15 Most Haunted Places in Arkansas You Must Visit
You’ve found the 15 most Haunted Places in Arkansas. The Natural State, known for its natural beauty and southern charm, also has a darker side.
These are the 15 most haunted places in Arkansas:
Fort Smith Courthouse
Fort Smith
The creepy Fort Smith Courthouse stands as a chilling testament to a dark past and the infamous Hanging Judge, earning its spot among the most haunted places in Arkansas.
This old courthouse, part of the Fort Smith National Historical Site, was presided over by Judge Isaac C. Parker, infamously known as the Hanging Judge. During his 21-year tenure, Parker sentenced 160 souls to death by hanging, with 79 meeting their fate at the gallows just outside the courtroom. The ghosts of those sentenced to death are said to linger in the courthouse and reconstructed gallows.
Visitors have reported the sound of gavels, ropes swaying without a breeze, and even encounters with Judge Parker’s ghost at the nearby Fort Smith National Cemetery, where he rests.
The Clayton House
Fort Smith
Founded on the border of former Indian territory, Fort Smith is dotted with relics of its Victorian past in the form of forgotten estates.
In the Belle Grove Historic District, The Clayton House is a stunning Italianate-style mansion built in the 1800s. Today, it is mostly used for weddings and private events.
Once a Civil War hospital, William Henry Harrison Clayton transformed the mansion in 1882. The mansion still displays priceless family belongings to this day (of course, William Clayton himself is said to watch over these items).
Hauntings at the Clayton House
Among the most haunted places in Arkansas, the Clayton House echoes with the sounds of slamming doors, ghostly footsteps, and mysterious music. A tall man with an angry vibe who wears a top hat and a mysterious woman in a brown skirt and messy bun are frequently seen. In 2008, a carpenter who was working on the mansion took photos of his repairs, and the mysterious woman in brown appeared in one of the photos.
Former director Martha Siler described how a second-floor bedroom terrifies visitors, with reports of slamming doors, stomping boots, and haunting melodies.
Arkansas Tech University
Russellville
At Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, tales of the supernatural weave through its hallowed halls, marking it as one of the most haunted places in Arkansas.
Caraway Hall is believed to be built atop a Cherokee burial site, and whispers of a young suicide within its walls linger in the air.
Students have reported unsettling noises from the attic, and the ghostly melody of a piano, played by a deceased former student, echoes through Witherspoon Hall’s practice rooms.
At Tucker Coliseum, the tragic death of a prominent basketball player casts a somber shadow, with basketballs mysteriously found strewn across the court.
Old Redfield Road
Sheridan
Deep in the forest, along the eerie stretch of Old Redfield Road, whispers of the supernatural have collected for years. Originally a busy thoroughfare for the timber town of Sheridan, this road is now cloaked in creepiness.
Old Redfield Road is one of the most haunted places in Arkansas, and residents say that ghosts wander from the road and into the nearby cemetery. Passing drivers often find their radios or headphones inexplicably dead.
The Car Chaser
A Headless Car-Chaser haunts Old Redfield Road. As the story goes, a timber workman lost his head in a tragic accident, and now, his headless ghost emerges from the woods to chase vehicles, sometimes leaping into the beds of pick-up trucks.
Residents have also reported seeing this spectral figure, ever in search of his missing head. The brave few who travel Old Redfield Road at night speak in hushed tones of these encounters (or, they leave a comment about their experiences in our forums 😉
Highway 365
Woodson
On stormy nights, Highway 365 in Woodson transforms into a Creepshow, where the legend of the haunted hitchhiker comes to life. Drivers recount the chilling encounter with a drenched young woman in a white dress hitchhiking along the roadside.
Those who offer her a ride are given an address, but upon arrival, the girl mysteriously vanishes. The bewildered drivers who inquire at the house find that the residents speak of their daughter, who tragically perished in a car accident years ago. They say she attempts to hitchhike home each year on the anniversary of her death.
