Ghost House Trail is located in Big Ridge State Park in Tennessee. It’s only a little over a mile long, but you might be running before you reach the end. There’s a reason for it’s namesake. This trail takes you past the Norton cemetery and right by the ruins of the old Hutchinson house. This house is where the trail get’s it’s name from, but it’s not the only tale of terror in the area.

The Untimely Demise of Peter Graves

Near this trail, at Indian Rock, you will find a plaque that marks the spot where Peter Graves was scalped. History says that Peter was a settler back in the late 1700’s. The story goes, he heard a turkey gobbling in the woods and went to investigate. He was shot in the head by Native Americans and was then scalped. Apparently, the Natives were justifiably unhappy that these settlers had moved in. It didn’t end well for the natives.

Fast forward a bit later.

The Hutchinsons

This is the family that most of the hauntings associated with the area originate from. Mary Hutchinson, the daughter of Maston, was living in the Hutchinson’s house while she had tuberculosis. Accounts have been told of visitors going to see Mary the day she died. They say that they saw a dog run by that just disappeared into nothing. They later found out that this was the exact moment that Mary had died. People have reported ghost sightings or sounds of a dog, while walking this trail.

The sunken remains of Maston’s grave can be found in the Norton cemetery. People have claimed to have caught the ghost of Maston Hutchinson in the photos they had taken at the cemetery.

The Witch in the Woods?

Legend also has it that a young girl was hung in the woods near this trail. It is said that her father thought she was a witch. So he hung her. There was very little information on this, mostly just here say.

The Tennessee Valley Authority declared this area to be “uninhabitable” due to the amount of paranormal activity going on. The residents had already figured this out, and had abandoned the area before the decree was made.

Now you can walk the trail yourself, and maybe have an experience of a lifetime while you’re at it.