Blog for Zipline Attraction in the Smoky Mountains
Located in Pigeon Forge, TN and near Gatlinburg and Sevierville.
The Smokies' Spookiest Places!
By Ross Bodhi Ogle
Posted on October 27, 2020
With Halloween coming up this weekend, we thought this would be a fitting time to explore some of the spookiest spots in the Great Smoky Mountains. If you happen to be traveling in the area this week, consider carving out some time in your schedule to see if these locations live up to their legends. Or if you're not that daring, just read on and learn a little bit more about a number of local sites that supposedly have some creepy wrinkles in their history.
Lucy
Next time you're driving down Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail-which originates in downtown Gatlinburg-if you see a young woman walking along the road, and she looks like she's trying to hitch a ride, you may want to think twice before stopping to give her a lift. It could be the ghost of Lucy. According to the legend, a man named Foster was traveling the Roaring Fork trail in the early 1900s when he spotted a young, beautiful woman-barefoot on that cold winter night-walking in the woods. He shared his horse with her and subsequently fell in love with her. When he went to speak with the girl's parents to get their approval, they told him their daughter had died in a cabin fire a year earlier. Legend has it that you can still find Lucy looking for rides along the road and walking in the woods near the site where her cabin burned to the ground.
Elkmont Resort
You may not see actual ghosts at this legendary location in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but it could very well give you the creeps. Elkmont was an active logging camp in the early 1900s, before the creation of the national park. It wasn't unusual for workers to die horrific deaths from logging accidents and train wrecks. As such, many visitors today claim to get an uneasy feeling when they walk through the area, as if they are being watched. This was also the location of the Wonderland Hotel, part of Elkmont Resort, an upscale lodge frequented by wealthy hunters. The abandoned hotel remained on site until the last 10 years or so, but many of the empty guest cabins are still standing and succumbing to the ravages of time.
White Oak Flats Cemetery
When it comes to creepy places, you can't go wrong with a cemetery, right? Located in Gatlinburg, White Oak Flats Cemetery is actually just a short walk from The Village shops downtown. Established in 1830, the cemetery is where you'll find the graves of a number of early Gatlinburg settlers, and there are several unmarked graves as well. Try checking this place out on a dark fall night and see if you don't wind up with a case of the willies.
Spearfinger
This story comes from Cherokee folklore and focuses on a woman named Spearfinger who is said to roam the Noland Creek Trail and Whiteside Mountain in the national park. Supposedly, she has a long blade of obsidian on her right forefinger, and her mouth is stained with blood from the livers of small children she has lured away from their parents. And if you happen to notice her clenching her right hand, it's because she's using it to protect her heart, which is hidden in her palm. The really spooky part? Spearfinger is a shape shifter that can turn into a squirrel or even a shadow. So the next time you see what looks like a friendly critter in the woods, it could be Spearfinger.
Smoky Mountain Ziplines
We don't think we're actually haunted, but we hear zipliners screaming all the time. So if you decide to zipline Gatlinburg, you might still experience some thrills and chills.
