Haunted Hikes : Spine-Tingling Tales and Trails from North America’s National Parks

“Any guidebook can give you trail miles and directions, but only Haunted Hikes captures all the strange doings in your favorite back country places with tales that will have you sleeping (if you can sleep at all) with one eye open. Long-lost hermits, ghostly apparitions, a voice half-heard . . . and you thought you were alone in that lonely canyon or on top of that wind-swept mountaintop. Andrea Lankford raises the hair on your neck in this book of spooky spots and ghostly grottoes.”
—Jeff Rennicke, contributing editor, National Geographic Traveler

“Have you ever gone to a National Park and wondered if there was more than a bear waiting behind that tree up ahead on the trail? Or if there was something else up in the sky besides that gorgeous sunset? With Haunted Hikes, Andrea Lankford has put together a rich collection of stories, lore, hikes, and more that will add a whole new dimension to your next National Park visit. This book is the perfect spooky companion to your next campfire!”
—Chris Mengel, National Park Ranger

“After working as a Park Ranger for the last 17 years, I thought I knew everything there was to know about the history, folk lore, and paranormal tales of our National Parks. But Andrea Lankford has really opened up my eyes! I will never look at the Grand Canyon the same way again. And from now on, I’m sleeping with the lights on!”
—Chuck Sypher, Grand Canyon Park Ranger

“Haunted Hikes is the X-Files meets National Geographic. It’s the ideal book for anyone who believes that ‘the truth is out there.’ Enjoy Haunted Hikes whenever you venture into the great outdoors . . . just make sure you fill your canteen with holy water.”
—Tom DeSanto, producer/writer, X-Men

“In this lively and enchanting guide, Andrea Lankford lifts up Smokey the Bear’s hat and introduces us to the bats in his belfry, along with the ghosts, ghouls, zombies, fugitives, and lost souls who make national parks their home. But Haunted Hikes is more than a compendium of freaks-it’s a deft and deeply researched trip through American history, by way of a half-dead Fred Harvey, Native American curses that even rangers are scared of, and JFK’s mysterious, eternally rocking, rocking chair, among other steppingstones. Happy trails!”
—Deanne Stillman, author of Twentynine Palms

“Haunted Hikes takes those who like their ghosts inhabiting the scenic out-of-doors beyond the creaky attics of the usual hauntings. Lankford, a former park ranger, offers more than 50 hikes of varying difficulty set in national parks. Each entry contains an eerie story, a map of the hiking route, advice on the difficulty of the hike, its “fright factor,” and other useful information. While most of the hauntings are of the missing/murdered persons kind, there are plenty of others to lend variety. Strange natural phenomena, including a burping lake, trees that bleed, and brain-eating amoebas, vie with Bigfoot for their own featured hikes in this guide for the morbidly curious.”
—Library Journal

“Are you sure you were alone in that lonely canyon or secluded mountaintop last time you went hiking? Haunted Hikes: Spine-Tingling Tales and Trails from North America’s National Parks, by Andrea Lankford chronicles the hermits, fugitives and other lost souls whose stories echo throughout America’s national parks. Lankford has collected both the lore and the practical information you’ll need to visit some of these spooky sites. Stories include the arrest of the notorious murderer Charles Manson in California’s Death Valley; the legend of the Jersey Devil, a flying creature said to haunt the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve; and the ghosts of the Grand Canyon, from victims from a 1956 midair collision of two commercial jets, to the mournful wail of a weeping spirit — La Llorona — seen along the canyon’s Transept Trail. Or is that noise nothing more than the wind?”
—Associated Press

“A surprisingly well-written guide to the ghosts, unsolved mysteries and paranormal events said to have occurred in America’s National Parks.”
—Seattle Times

“This is a fun compilation of spooky legends and eyewitness accounts of spectral tomfoolery along the trails of our national park system. In other words, some good, old-fashioned ghost stories along with long-standing legends. But it’s more than just that: It’s also — and mostly — a practical guide to hiking those same “haunted” areas, with straightforward maps, directions to trailheads, descriptions of terrain and useful tips. . . . This is a book that serves a dual purpose: It will get you on the trail and then serve as a source of hair-raising campfire stories far into the night.”
—Sacramentio Bee

“For campers who love a good ghost story, here’s a new book that should be stowed in the backpack. “Haunted Hikes” is a field guide to supposed supernatural doings in many of America’s best-known natural areas. Even the most skeptical will find much of interest here because author Andrea Lankford, a former National Park Service Ranger, has uncovered as much fascinating history as she has mapped alleged paranormal activities.”
—Louisville Courier-Journal

“Most campers enjoy a good ghost story, especially late at night around a roaring fire. This book about ghosts, curses, hoaxes, unsolved mysteries and paranormal events in North America’s national parks not only can generate some good campfire talk but also directs hikers to the places where these events supposedly took place.”
—Salt Lake City Tribune

“Andrea Lankford’s Haunted Hikes does for the natural world what Creepy Crawls does for the man-made, only it’s a lot scarier. Lankford is a veteran park ranger, and just as the reader is lulled into a false sense of security by her familiar don’t-feed-the-animals voice, she drops to a hushed whisper and starts talking about zombies in Yosemite. There are apparently a million ways to die on American parkland, and if the rockslides don’t get you, then the sasquatch will. Lankford’s book has a strange split personality, switching from cheerful outdoorsy advice about safety and preparedness, park fees, and camping permits to tales of curses, ghosts, homicides, and disasters. Trail maps are carefully drawn with a key that indicates mileage and level of difficulty. There’s also a spooky rating system that uses heads to indicate the “fright factor,” from one (“Makes a seven-year-old giggle”) to four (“Gave me nightmares, and I’d rather not discuss them”). Suddenly there’s a new reason to dread those family camping trips. “
—Boston Phoenix