Behind every intriguing location in our country, there lies a story within. From ghost towns to battle grounds, and pyramids to whispering woods. Sometimes those stories are old, real old…as in ancient. While others are still unfolding as they’re being told today. These places can be so rich with history that they don’t require a whole lot of imagination. Still, some others require us to open our minds up with the magic of believing.

So, on our trek to explore this mystery packed country, we’ve made it a point to explore the hidden truths behind some very cool paranormal places. In order from east to west, we thought we’d shed some light on some of the unusual locations we’ve explored, and I’ve added a recommendation for what you might want to do at each place if you find yourself with an extra half an hour to spare while there.

TAPS Headquarters, Warwick, RI (The Atlantic Paranormal Society)

Even though the location isn’t haunted (that we know of) it was still way-cool to visit the place where some of my heroes in the world of paranormal investigation started it all. Though I think their headquarters has moved due to the popularity, they seem to have left this original (seemingly abandoned) headquarters for posterity. If you have 30 minutes to spare, checkout the tattoo parlor next door and meet the locals who have plenty of stories to tell from while the crew worked here.

White Horse Tavern, Newport, RI

Claimed to be America’s oldest tavern, dating back to 1673, I went for a walk inside, while Kristin stayed outside on the patio with the dogs. While I was in there, I was greeted by a server who asked me if I needed anything. It was a hot day and so I asked for an iced tea, after which he then proceeded to get me one and seemingly disappeared. True story. After several minutes I didn’t want to keep Kristin waiting, so I just left. However, this tavern is high on my want-to-go-back-to list as many of the locals claim it is full of spirits. The upstairs level is legit as many workers said they refused to go up there alone!!! Did I encounter a spirit? Or just a really busy server during a non-busy afternoon? I’ll have to go back to find out… Spend 30 minutes with a cold beer at the original bar in-front of the original stone fireplace paying attention to everything around you.

Gettysburg, PA

A truly sobering place, overflowing with history and energy. One can’t help but be saddened when walking the fields and battlegrounds. Over 40,000 lives lost. I couldn’t help feeling like we were never really alone there. Not in a creepy way. But more of a crowded yet comforting way. Many people have seen, heard, and even video recorded spirits roaming these fields. I wish we had more evenings and mornings roaming the lands there. When you have thousands of people perish in some of the worst conditions imaginable, there’s going to be loads of residual energy left there. If you have 30 minutes, check out the Circular diorama room. It’s an artwork wrapped wall and presentation like you’ve never seen inside the museum that does an incredible job telling an abbreviated story of this historic place.

Serpent Mound, OH

It was huge! The biggest snake we’ve ever seen! Even though this one didn’t move, it sure was a moving experience to be walking around it. It’s the largest known serpent effigy in the world. From the ground it was unrecognizable, but from the air above (in this case a tower built next to it for viewing) the serpent took its shape. The real question I have is: Who was flying above Southern Ohio several thousand years ago to see it when it was created? Little known side fact: it is built on the rim of a large ancient crater.

And also peculiar is the astronomical significance of its construction – the serpent’s head points to the summer solstice sunset and the serpent coils point to the winter solstice sunrise and the equinox sunrise. With only a speculated age to go off of (from 1,000 to many thousand years old….) who were these ancient people that were capable of creating such a perfect construction, size, shape, height, and pointing to astronomical events?

Definitely worth seeing, in addition to the numerous other mounds built all around the area. Sadly, it is believed that less than 1% of all the mounds built by an ancient race are still in existence in the Midwest today. This is due largely in part to modern agriculture leveling these relics out to grow crops. What a shame. It would be nice to excavate in a way that didn’t destroy them, but allowed us to uncover more about the history, purpose and science behind these relics. Spend thirty minutes enlightening yourself with a book in the small shop there that shows in detail where all the other mounds and animal aerial shapes have been discovered in the Mid-West over our history and you will grasp just how far the reaches of this elder race was spread out.

