HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Reservoir east of Morgantown tied to a local legend rooted in a real 1970 WVU case
Cheat Lake area, Route 857 / Morgan Run Road, Morgantown, WV 26508
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
No charge to access public roads, overlooks, and boat-launch areas around the reservoir.
Access
Limited Access
Rural reservoir with wooded shorelines, winding roads, and uneven ground near the water
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1925 · Cheat River reservoir (dam completed 1925) · Connection to a real 1970 WVU case · Monongalia County recreation site
Cheat Lake is a reservoir on the Cheat River in Monongalia County, stretching about 13 miles east of Morgantown. It was created by a dam across the river, over which water first flowed on December 23, 1925. The reservoir was originally named Lake Lynn; the U.S. Board on Geographic Names settled on Cheat Lake as the official name in 1976. Today the lake is a recreation destination, with boat launches, shoreline parks, and roads such as Route 857 running near the water.
The darker reputation of the area is not native to the lake itself but is borrowed from one of Morgantown's most serious historical cases. In 1970, two West Virginia University freshmen, Mared Malarik and Karen Ferrell, disappeared after a night out while hitchhiking back toward their Evansdale dorms. Their bodies were found months later along an old mining road near Fairmont. A man was convicted and served decades in prison, though the case has remained disputed.
Over time, local storytelling has loosely attached that case and other tragedies to the wooded roads around Cheat Lake, where the rural, isolated setting and a history of road accidents gave the legend a place to take hold. The lake's documented history is straightforward; the legend that surrounds it is folklore built on top of a real and painful event.
Sources
The Cheat Lake legend is one of the most repeated pieces of local lore around Morgantown. People describe hearing growling, screams, and whistling from the woods near the reservoir, and Route 857 has a reputation for accidents that some attribute to figures said to dart across the road at night.
The story is loosely connected to a real and serious event: the 1970 disappearance and murder of WVU freshmen Mared Malarik and Karen Ferrell, who were hitchhiking when they vanished. Local retellings have drawn the case toward the isolated roads around Cheat Lake, even though the documented facts place the victims' recovery near Fairmont. The legend has grown by attaching a genuine tragedy to an atmospheric rural setting.
The victims were real people, and this entry treats the case with the seriousness it deserves rather than as a ghost story about them. The reported phenomena around the lake are anecdotal and unverified, and no documented investigation supports them. What makes the Cheat Lake legend persistent is the pairing of a dark, real chapter of local history with dark, lonely roads that feel the part after sundown.
Cheat Lake is a 13-mile reservoir on the Cheat River east of Morgantown, reached by Route 857 and the roads around Morgan Run. Public overlooks, boat launches, and shoreline parks are open for daytime visits. The area carries a long-told local legend connected to a real 1970 case; visit the public, signed areas only and respect private property.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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