Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA narrow rural bridge and wooded hollow near Decatur, Alabama, associated with the widespread regional 'Cry Baby Bridge' legend — a ghostly infant's cry, disappearing candy, and a car pushed by unseen hands.
Off Highway 31 North, near Decatur, Decatur, AL 35601
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free rural road; no facilities.
Access
Limited Access
Narrow rural road through wooded hollow; bridge in variable condition.
Equipment
Photos OK
One of North Alabama's most widely known urban-legend road sites · Documented in local press (Decatur Daily) and noted by Visit Decatur tourism body
The 'Cry Baby Bridge' legend type is one of the most common forms of American road folklore. In Morgan County, Alabama, the most documented variant of this legend is centered on a bridge on Kayo Road, Hartselle (approximately 18 miles south of Decatur), with which this Shadowlands entry may be conflated. Multiple origin stories circulate in the area, including a wagon accident ejecting an infant into the creek below, a mother's desperate act, and a 1940s serial killer named 'Frank Hammond' — the last of which has been investigated and found to have no historical basis (Decatur Daily; Southern Spirit Guide).
The Decatur-area Cry Baby Hollow at the coordinates provided by Shadowlands (near Highway 31 North) appears in regional folklore collections but has not been independently documented with a specific road name or bridge identifier separate from the Hartselle Kayo Road location. A 2010 paranormal investigation of the Morgan County Cry Baby Hollow found no conclusive evidence of paranormal activity despite using professional equipment.
Visit Decatur, Alabama's official tourism body, has referenced the Morgan County Cry Baby Hollow as one of the area's most infamous haunted sites, giving the legend some mainstream local recognition.
Sources
The Cry Baby Hollow legend near Decatur follows the classic regional template. The story says that long ago a baby died at the bridge in a tragic accident — accounts vary between a wagon overturning and ejecting the infant, a woman dropping her child into the creek, and a car accident. The infant's spirit, along with the spirits of other children who died similarly, is said to linger at the site.
Visitors report that placing a candy bar on the bridge railing and returning after a short absence reveals the candy disturbed or partially eaten. The most widely repeated tradition involves putting the car in neutral on the bridge — some say a gentle rocking or forward motion follows, attributed to unseen hands pushing the vehicle to safety. Footprints or handprints on dusty cars after night visits are also reported.
No investigator has found physical evidence to confirm these phenomena. Blair Jett of the Paranormal Research Alliance of Cullman conducted three investigations in 2010 using EMF detectors, infrared cameras, and digital voice recorders, finding no conclusive paranormal evidence — only subjective sensations. The legend is documented in the Decatur Daily (Jennifer R. Hill, 'Hartselle's haunting,' October 31, 2012), in the Visit Decatur Alabama tourism pages, in Jessica Penot's 'Haunted North Alabama' (Arcadia Publishing, 2010, chapter 'The Legend of Crybaby Hollow'), and independently researched by Lewis Powell IV in the Southern Spirit Guide, all of which treat it as one of the best-known ghost-legend roads in Morgan County.
Notable Entities
A dark, tree-canopied road leads to a small bridge over a creek. Local tradition involves leaving candy on the bridge and returning to find it disturbed, and putting the car in neutral to feel it 'pushed' by spirits.
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Aerial survey · USDA NAIPHartselle, AL
Cry Baby Hollow on Kayo Road, Morgan County, is North Alabama's most documented haunted bridge folklore site. No historical incident has been independently verified as the legend's origin. The Decatur Daily reported on it as a notable Morgan County legend, and a 2010 paranormal investigation found no conclusive evidence of activity despite professional equipment. Visit Decatur, Alabama's official tourism bureau, cites the hollow as one of the area's most infamous haunted sites.
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