The Ridges, Athens, OH

A massive and old lunatic asylum turned art museum on the grounds of Ohio University. This place went on and on. In the daytime we walked around it and did a little observing through the doors and up the stairwells of the off limits parts with our eyes. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get into any of the locked and off limits parts where a lot of the ghost stories originated. There are supposedly some disturbing legends that have occurred in here. We only saw artwork on the walls. Regardless this is one place at night even I admit that I wouldn’t want to be roaming around the corridors by myself if I didn’t have to. And Kristin wouldn’t be caught dead here after dusk. Fun fact, they had crocodiles in the front water fountain back in the early days when people thought that sort of thing was a good idea. Spend 30 minutes walking around the building looking inside windows and doors….you may just see someone looking back out at you.

Moonville Tunnel, OH

The ghost town of Moonville in southern Ohio is an old mining community with an abandoned railroad tunnel. With the goal of exploring the Moonville Tunnel and its supposed ghost stories, we never got the chance to see the actual tunnel. Our directions were way off. We ended up in a different part of the woods entirely. One thing’s for sure, these forests absolutely didn’t want us there. Down a winding dirt road, through a thin, poison-ivy and spider flanked trail, we made it about ¾ of a mile into the woods, when a fierce wind picked up out of nowhere. The day darkened, the trees threw down branches, sticks and leaves. We hauled ourselves out of there as fast as we could and made it back to the truck just as the rain started pouring down. If forests could talk, this one was saying GET OUT. If you make it here, get better directions than we did and spend 30 minutes taking a side tour of the old giant stone furnaces hidden in the woods where steel used to be smelted. I wouldn’t have guessed such an abandoned structure even existed.

Cahokia Mounds, IL

Visiting a location like this only solidifies the fact that our history books are full of missing chapters. Christopher Columbus wasn’t the founder of America. In fact, this ginormous site is proof to me that chapters 1-17 are missing from what is taught to kids in American History class these days. Nobody truly knows what went on here, who built it, how it was built, when it was built, and why it was abandoned. Even the so-called “experts” admit they can only make guesses. There’s an entire museum that we nicknamed the “museum of speculation” because there is no evidence, no conclusive proof, and almost every plaque says things like, “we think”, “we believe” and essentially weaves a lot of assumptions to build a story about the lives and purpose of the mounds and the area.

It’s basically a city of pyramids of all shapes and sizes covered over by soil and trees from many centuries (or longer possibly) of abandonment. The craziest thing is its spread out over an area the size of a small city and its right under our noses. One can literally see downtown St. Louis from of top of the structures. Tell people America has massive pyramids and most of them will look at you dumbfounded and think you’re a crackpot. This is one place I would love to help excavate (though how convenient, excavations are not permitted here). So, exactly what is it we don’t want to uncover about our own history? Spend 30 minutes not in the museum but on top of one of the many pyramids trying to imagine living in this prehistoric metropolis.

South Dakota Road Markers

Little did we know that South Dakota places signs on the side of the road at the scene of every automobile accident where there was a fatality. It is a chilling reminder about how life is precious and can be taken at a moment’s notice. It was both sad and creepy as we passed hundreds of these signs and the invisible faces next to them as we crossed the state. A good reminder for everyone to pay attention while driving for sure. Spend all 30 extra minutes focusing on driving so you don’t become a roadside statistic.

Minuteman Missile Silo and Delta-01 Underground Command Center, National Historic Site

Way off the beaten path, down a dirt road, in the middle of nowhere, next to Badlands and Ranchlands, lies a small, unassuming building, behind a tall barbed wire fence. The mystery of this place however lies deep underground. After a ride in a tiny elevator down many floors, we stepped into a tunnel that led to a command center. The underground command center had a three foot thick rebar door, and was suspended in a huge hydraulic chamber designed to take a direct hit from a nuclear blast.

Completely self-sustainable with its own food, water, electricity, and “old-school” computer system…i.e. un-hackable. Maybe not “para” but this place is definitely way outside the “normal” that one would ever visit. In the room was everything needed to begin and end World War III.

The Delta-09 missile site was just down the road in another underground chamber and the fact that we were even able to explore both of these places was awesome.

A very limited number of people are given access to it every year and it’s the only one of its kind (that still has a missile in the silo) that offers public tours. Spend 30 minutes (or at least 5 since the officers in charge of showing you around keep to a strict time table) sitting in the living quarters picturing yourself existing here day and night constantly on immediate standby to launch Armageddon.

