a bustling retreat into a stage for haunted tales, where cemeteries, ghost towns, and storied inns trade sunshine for flickering lantern light. Each site holds secrets older than the trees around it, luring travelers with the promise of history wrapped in mystery and a touch of fear.
1. Hotel Jerome
Built during the silver boom of 1889, Hotel Jerome houses the ghost of a young boy who drowned in the hotel’s original swimming pool. Staff report seeing his dripping wet apparition wandering the hallways.
Guests staying in room 310 have witnessed items mysteriously moving and felt cold spots. The hotel embraces its haunted reputation, offering ghost tours during the fall season.
2. The Red Onion
Built in 1885 by prominent Aspen businessman Henry Webber, this elegant Victorian mansion hides a tragic past. After Henry’s wife Harriet died under mysterious circumstances, whispers spread through town about her final words – “Henry will know.”
Today, guests and passersby report seeing a veiled woman drifting through the upstairs windows, her gaze fixed on the garden where she once strolled. Lights flicker in empty rooms, and footsteps echo across the grand staircase long after dark.
3. Henry Webber House
Perched on the outskirts of Aspen near abandoned Independence mining town, this renovated miners’ lodging attracts paranormal enthusiasts year-round. Guests regularly photograph orbs and unexplained shadows in their rooms.
Room 7 is infamous for its midnight knocking and the scent of tobacco that appears without explanation. The hotel’s century-old guest book sometimes shows mysterious signatures appearing overnight.
4. Ute Cemetery
Dating back to the 1880s, this hillside cemetery holds Aspen’s earliest settlers – and, some say, their lingering spirits. Paranormal investigators capture strange lights and unexplained cold spots among the crooked headstones.
Guests have claimed to hear whispers in the still air, and one unmarked grave is rumored to glow faintly at midnight before fading into darkness.
5. Aspen Art Museum
Before its transformation into a sleek contemporary art space, the museum’s building once housed Aspen’s original power plant. Locals whisper that a fatal accident left one worker bound forever to the structure.
Security guards report unexplained footsteps echoing through the galleries after closing hours, while motion sensors trigger in empty rooms as if unseen eyes still roam the halls.
6. The Hotel Colorado
An hour’s drive from Aspen, this 1893 landmark boasts gilded halls – and chilling legends. Guests claim to hear a chambermaid weeping in Room 454, where she was rumored to have met a violent end.
The grand dining hall’s chandeliers sway on windless nights, and multiple visitors report phantom footsteps pacing the upper balconies long after midnight.
7. Independence Ghost Town
Perched high in the Rockies east of Aspen, Independence thrived during the silver rush before harsh winters drove its last residents away. Now its collapsing cabins and empty general store attract ghost hunters who swear they hear pickaxes striking rock after dusk.
Some visitors say they’ve glimpsed lantern light weaving between the ruins, carried by miners who never left the mountain.
8. Ashcroft Ghost Town
Nestled eleven miles up Castle Creek Road, the skeletal remains of Ashcroft tell the story of a silver boom gone silent. Visitors wander past the weathered saloon and livery stable, often describing the faint clang of hammers and men’s voices drifting through the thin mountain air.
On misty evenings, shadowy figures have been spotted leaning against doorframes, watching silently before disappearing into the darkened hills.
