HauntBound Press Fact Sheet · Updated September 2026
The Most Haunted Places in Colorado
Colorado has 132 documented haunted locations in the HauntBound index.
Top 10 identified after source-level analysis of the 27 strongest Colorado candidates.
By the numbers
- Total documented
- 132
- Haunted Hotel / Inn
- 38
- Museum / Historical Site
- 24
- Cemetery / Burial Ground
- 15
- Family-friendly
- 124
- Bookable
- 42
- Oldest documented site
- Cheesman Park (1858)
- Most-reported phenomenon
- apparitions
Ranked
- 1. Silver Cliff Cemetery Local legend dates the small blue-white lights that drift among Silver Cliff Cemetery's headstones to the town's 1870s mining boom; the earliest known written report is a 1956 Wet Mountain Tribune story, and the best known is National Geographic writer Edward Linehan's in August 1969. Researchers have proposed phosphorescence on damp grave markers, retinal phosphenes, or reflected town lighting as explanations; local lore holds that the lights still appeared during a blackout staged to test them. The cemetery remains in active use and open to visitors who want to judge the phenomenon for themselves. 5 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1956-1969 · retold in 4 later publications
- 2. Hotel Colorado HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this working hotel, across three kinds of published source. Four later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and disembodied voices. 4 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1993-2006 · retold in 4 later publications
- 3. Briarhurst Manor Physician William Bell, co-founder of Manitou Springs, built Briarhurst in 1872; it burned in 1886, was rebuilt by 1888, and the family left for England in 1890. It later ran as a restaurant until 2024 and will reopen as a wedding venue. A 2014 television investigation recorded audio in nearly every room, and staff have reported disembodied voices, full-body apparitions in the foyer, unexplained lights, and a vase that flew off a mantel. 4 original accounts · documented in 2009 · retold in 3 later publications
- 4. Strater Hotel HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this working hotel, across three kinds of published source. Five later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and phantom sounds. 4 original accounts · documented in 1890 · retold in 5 later publications
- 5. Hotel Jerome HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this working hotel, across three kinds of published source. Three later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and cold spots. 4 original accounts · documented in 1936 · retold in 3 later publications
- 6. Patterson Inn (Croke-Patterson-Campbell Mansion) HauntBound identified six distinct published accounts at this working hotel. Four later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and cold spots. 6 original accounts · retold in 4 later publications
- 7. Hotel Boulderado HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this working hotel, across four kinds of published source. Four later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include cold spots. 4 original accounts · retold in 4 later publications
- 8. Molly Brown House HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this museum site, across four kinds of published source. One later publication retells those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and disembodied voices. 4 original accounts · retold in 1 later publication
- 9. The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa, Autograph Collection HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this working hotel. Reported phenomena include apparitions and cold spots. 4 original accounts · documented in 2018
- 10. Museum of Colorado Prisons The Museum of Colorado Prisons occupies a 1935 cell house for female inmates beside the Territorial Correctional Facility, operating since 1871. Exhibits cover a 1929 riot that killed seven guards and a gas chamber used in 32 executions through 1967, plus former inmates like Alferd Packer. Visitors report tobacco smell in the laundry room and a presence tied to Charlotte Van Deventer, the prison's first matron. 3 original accounts · documented in 1897 · retold in 3 later publications
By city
- Denver: 13 documented sites
- Manitou Springs: 10 documented sites
- Cripple Creek: 9 documented sites
- Colorado Springs: 8 documented sites
- Fort Collins: 7 documented sites
- Boulder: 6 documented sites
- Pueblo: 6 documented sites
- Leadville: 5 documented sites
- Grand Junction: 5 documented sites
- Durango: 5 documented sites
- 57 more across the rest of Colorado
Press images
- Silver Cliff Cemetery Plazak, CC BY-SA 3.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cemetery-SilverCliffCO.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/colorado/silver-cliff-cemetery/hero.jpg
- Hotel Colorado Avrand6, CC BY-SA 4.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_Colorado_April_2012.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/colorado/hotel-colorado/hero.jpg
- Briarhurst Manor JAKeeran, CC BY-SA 3.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Briarhurst_Manor_-_former_Mansion_of_Dr._Wm._A._Bell.JPG hauntbound.com/images/locations/colorado/briarhurst-manor/hero.jpg
- Strater Hotel Mike McBey, CC BY 2.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Historic_Strater_Hotel,_Durango_(25573228887).jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/colorado/strater-hotel/hero.jpg
- Hotel Jerome Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_Jerome,_Aspen,_CO.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/colorado/hotel-jerome/hero.jpg
- Patterson Inn (Croke-Patterson-Campbell Mansion) Jeffrey Beall, CC BY-SA 3.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Croke-Patterson-Campbell_Mansion.JPG hauntbound.com/images/locations/colorado/patterson-inn-croke-patterson-campbell-mansion/hero.jpg
- Hotel Boulderado Kvng, CC BY-SA 3.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boulderado_Hotel_exterior.JPG hauntbound.com/images/locations/colorado/hotel-boulderado/hero.jpg
- Molly Brown House Self, CC BY-SA 3.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Molly_Brown_House.JPG hauntbound.com/images/locations/colorado/molly-brown-house/hero.jpg
- The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa, Autograph Collection RuralResurrection, CC BY 4.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brown_Palace_Hotel_and_Spa_01.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/colorado/the-brown-palace-hotel-and-spa-autograph-collection/hero.jpg
- Museum of Colorado Prisons Jeffrey Beall, CC BY-SA 3.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colorado_Women%27s_Prison.JPG hauntbound.com/images/locations/colorado/prison-museum/hero.jpg
Images listed here may be republished with the credit shown; all other HauntBound images are not offered for press use.
Superlatives
- Oldest documented site: Cheesman Park Documented since 1858.
- Most documented: Patterson Inn (Croke-Patterson-Campbell Mansion) 6 distinct published accounts.
- Top haunted stay: The Stanley Hotel Overnight stays bookable.
- Most family-friendly: Molly Brown House Family Comfort rating: High.
Methodology
For purposes of the HauntBound Index, "most haunted" means the location with the strongest documented record of reported haunting phenomena. We evaluate the quantity, independence, persistence, and documentary quality of published reports. We do not attempt to determine whether paranormal phenomena are real, and we never count a source that only establishes a building's history as evidence of haunting claims. Repetitive coverage is subject to diminishing returns, so a story retold many times does not outrank a story independently documented. Rankings never consider commercial relationships.
The 2026 Index reflects sources identified and classified as of September 15, 2026.
Updated October 19, 2026: listings that could not be sourced, or that are private or have no public access, were withdrawn after an October review, so some of the state's town counts are lower. The documented total stays as published until the November update.
Corrected October 23, 2026: Silver Cliff Cemetery's documented reports date from 1956, not 1880. The 1870s and 1880s mining-boom dating and the blackout test come from the cemetery's legend, not from dated reports; the earliest known written report is a 1956 Wet Mountain Tribune story. Its published accounts and its #1 rank are unchanged.
This is a documentation ranking, not a visitation guide; sites not open to visitors are marked on their entries.