HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
An evening walking tour of Gold Rush-era Jackson, anchored by the haunted National Hotel
Main St, Jackson, CA 95642
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages; content geared toward older children and adults
Cost
$$
Ticketed evening walking tour; check the operator for current per-person pricing and dates
Access
Limited Access
Outdoor walking tour over downtown sidewalks and some sloped streets
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1852 · Gold Rush Town · Amador County Seat · Preserved 19th-Century Downtown · National Hotel Heritage
Jackson grew up in the early 1850s as a supply and mining center in Amador County, in the band of Sierra Nevada foothills known as California's Gold Country. It became the county seat, and its compact downtown still holds a dense stretch of 19th-century brick and stone commercial buildings along Main Street.
The anchor of the tour's lore is the National Hotel. According to Comstock's magazine, a hotel has stood on the site since the early 1850s, beginning as the Louisiana House; after a fire destroyed much of the town, the rebuilt establishment took the National Hotel name. The hotel operated through Jackson's rougher decades, known into the mid-20th century for gambling and other vices, and it has more recently been renovated as part of a national hotel collection.
The Jackson Ghost Tour is run by US Ghost Adventures, a national operator of ticketed evening walking tours. The Jackson route covers Main Street and the stories attached to the National Hotel and other downtown sites. Locally, Jackson's downtown organization has also promoted seasonal haunted tours, reflecting the town's interest in this side of its history.
The tour is an outdoor, on-foot experience that uses the town itself as the setting, rather than a single building. Its value is as much a guided walk through a preserved Gold Rush downtown as a collection of ghost stories.
Sources
The Jackson Ghost Tour draws on the town's collected ghost lore, with the National Hotel as its central stop. According to Comstock's magazine, guests seeking a reportedly active room are pointed toward particular numbers, and over the years visitors have described apparitions, doors slamming, and lights flickering on and off. The hotel keeps a logbook in its lobby where guests record what they say they have experienced, a practice that has helped the building's reputation travel.
The walking tour weaves these accounts together with stories from other downtown buildings, set against Jackson's Gold Rush past as a mining town known for both fortune and lawlessness. As a US Ghost Adventures route, it follows the operator's format of an evening guided walk led by a costumed or in-character guide.
Because this is a tour rather than a single haunted site, the experience is the storytelling and the walk through a preserved 1850s downtown. The National Hotel's documented reputation, covered in regional press, gives the route a verifiable anchor, while the surrounding stops fill out the local folklore.
A guided evening walking tour through downtown Jackson, the Amador County seat, recounting the town's Gold Rush history and reported hauntings along Main Street, including the National Hotel. Run by US Ghost Adventures; tickets and schedule through the operator.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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