7 spooky places in Utah to visit around Halloween

Will Halloween less than two weeks away, spooky season is in full swing and people are looking for ways to embrace the season. One of those ways is to visit haunted locations.
Utah has a number of reportedly haunted buildings and sites scattered across the state that could be the perfect place to visit this Halloween season.
From ranches to lakes to old train depots, here are seven spooky spots around the state.
Named after the Navajo Skinwalker legend, Skinwalker Ranch is known for UFO sightings and appearances of mysterious creatures, per Utah Stories.
According to Utah.com, it could be considered as the state’s spookiest spot and it has its own TV series, “The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch.”
There has been a plethora of reported paranormal activity at the ranch, leading to the belief that the area is haunted.
“Cattle mutilations, mysterious lights and shapes in the sky, wolflike creatures disappearing into the night, mysterious equipment failures, unknown illnesses, crop circles and disembodied voices are just a few of the phenomena reported on the property,” per Utah.com.
This spooky spot is located in Uintah County, southeast of Ballard.
Legend says that Antelope Island, located in the Great Salt Lake, is haunted by the ghost of the exiled Jean Baptiste, per Utah.com.
Baptiste was exiled to the island back in 1859 when he was found guilty of grave robbing.
According to Utah.com, six weeks after being exiled, Baptiste vanished and his shack was destroyed. Some people suspect that he escaped the island by converting his shack into a raft.
“Did he escape, or did he meet a tragic end? A headless, shackled skeleton was found on the shores of the lake in 1890, but authorities claim Baptiste was never chained,” according to Utah.com.
Some say, if someone spends time on the island over night, there is a chance they will see the ghost of Baptiste.
Winter Quarters was a busy mining town until 1900 when the town was struck with tragedy, per Utah.com.
“Then, disaster struck, when an explosion in the mine (the supposed safest in the state) resulted in the deaths of 225 men,” according to Utah.com. “At the time, it was the worst mining disaster ever to occur in the United States.”
When the mine reopened, the men who went back to work reported seeing the ghost of a headless miner wandering the tunnels.
According to Utah.com, this ghost caused almost 50 men to quit and 500 miners to go on strike.
The mine closed years ago, but there are still remnants of the mining town, making it another one of the state’s ghost towns worth visiting, per Utah.com.
The ghost town of Winter Quarters is found in Carbon County near Scofield.
According to Let’s Roam, there have been multiple reported ghost sightings and paranormal activity at the Rio Grande Depot in Salt Lake City. It’s a popular spot for ghost hunting.
These reports include seeing a ghost known as “The Purple Lady.”
According to Let’s Roam, “The story goes that her fiancé decided to end things and threw the engagement ring onto the tracks. She met her untimely end when a train hit her while she was chasing the engagement ring.”
She is regularly reported to be seen in the depot hanging out around the restrooms.
There are other shadowy figures who have been spotted in the depot and there have also been reports of visitors hearing phantom footsteps.
According to ABC4, Old Tooele Hospital used to be a care center for the sick and elderly, but is now one of the state’s most popular haunted attractions.
The building was originally built as a family home. For years, it was a makeshift care facility and later it was turned into a hospital in 1953.
Old Tooele Hospital is said to be haunted by ghosts of staff and residents who used to inhabit the hospital.
“Samuel F. Lee, who originally constructed it as a home, is said to be one of several ghosts at the old hospital. Visitors report hearing his voice speaking to them in the halls, alongside his 7-year-old son who passed there and is known to play practical jokes on unsuspecting guests,” according to ABC4.
There are also stories of a nurse named Maria being one of the ghosts seen in the building.
After the hospital closed, the place became well-known as a haunted location and has been featured in movies such as “The Stand,” per ABC4.
The building, located in Tooele, was turned into a haunted attraction named Asylum 49 in 2006.
According to Haunted Rooms America, the Mercur Cemetery in Tooele is known as one of the most haunted cemeteries in Utah.
The cemetery is known for sightings of a phantom horseman who reportedly gallops through the cemetery at night, per Utah Stories. There have also been sightings of shadowy figures as well as reports of hearing phantom footsteps.
The majority of the ghosts spotted in the cemetery are children, per Haunted Rooms America.
Located in the High Uintas, Moon Lake has been been the site of multiple reported ghost sightings, according to Utah Stories.
“Those who camp there often find themselves encountering the ghost of a young girl who has clearly been the victim of drowning in the lake”, according to Haunted Rooms America.
Reports say she looks dripping wet and her skin is tinged blue and bloated, as she appears standing on the edge of the lake.
Another legend of Moon Lake is that there is a water-dwelling cryptid, which looks like a giant serpent, living in the lake, per Haunted Rooms America.