Cotter Bridge
Cotter
Between Baxter and Marion Counties along Highway 62 lies the storied Cotter Bridge, an elegant concrete rainbow arch known officially as the R.M. Ruthven Bridge. Built in the 1930s, the bridge gracefully spans the White River near the quaint town of Cotter. Despite its picturesque charm, the bridge is steeped in chilling lore, earning its place among the most haunted places in Arkansas.
Travelers often feel an eerie sensation as they cross, see ghostly visions of children at play or a frantic woman chased by hounds, hear the haunting cries of an unseen baby, and hear the echo of hurried footsteps.
Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs
Eureka Springs
In Eureka Springs, The Crescent Hotel is not only one of the most haunted places in Arkansas but also one of the most haunted hotels in the United States.
The Baker Cancer Hospital and a Cat
Its dark legacy is forever intertwined with Norman Baker, who transformed the hotel into the infamous Baker Cancer Hospital. Baker’s false promises of a miraculous cancer cure—nothing more than a concoction of watermelon seed, brown corn silk, alcohol, and carbolic acid—lured desperate patients, many of whom met their end within these walls. Guests often hear the eerie squeak of gurney wheels and feel intense fear. Ghostly children, perhaps remnants of Baker’s unfortunate patients or spirits from the hotel’s long history, play tricks on unsuspecting guests.
Adding to the weirdness is the beloved “general manager,” Morris the cat, whose spirit still roams the hotel. Guests often feel a cat brush against their legs or hear purring in the lobby.
The Toltec Mounds
Scott
Imagine a hiking trail where every step treads upon the remnants of an ancient civilization. Such is the allure of the Toltec Mounds.
Tucked away in the Plum Bayou Mounds State Park, these mysterious mounds date back to 600 AD, remnants of a once-thriving people that mysteriously vanished around 1050 AD.
The mounds, once used for ceremonial and burial purposes, have become one of the most haunted places in Arkansas. Visitors often recount spine-chilling encounters with ghostly apparitions, flickering lights, and eerie orbs. As dusk falls, the echoes of ancient footsteps can be heard, weaving through the mounds as if the spirits of the Plum Bayou people still guard their sacred grounds.
The Peel Mansion in Bentonville
Bentonville
The Peel Mansion, an exquisite relic of 1875 in Bentonville, Arkansas, exudes an air of timeless elegance and creepy ghosts.
Built by Samuel Peel, a distinguished U.S. Congressman, this stately home was where he resided with his beloved daughter, Minnie Belle.
Their spirits are said to linger within these hallowed halls, making the mansion one of the most haunted places in Arkansas. Minnie, draped in ethereal white, is often seen gliding gracefully through the rooms, her delicate fingers coaxing hauntingly beautiful melodies from the piano, only to stop abruptly when disturbed.
The Rebirth of Margery English
The mansion’s eerie history continued under its new owners, Mr. and Mrs. English, whose daughter Margery’s near-fatal bout with appendicitis left a chilling imprint on the house. Declared dead after her appendix burst, Margery was miraculously found alive hours later.
As an adult, when Margery revisited her childhood home, she discovered the room where she had “died” was sealed off, haunted by the spirit of a little girl.
MacArthur Museum
Little Rock
Dating back to the 1840s, the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, housed in the venerable Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal, stands as a testament to centuries of strife, resilience, and the weight of history. This hallowed ground holds within its walls the echoes of wars and death, with the very floorboards resonating with the energy of the past.
Museum workers recount creepy encounters: heavy footsteps resounding on the stairs when all should be still, ghostly handprints appearing on windows too high for mortal reach, and an ever-present sense of being watched.
Sarge, a spirit who resides in the tower and is the self-proclaimed guardian of the museum, ensures that his watchful eyes never leave the grounds. His authoritative voice, captured in recordings, has been known to command intruders to “GET OUT” of his tower.
Empress of Little Rock Bed and Breakfast
Little Rock
The Empress of Little Rock, formerly known as the Hornibrook Mansion, stands as an enduring testament to Victorian elegance and one of the most haunted places in Arkansas. This grand structure has gracefully transitioned through its incarnations as a women’s college, boarding house, nursing home, apartments, and now, a bed and breakfast.
