You know what they are like.
They are dark and empty, and you feel alone.
Alone, except for the unsettling presence that creeps up on you until it’s too late.
Alone, except for the figure you glimpse just at the edge of your vision, the mysterious light just farther away than you can see, the spirits that haunt the road, destined to never leave.
These are the ten most haunted backcountry roads in California.
Photo credit left: flickr/jenny_rainbow right: flickr/clashed
Updated 2/9/2020 – You might want to stay away from these routes if you are prone to nightmares that disturb your sleep.
But if you crave adventure with an edge, if your body needs a rush, if you want to experience the unusual, the paranormal, the frightening, the haunting fear that makes you grab hold of the person next to you and never let go, these roads are for you.
Find out if the legends are true or if they are merely stories.
California backcountry roads are cold and desolate and miles from nowhere – the perfect place for spirits to lurk, for ghosts to roam, for the paranormal to find a home.
Explore them all – if you dare.
10 Most Haunted California Backcountry Roads
#10 – Brea Canyon Road, Diamond Bar, CA
For more than 20 years, Brea Canyon Road has been the site of psychic events and tragic deaths.
Many people have seen phantom hitchhikers in the dark of night, never able to leave the area where their lives ended.
Will you see a phantom?
Will you give them a ride?
#9 – Chualar Road, Salinas, CA
A motorcyclist once drove Chualar Road at night.
He was thrown off his bike by something unseen.
When he woke up, a ghostly woman with black hair was standing over him, staring.
When he blinked, she was gone.
She may return when you drive Chualar road at night.
#8 – Dogwood Road, El Centro, CA
Drive down this road after midnight and you may see the spirit of a girl killed in car crash.
Give her a ride if you can muster the courage.
Rumor says that she will eventually disappear from your car.
Recently, a woman who was driving this road on her way to get a psychic reading told us: “I didn’t give the hitchhiking ghost a ride, so she sat on the car hood in order to cause an accident”.
#7 – White Lady of Highway 126, Fillmore, CA
Once upon a time, the White Lady was hanged from a sycamore tree just off Highway 126.
Or she died in a car accident – the legends are unclear.
What is clear is that this ghostly lady is said to appear near that sycamore tree.
Her eyes will be watching – make sure you are ready.
#6 – Bardsley Avenue, Tulare, CA
Legend has it that this rural road has its own ghost – the spirit of a headless motorcycle rider killed by a prank gone wrong in the 1950s.
Soon after he died, reports emerged of a bright light speeding down the road, sometimes with the headless rider just behind.
Do you dare check for yourself?
#5 – Channel Road, Sanger CA
A woman and her two daughter once drove this road (nicknamed Snake Road).
A turn taken too fast catapulted the car into the Kings River.
The woman could not escape the car and died.
Her daughters got out, but drowned upstream.
At night, it is said, she wanders the road, looking desperately for her daughters.
#4 – Haunted Pacheco Pass, near Los Banos, CA
Known locally as Blood Alley due to multiple crashes, some victims are said to have never left the site.
A decapitated man searches for his missing head.
After her fiancée died in an accident, a woman put on her wedding dress and jumped to her death from rocks near the scene – her ghost is reported there now as she searches for him.
A man in a black robe is reported by the highway.
A woman searches for her child but disappears when you try to help.
Will you go?
#3 – Old Stage Road, Salinas, CA
In the late 1800`s or early 1900`s, a walking woman accepted a ride from a man who attacked, raped and decapitated her, throwing the head into the fields.
Reports say she now walks down the road holding her own head – if you pick her up, she’ll stay for a moment and then disappear just at the scene of the crime.
#2 – Garibaldi and Baldwin Intersection, Temple City, CA
After a motorcycle crash that killed a young man, witnesses at his memorial took a photo of an apparition on the corner of the street.
He appeared to be staring right at the camera.
But no one was there who could be seen by the naked eye.
#1 – Morgan Territory Rd, Clayton, CA
Legend holds that California bandit El Dorado buried stolen goods under an oak tree next to this old logging road in the 1800s.
A woman and her husband saw an apparition next to the tree in the 1950s searching for the treasure.
People still hunt for the hidden treasure.
Perhaps you will be the one to find it.
Your Next Step
Backcountry roads in California provide some of the best haunting experiences you can find in the state.
The thrill of the unknown and the uncertain, the instant panic that arises at the sight of the unusual, the pulse of your heart against your body – these are yours, if you dare to frequent these backcountry sites.
