Haunted Places in Vermont: 10 Sites With Real History

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The best-known haunted places in Vermont are a stretch of wilderness around Glastenbury Mountain, a stone tower built by asylum patients in Brattleboro, and a handful of historic inns and mansions. Below are 10 haunted places in Vermont, each split into what the record supports and what is only told as legend. Most ghost reports here come from visitors, inn promotion, and paranormal websites, not from independent documentation, and we say so wherever that is the case.

Quick answer if you're short on time: The easiest haunted places in Vermont to visit are Wilson Castle in Proctor, Hildene in Manchester, and Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh. The Brattleboro Retreat is a working hospital, and Hartness House and the Green Mountain Inn are working hotels, so treat them as places to stay or look at from public ground, not to wander through.

1. Glastenbury Mountain and the “Bennington Triangle”

Between 1945 and 1950, several people vanished in the area around Glastenbury Mountain in southwestern Vermont. The record: Middie Rivers, a 74-year-old hunting guide, disappeared on November 12, 1945, and only a handkerchief was found; James Tedford, 68, disappeared in December 1949; eight-year-old Paul Jepson vanished on October 12, 1950; and 53-year-old Frieda Langer vanished on October 28, 1950 and was found months later, about three and a half miles from her camp. Vermont horror writer Joseph Citro coined the name “Bennington Triangle” after the Bermuda Triangle, and has said it is not a literal triangle. The man-eating rock, the alien abductions, and the cursed ground are later embellishments with no source in the original reports. A Vermont State Police lieutenant quoted in 2026 attributes the cases to coincidence, not the supernatural.

Can you visit: Yes, carefully. The Long Trail crosses the summit, which is in the Green Mountain National Forest. It is a long, steep hike, so carry a map and tell someone your route.

2. Paula Welden and the Long Trail

Paula Jean Welden, an 18-year-old Bennington College sophomore, set out to hike the Long Trail on December 1, 1946, and was never found. She was last seen near the Fay Fuller camp area after asking other hikers about trail conditions. Hundreds of volunteers, firefighters, and National Guard troops searched. Her father's complaints about the disorganized search helped lead the Vermont legislature to create the Vermont State Police within seven months. A lumberjack who was among the last to see her was questioned and gave contradictory statements, but nothing substantiated foul play. She was declared dead in absentia in 1956. The case is real, tragic, and unsolved. The ghost stories tacked onto it are modern.

Can you visit: The trail is public. Respect the family's loss and keep the stories about a missing young woman factual, not theatrical.

3. Brattleboro Retreat (Brattleboro)

The Retreat opened in 1834 as the Vermont Asylum for the Insane, funded by a $10,000 bequest from Anna Hunt Marsh. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (April 12, 1984), has been called one of the first ten private psychiatric hospitals in the United States, and still operates as a not-for-profit mental health hospital. Its stone Retreat Tower, built in the 1880s according to local accounts, is said to have been put up by patients as occupational therapy. Visitors and ghost sites say figures are seen falling from the tower and shadowy shapes move among the unmarked graves nearby. The sources for those claims are anecdotal and uncited. The documented part is the hospital, which treated real patients and still does.

Can you visit: It is an active hospital campus, so do not enter buildings or disturb patients and staff. Confirm what part of the grounds is open to the public before you go.

4. Green Mountain Inn (Stowe)

Peter C. Lovejoy built the original house in 1833, and it grew into an inn. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 15, 1978 as part of the Stowe Village Historic District, and it still operates as a hotel. The ghost story is of “Boots Berry,” a stable hand who supposedly fell from the roof while rescuing a child and who now tap-dances above Room 302 on stormy days. We found that story in regional ghost-lore websites and no historical record of a Boots Berry. Treat the ghost as local folklore and the inn as the real thing.

Can you visit: Yes, as a hotel guest, or for dinner or a drink. Confirm current availability.

5. Hildene (Manchester)

Hildene was the summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's only child to survive to adulthood. He built the 24-room Georgian Revival house in 1904 and 1905 and died there on July 26, 1926. Descendants lived there until 1975, and the Friends of Hildene bought it in 1978 and opened it as a museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 28, 1977. The ghost story, told by a regional ghost-lore site, says employees have seen shadows of a woman and a child on the third floor that match Mary Todd Lincoln and a son. No dated sighting or named witness is given, and Mary Todd Lincoln never lived at Hildene.

Can you visit: Yes. It is a museum with gardens, farm programs, and a restored 1903 Pullman car. Check hours and season.

6. The Equinox (Manchester Village)

The hotel's history is long and documented. A tavern stood on the site from 1769, and Franklin Orvis opened the Equinox in 1853. Mary Todd Lincoln and her sons stayed in Manchester in the 1860s, and later guests included Presidents Grant, Taft, and Theodore Roosevelt. The hotel fell into disuse in the 1970s and later reopened as a modern resort. Guests have reported fast-moving shadows, whispers, and cold spots, according to a 2013 regional article that gives no dates and admits the reports could have ordinary explanations. We rate the ghost claims as unverified.

Can you visit: Yes, as a guest of the resort. Confirm current operation and booking details.