Vore Buffalo Jump, WY

A natural rock-shaped punchbowl, so to speak, where Native American’s corralled the buffalo herds over the edge when hunting and preparing for winter. Thousands of hairy horned beasts lay down in the bottom for their final sleep. Kind of sad, but at least the beasts weren’t wasted by their hunters. Spend 30 minutes eating lunch there as it is in the middle of nowhere and makes a scenic picnic spot while viewing the vast prairies.

Devil’s Tower, WY

Even the locals and Native Americans believe this to be a beacon for the unexplained. It truly is nature’s skyscraper. One feels very small standing near it.

Theories abound about this place being a mecca for spirits, UFO’s, giant bears, and even portals to other dimensions, though none of which we saw while we were there. Oh, and it’s in the middle of nowhere by the way. Make sure you have a full tank of gas before going out there.

On your way you will be greeted by an army of prairie dogs fearlessly checking to see what you are up to. Spend 30 minutes taking in the towering majestic structure and stop and chat with the prairie dogs on your way out.

Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend, WA

Battery Kinzie is the concrete juggernaut that ominously watches over the coastline at Fort Worden State Park. It dares brave souls to enter in by day, and even braver ones on stormy nights. We happened to be there at dusk, as a storm rolled in.

The narrow hallways, heavy doors, graffiti-lined walls and abandoned munitions rooms – out of all those things it was the bloody (?) hand print on the wall that had our hair standing on end. Spend 30 minutes (or however long you think you can last) inside the walls at night in the deep dark recesses as you listen for voices of the past.

Welcome to Sasquatch Country

From Northern California to the top of Washington, we wandered the majestic forests in search of our furry giant friends. Outside of the occasional reminder (by Kristin) that I am part Sasquatch at 6’ 6”, we didn’t see any of the monsters. While in Northern California, in a random, untraveled creek bed during one of our day hikes, we did come across some tracks that were MUCH bigger than a man’s. Was it Bigfoot? I can’t prove that it was or wasn’t, but it sure was awesome to stumble upon.

That being said…it was on our quest deep in the woods of Wynoochee, WA (aka ground zero for Bigfoot in America), that we felt the closest to spotting one. This place was eerily beautiful and quiet, and gave us the impression that we were not alone. We walked the old logger roads for several hours when it dawned on us that strangely there wasn’t any wildlife out in these woods, not even a bird or chipmunk. I would have loved to have spent the night here, listening to the creatures communicate to each other by howls and tree knocks, but seeing as it took us several hours on winding dirt roads and old logging trails in 4×4 mode just to get there, that was as far as I could get Kristin to commit to. No chance in hell she’d spend the night here.

Bigfoot: 1
Matt & Kristin: 0

But we live to search again. Spend 30 minutes without saying a word or looking at your phone (there’s no reception out here anyway). Just listen to the woods talk while you walk under the old trees.

Gold Mining Ghost Towns of California

We had the opportunity to visit two ghost towns. Weaverville, still populated, and Shasta, very much abandoned. They were both full of history. We took a self-guided historical walk through Weaverville and imagined life here in the 1800s. One thing we know for sure: gold miners were reckless with fire, as their town burned down and was rebuilt several times.

In Shasta, you may want to watch where you step as you look for spirits of the past, as there are many more rattle snakes than specters that have since taken over management here.

With an extra half hour, walk around the area off the beaten path and see if you can find any gold nuggets laying around on the ground. These places were loaded with it at one point and some of it was bound to be dropped while running from burning building to burning building!

Adventure Awaits

Overall, we’ve found that this country is full of awesome places just waiting to be explored – both well-known and off the beaten path. Whether for fun, for a history lesson, or for a good scare, there is always more to the story than meets the eye. Sometimes the darker, more mysterious parts are left out of the travel brochures. For good reason…perhaps. Or perhaps the other side of this truth is just too weird, disturbing, inconvenient, or just plain unknown to even mention. And of course, like the Boy Scouts, it’s always good to be prepared. Bear spray and a good IPA will usually do the trick.

Stay tuned for more adventures as we continue our travels around the country. Cheers to adventure and the spirit of exploration!

Matt