New index ranks Utah's 73 haunted places by published evidence

HauntBound's 2026 index ranks Utah's 73 documented haunted places by published evidence rather than reputation, and names the state's ten most haunted. Salt Lake County holds four of the top ten.

The top five:

1. Skinwalker Ranch, Ballard (exterior viewing only)
2. Rio Grande Depot, Salt Lake City (closed to the public for restoration)
3. Fielding Garr Ranch, Antelope Island, Syracuse
4. Wild Thistle Cafe (formerly Family Tree Restaurant), Santaquin
5. Capitol Theatre, Salt Lake City

Skinwalker Ranch, the state's most famous haunted site, is also its #1.

Skinwalker Ranch in Ballard has the most distinct published accounts of any Utah site, six. The oldest documented site is Fielding Garr Ranch, Antelope Island in Syracuse, dating to 1848. Salt Lake City Cemetery in Salt Lake City is the index's most family-friendly pick in the state. Apparitions are the most commonly reported phenomenon, on record at 43 sites.

"We rank by evidence, not legend: independent published accounts, documented history, and how far back the reports go. We don't claim ghosts are real, or that they aren't. We document where the reports concentrate, and we show our work," said Ben Fineman, editor of HauntBound.

HauntBound ranks each state's places by the documented record of reported haunting phenomena: the quantity, independence, persistence and documentary quality of published reports. A story retold many times counts for less than independent accounts, and a source that only establishes a building's history never counts as evidence of a haunting. The index does not try to determine whether paranormal phenomena are real. The 2026 index reflects sources identified and classified as of September 15, 2026.

For media:The full ranking: https://hauntbound.com/most-haunted/utah/The fact sheet, with city-by-city numbers and cleared images: https://hauntbound.com/press/fact-sheets/utah/Interviews by email and city-by-city data on request.

HauntBound (hauntbound.com) is a family-friendly field guide to more than 6,000 documented haunted and historic places across the United States, ranked by published evidence rather than legend. No venue pays to be listed or ranked.

Media contact: Ben Fineman, Editor, HauntBound, editor@hauntbound.com

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