10 Hidden Spooky Attractions In Pennsylvania Few Tourists Ever Find
Pennsylvania hides some truly bone-chilling places beyond the typical tourist trails. While many visitors flock to Gettysburg or Philadelphia’s historic sites, these lesser-known spooky attractions offer glimpses into the state’s darker history.
From abandoned asylums to mysterious urban legends, these spots will satisfy your craving for the paranormal and give you stories to share for years to come.
1. Abandoned Cresson Sanatorium And Prison
Nestled in the Allegheny Mountains sits a sprawling complex where tuberculosis patients once sought healing. Later converted into a state prison, Cresson now stands eerily vacant.
Explorers report disembodied voices echoing through crumbling hallways and shadowy figures in former patient rooms. The decaying architecture and overgrown grounds create a truly haunting Pennsylvania atmosphere.
2. Centralia’s Graffiti Highway And Smoldering Ground
A ghost town born from an underground mine fire that’s burned since 1962. Steam still rises from cracks in the earth, creating an apocalyptic landscape where an entire community once thrived.
The abandoned stretch of Route 61, covered in colorful graffiti, became a canvas for visitors until being covered with dirt in 2020. Beneath your feet, the ground remains unnaturally warm.
3. Eastern State Penitentiary’s Forgotten Tunnels
Beyond the guided tours of this famous Pennsylvania prison lie restricted underground passageways few ever see. These narrow tunnels once transported guards and prisoners beneath the massive complex.
Staff members avoid these claustrophobic corridors after experiencing unexplained footsteps and whispers. The tunnels, with their peeling paint and rusted pipes, hold darker secrets than the cell blocks above them.
4. Haunted Halls Of Hill View Manor
Originally a poor Pennsylvania farm and later a nursing home, this New Castle building housed society’s forgotten souls for nearly a century. Many residents died within these walls, and some appear reluctant to leave.
Paranormal teams capture EVPs of former patients calling for help. The most active area, the second floor, features unexplained cold spots and the sensation of being watched as you walk its abandoned corridors.
5. Haines Shoe House With A Ghostly Twist
From the road, this whimsical shoe-shaped Pennsylvania house looks like a charming roadside attraction. Built in 1948 by shoe salesman Mahlon Haines, the quirky structure hides supernatural secrets behind its storybook facade.
Late-night visitors report seeing a man resembling Haines watching from windows, even though the building is empty. Caretakers mention objects rearranged overnight and phantom footsteps on the stairs.
6. Jean Bonnet Tavern’s Restless Spirits
This historic stone tavern in Pennsylvania has served travelers along the Lincoln Highway since the 1760s. During the Whiskey Rebellion, it functioned as a meeting place for protesters before becoming a stagecoach stop.
Overnight guests report being awakened by revolutionary-era soldiers gathered around tables that no longer exist. Staff members regularly experience glasses sliding across the bar and doors opening by themselves.
7. Pine Grove Furnace State Park’s Mysterious Ruins
Hikers along the Appalachian Trail might stumble upon crumbling stone structures deep in these woods. The abandoned iron furnace community once housed hundreds of workers before being abruptly deserted.
Park rangers avoid certain areas after sunset when visitors report seeing shadowy figures moving between trees. The foundations of former worker homes, now reclaimed by forest, allegedly hide unmarked graves of those who perished in industrial accidents.
8. Pennhurst Asylum’s Hidden Corners
Beyond the commercialized haunted attraction lies the truly haunted history of this former Pennsylvania institution for the disabled. The most paranormally active areas aren’t on the regular tour route.
The abandoned Mayflower Building, with its decaying patient rooms, draws serious ghost hunters. Electronic equipment malfunctions inexplicably here, and visitors report being touched by unseen hands or hearing children’s voices in empty hallways.
9. Baleroy Mansion – America’s Most Haunted House
This statelyPennsylvania residence harbors more than antique furniture. The infamous “Death Chair” allegedly claims the life of anyone who sits in it, while a spectral boy named David roams the halls.
Visitors describe cold spots, objects moving on their own, and glimpses of former residents. Despite its elegant exterior, paranormal investigators consider it one of America’s most actively haunted private homes.
10. Vanishing Hitchhiker Tales Of Lancaster County
Along the winding back roads of Amish Country, drivers report picking up a young woman in traditional dress who asks for a ride home. Upon reaching the destination, she vanishes from the vehicle.
Locals say she’s the spirit of a girl killed in a buggy accident decades ago. The phenomenon occurs most frequently on rainy nights near the covered bridges. Several families claim their ancestors encountered her as far back as the 1950s.