Mr. Hornibrook
The building’s past namesake, Mr. Hornibrook, is said to still haunt the opulent halls after meeting his untimely demise at the age of 49. While playing cards with friends, a premonition of his early death compels him to commission a death mask that still hangs within the hotel. The current owner insists that Hornibrook’s spirit inspired the restoration of the hotel to its former grandeur.
A ghostly former maid is often seen standing in rooms on the second floor before vanishing into closets, and a male ghost dressed in an old-fashioned captain’s uniform roams the corridors.
Basin Park Hotel
Eureka Springs
The Basin Park Hotel stands as a splendid relic of past eras and proudly embraces its reputation as one of the most haunted places in Arkansas. Its slogan, “Boo at the Basin,” is a testament to this!
Guests are often drawn to this historic edifice not just for its architectural beauty but for the ghost sightings. The most commonly spotted is a young woman with steel-blue eyes. Alongside her, the spirit of a little girl in a yellow dress and pigtails is often glimpsed.
The Devil’s Hole Cave
Boone County
In Boone County lies a legend that whispers of otherworldly depths—the Devil’s Cave is said to be a portal to hell.
Once, in an unincorporated piece of Boone County called Self— a man ventured into an unknown cave.
The brave man descended approximately 200 feet into the abyss, his descent illuminated only by the flickering light of his resolve. A blood-curdling hiss, a sound as ancient as the earth itself, rose from the void, and the man scrambled back up the hole.
Intrigued, the townsfolk banded together to lower a flat iron bound to a rope into the cavern. As the rope descended, a chilling hiss occurred, and a sudden, forceful tug pulled at the iron. When drawn back into the light, the metal was found grotesquely contorted.
The townsfolk next sent a rock tethered in place of the iron, only to have the hiss erupt once more, followed by a powerful tug. When they retrieved the rope, the rock was gone.
To this day, no explanation has emerged to unravel the mystery of what’s really inside The Devil’s Cave.
The Gurdon Ghost Light
Gurdon
Where legend weaves into reality, there exists a phenomenon that has mesmerized and haunted the town of Gurdon. Known as the Gurdon Ghost Light, this eerie, floating illumination graces the dark evenings along a lonely stretch of railroad tracks. Its origins trace back to the 1930s when the first reports of this ghostly glow began.
Theories
The year 1931 bore witness to a grim episode: a heated altercation between two railroad workers, ended in murder. The accused murderer faced justice, condemned to the death penalty, and the light emerged soon after that.
Another theory suggests that the quartz crystals lying beneath Gurdon may be the source of this mystic light. Under intense geological stress, these crystals could emit electrical discharges, manifesting as a glowing light.
Dover Lights
Dover
In Dover lies one of the most iconic teen pastimes, discussed only in whispers. Let us paint you a picture:
In the quiet of the night, a winding gravel road stretches before you, its path barely visible in the darkness. Your phone’s signal flickers off and on, and your map provides only vague directions. As you reach a dirt clearing bordered by a low stone wall, the black abyss below swallows all but the faintest hints of vegetation, illuminated only by the dim beam of your phone’s flashlight. You watch with bated breath as, in the distance, eerie orbs of white and green flicker….
Origins of the Dover Lights
The Dover Lights have been labeled as the most haunted place in Arkansas since seemingly the beginning of time.
Some say the lights are the lingering spirits of Spanish Conquistadors, forever searching for gold, and others believe they mark ancient Native American burial grounds. But the most popular tale is one of a doctor driven by greed.
According to legend, a doctor visited an elderly couple to tend to the dying wife. Lacking funds, the husband compensated him with lead bullets.
The doctor, upon discovering the bullets were silver while polishing them, became consumed with greed. He returned to scam the couple further, only to find the couple’s graves and a hidden hoard of valuables behind their cabin, which he raided. The doctor mysteriously died that same night.
Haunt Us
Have you been to any of these haunted places in Arkansas? Do you have an AR haunting of your own to share? Don’t let your ghost stories go untold.
Share your experiences in the comments below, visit the forums, read others’ stories, and become part of our haunted community.
