Colorado’s Riverdale Road again named one of the most haunted roads in America

Most Colorado roads are known for traffic, potholes or that one merge on I-25 nobody can figure out. Riverdale Road is known for ghosts. The winding, two-lane stretch between Thornton and Brighton keeps showing up on lists of the most haunted roads in the country, and last year SIXT ranked it No. 2 in the nation.

The 11-mile road comes with a full lineup of legends. The best known is the phantom jogger, said to haunt “Jogger’s Hill” near 120th Avenue. Drivers say their windows mysteriously fog up and show handprints, or that they hear footsteps getting closer to their parked cars. There’s also a lady in a white dress said to wander the roadside. And there’s a phantom Camaro with one headlight out that supposedly appears behind drivers and challenges them to a race.

The biggest legend involves the “Gates of Hell.” The story says a man set fire to his mansion near the north end of the road with his family inside, and the iron gates left behind only appear to certain drivers. The Denver Public Library looked into it and found the real story is a lot less scary. A house at 9190 Riverdale Road did burn in November 1975, but nobody was living there and no one was hurt. Even so, Denver Ghost Hunters founder Stephanie Smith told 9NEWS that certain spots still give her “moments of dread.”

If you’d rather get your scares on purpose, the Haunted Field of Screams, Colorado’s largest haunted attraction, is open select nights this fall right along the Riverdale corridor. Its theme is “A Ride to the Riverdale Gates of Hell.” If you drive Riverdale Road at night, the real danger is the road itself. It’s dark and full of blind curves, so slow down, stay in your car and stay off private property.