7. Rokeby Museum (Ferrisburgh)

Rokeby is a National Historic Landmark, designated on December 9, 1997, for its role as a safe house on the Underground Railroad. The Robinson family, Quakers who farmed here from 1793 to 1961, wrote letters that name the freedom seekers they sheltered. This is not a ghost-story site. It makes our list because of a documented, human detail: in the early 1850s, Rowland and Rachel Robinson took up Spiritualism, held séances with a family friend named Ann King, and asked the dead about the afterlife. The museum has staged re-creations of those séances based on King's transcripts. The haunting is a historical practice, not a reported ghost.

Can you visit: Yes, seasonally, with a museum on a 90-acre property and trails. The museum is open mid-May to mid-October. Check current hours.

8. Wilson Castle (Proctor)

Dr. John Johnson, a Vermont-born physician, began this castle in 1885, using his English wife's money. Construction took about seven years and a reported $1.3 million. It has 32 rooms, 13 fireplaces, and 84 stained glass windows. Financial trouble followed, and locals called it "Johnson's Folly.“ Herbert Lee Wilson, an AM radio pioneer, bought it in 1939, and it has been open for tours since 1962. Paranormal investigators and visitors describe an active haunting, and some even call the castle an ”energy portal," but those claims come from investigators and promotion, not independent records.

Can you visit: Yes, as a seasonal museum, usually from late May to late October. Confirm hours and ticket prices.

9. Hartness House (Springfield)

James Hartness, head of the Jones and Lamson Machine Company and Vermont's governor in 1921 and 1922, built the Shingle-style house in 1904. It was listed on the National Register on December 20, 1978, and is now a small hotel. Hartness hosted Charles Lindbergh here. Ghost sites say Hartness himself still appears, that guests find belongings rearranged, and that phones produce static voices. Those claims come from paranormal and travel websites with no documented witnesses. The history is real, and the ghost is a story told about it.

Can you visit: As a hotel guest. Confirm current operation, since small inns change hands and hours.

10. Bellows Falls: Hetty Green and Immanuel Church

Bellows Falls is on this list for a documented story that sounds like a ghost story but is not one. Hetty Green, born in 1834 and died July 3, 1916, was nicknamed the “Witch of Wall Street” for her austere dress and extreme frugality, and was one of the richest women in the world. She is buried in Immanuel Cemetery beside her husband, Edward. The present church was finished in 1869 and holds a bell from the original 1817 church. We found a few local stories of footsteps and crying in old houses and inns in town, none with a verifiable source. The “witch” label was invented by journalists, and the strongest thing here is the history.

Can you visit: Yes. The cemetery is public, but be respectful, and confirm church hours separately.

What's Actually Verifiable

Across these haunted places in Vermont, the people who disappeared near Glastenbury, the opening of the Brattleboro Retreat, the Lincoln family's summer house, and Hetty Green's grave are documented. The man-eating rock, the tap-dancing stable hand, Mary Todd Lincoln's shadow, and the energy portal are not. The Bennington Triangle in particular is a 20th-century name attached to a handful of unconnected disappearances, and the investigation of Paula Welden's case is part of why Vermont has a state police force.

Visiting Haunted Places in Vermont Responsibly

Haunted places in Vermont include an active hospital, working hotels, a national forest trail, and museums. Stay on public property, book official tours, and do not enter closed buildings or private land. Trespassing is illegal, and a hospital campus is not a ghost-hunting site. For a neighboring state, see our guide to haunted places in New Hampshire and our list of haunted places in Massachusetts. For the wider American picture, see our guide to haunted places in the United States and our list of real haunted places you can actually visit on Halloween.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Bennington Triangle?

The Bennington Triangle is a nickname for the wilderness around Glastenbury Mountain in southwestern Vermont, where several people disappeared between 1945 and 1950. Vermont writer Joseph Citro coined the name after the Bermuda Triangle and has said it is not a literal triangle. The disappearances are documented, but the supernatural explanations were added later and have no source in the original reports.

What happened to Paula Welden?

Paula Jean Welden, an 18-year-old Bennington College student, disappeared while hiking the Long Trail on December 1, 1946, and was never found. Hundreds of searchers looked for her. The case remains unsolved, she was declared dead in absentia in 1956, and the disorganized search helped lead Vermont to create its state police in 1947.

What is the most haunted place in Vermont?

There is no objective ranking of haunted places in Vermont. The Brattleboro Retreat, Wilson Castle, and the Green Mountain Inn are among the most often promoted, while Glastenbury Mountain has the best-documented mystery. Treat any “most haunted” label as marketing, since the ghosts are unproven and the history is what can be checked.

Is the Brattleboro Retreat open to visitors?

The Brattleboro Retreat is an active, not-for-profit psychiatric hospital that opened in 1834, not a tourist attraction. Do not enter its buildings or treat the grounds as a ghost-hunting site, because patients and staff are there. The ghost stories about its stone tower and graves are anecdotal, so confirm what part of the campus is public before visiting.

Is Hildene really haunted?

Some regional ghost-lore sites say employees saw shadows of a woman and a child on the third floor, matching Mary Todd Lincoln and a son. We found no named witness or date, and Mary Todd Lincoln never lived there. Hildene is better visited for its documented history as Robert Todd Lincoln's summer home, a National Register property that is now a museum.

Is it legal to explore abandoned haunted places in Vermont?

Not without permission. Entering a closed building or private land without the owner's consent is trespassing, and a hospital, hotel, or museum has posted hours and rules. The legal ways to see these sites are public visiting hours, a stay as a guest, or official tours, which also give you better history than a flashlight and a dare.