The Most Haunted Places in Montana

Ranked

1. 

   1. Virginia City Virginia City · Museum / Historical Site · Family Comfort: High

   Prospectors struck gold at Alder Gulch in 1863, and Virginia City grew into Montana's territorial capital from 1865 to 1875. Vigilantes hanged 21 men accused of road agentry here in 1864. Actors at the Opera House report voices and footsteps on the balcony, bartenders at the Bale of Hay Saloon describe bottles shifting on shelves and figures in the mirror, and visitors on Wallace Street report a bearded man in Civil War-era dress who vanishes.

   6 original accounts · documented across 7 decades, 1911-2004

2. 

   2. Dumas Brothel Museum Butte · Museum / Historical Site · Family Comfort: Moderate

   HauntBound identified two distinct published accounts at this museum site, across four kinds of published source. Four later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions.

   2 original accounts · documented across 4 decades, 1970-2023 · retold in 4 later publications

3. 

   3. Boulder Hot Springs Inn Boulder · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: Moderate

   Prospector James Riley built a saloon and bathhouse over these springs in 1863, and a hotel followed in 1881; the building was condemned by the 1980s before restoration in 1989. Legend holds that a woman named Simone worked here and was killed by a mining executive after an argument, unconfirmed by record. Staff describe her as playful, blamed for turning on the stove, plus perfume, footsteps, and a figure in old dress upstairs.

   1 original account · documented across 3 decades, 1979-2015 · retold in 5 later publications

4. 4. The Wild Hare (formerly The Lobby Bar) Great Falls · Haunted Dining / Bar · Family Comfort: Not Recommended

   Built in 1914 as the Davenport Hotel, this Great Falls building was rumored during Prohibition to house a speakeasy and brothel; a 1925 fire damaged it and reportedly killed one of the women there. Staff describe a cowboy at a second-floor window whose bootsteps leave no prints in the dust, a woman in a beaded dress announced by perfume in the restroom, and a shot glass left out that turns up empty.

   4 original accounts · documented in 1925

5. 

   5. Fairweather Inn Virginia City · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: Low

   This Virginia City lot was deeded in 1863, weeks after Bill Fairweather's gold strike touched off the rush that built the town; the building began as a meat market before becoming an 1880s hotel, renamed by the Bovey family in 1946. Vigilantes hanged five men from a beam nearby in their 1864 campaign against Plummer's gang. Guests report the most activity in Room 10, child voices downstairs, and a figure in a long dress upstairs.

   2 original accounts · retold in 5 later publications

6. 

   6. Daly Mansion Hamilton · Haunted House / Historic Home · Family Comfort: High

   HauntBound identified two distinct published accounts at this historic home, across four kinds of published source. One later publication retells those accounts. Reported phenomena include a sensed presence and phantom footsteps.

   2 original accounts · documented in 2015 · retold in 1 later publication

7. 

   7. Chico Hot Springs Resort Pray · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: High

   Bill and Percie Knowles opened this hotel at a Paradise Valley hot spring in 1900. After Bill died in 1910, Percie ran the resort for decades, spending her final years in what is now Room 349 before she was hospitalized in 1936. Guests report a rocking chair repositioning to face the window no matter where it is moved, and staff describe finding it rocking in an empty room, with the scent of lilac and jasmine.

   1 original account · documented across 2 decades, 1986-1990 · retold in 2 later publications

8. 

   8. Fort Peck Theatre Fort Peck · Theater / Performance Venue · Family Comfort: High

   HauntBound identified one distinct published account at this working theater, across three kinds of published source. Reported phenomena include a sensed presence and objects moving.

   1 original account · documented across 2 decades, 1930-2016

9. 

   9. Many Glacier Hotel Babb · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: High

   HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this working hotel, across three kinds of published source. One later publication retells those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and disembodied voices.

   4 original accounts · documented in 2009 · retold in 1 later publication

10. 

    10. Benton Avenue Cemetery Helena · Cemetery / Burial Ground · Family Comfort: Moderate

    HauntBound identified two distinct published accounts at this burial ground, across three kinds of published source. Two later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions.

    2 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 2009-2014 · retold in 2 later publications

Superlatives