We already published a haunted road trip through Southern New Mexico, but we figured that anyone living in or passing through Northern New Mexico should have the chance to be terrified too! So we’ve created a trip through the haunted places in Northern New Mexico that ties together a series of truly creepy places.
The loop takes 9 hours and 23 mins to drive (not including stops) and covers 492 miles. Many of the locations on this journey are haunted hotels so there are plenty of places to stay along the way.
While we can’t guarantee that you’ll encounter ghosts, you will definitely find gorgeous scenery, scrumptious food, hotels with a long and often bloody history, and perhaps that certain prickling feeling on the back of your neck.
We’ve included a link to the Google Map for this road trip right here. Since you can only select a limited number of destinations on Google Maps, the first stop in each place appears on the map, while you’ll find the addresses for any subsequent stops in the same city in the article itself.
Google Maps
- KiMo Theatre, 421 Central Ave NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Flickr/Pete Zarria Technically, Albuquerque is in Central New Mexico, but we’ll start here because it’s a geographically convenient city in which to begin and end our loop. Plus there’s no shortage of ghosts in Duke City. So let’s head to the KiMo Theatre.
This stellar piece of Pueblo Deco architecture opened in 1927. Sadly, a 1951 boiler explosion at the theatre claimed the life of a boy named Bobby Darnall. His spirit remains at the KiMo, where he enjoys playing tricks on performers. To increase your odds of spotting Bobby, check out the lobby and its staircase, where he has most often been sighted.
Here is a link to KiMo Theatre’s website.
- Hotel Parq Central, 806 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Flickr/killbox Even when this building functioned as a psychiatric hospital, patients believed it to be haunted. Apparently, the spirits here liked to pull patients’ bed sheets off during the night. It has since become the Hotel Parq Central but the odds are good that ghosts are still in residence.
(This shot shows the building before it became a hotel.)
Here is a link to Hotel Parq Central’s website.
- La Fonda on the Plaza, 100 E. San Francisco Street, Santa Fe
Flickr/Angi English Drive north along I-25 toward Santa Fe, which boasts three more haunted hotels.
Multiple restless spirits roam La Fonda including a judge, a slain bride, and a cowboy. But if you’re hungry, grab a bite at La Plazuela. The hotel’s restaurant is located in a lovely courtyard, which is now enclosed.
When it was still open to the elements, a failed salesman allegedly committed suicide by leaping into the courtyard’s well. His ghost has been sighted disappearing into the floor in that same spot - very Willy Loman.
Here is a link to La Fonda on the Plaza’s website.
- Drury Plaza Hotel, 828 Paseo De Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501
Yelp/Joseph N. Once the Old Saint Vincent Hospital, this hotel is super creepy - as in people claim blood appears on the basement walls creepy. If that’s not enough to give you chills, there have also ben several reports of mysterious crying on the third floor, which is believed to be coming from the spirit of a baby.
Here is a link to Drury Plaza Hotel’s website.
- La Posada de Santa Fe, 330 E Palace Ave, Santa Fe, NM 87501
Facebook/La Posada de Santa Fe Resort & Spa This hotel grew to encompass the old Staab House and it is that building that people believe is haunted. The spirit in question belongs to the lady of the house, Julia Staab. In fact, the hotel named its restaurant, “Julia: a Spirited Restaurant and Bar,” after her.
Here is a link to La Posada de Santa Fe’s website.
Optional stop: Fairview Cemetery, 1134 Cerrillos Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87505
Wikimedia Commons/John Phelan Although Julia Staab is buried here, this cemetery is unnerving for a whole other reason. Until the recent construction of a subterranean wall, prairie dogs that had invaded the cemetery repeatedly unearthed human remains here.
- Doc Martin Restaurant, 125 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, Taos, NM 87571
Facebook/Doc Martin’s Refuel at the Doc Martin Restaurant, located inside the Taos Inn.
This restaurant is frequented by the ghost of Arthur Manby, a controversial land speculator who arrived in New Mexico in 1883. In 1929, a headless corpse was discovered in his home (next door to the Taos Inn). Some thought the body was Manby’s, while others believed he had staged his death and used someone else’s body in place of his own. The truth was never discovered, but a spectre that resembles Manby has been spied in the kitchen at the Doc Martin Restaurant.
Here is a link to Doc Martin Restaurant’s website.
- Elizabethtown, New Mexico
Flickr/Cherie Benoit Continue on to this Northern New Mexican ghost town. While it’s not haunted, it was home to a serial killer. A man named Charles Kennedy used to rent rooms in his home to weary travelers. He then robbed and murdered them.
- St. James Hotel, 617 S. Collison Avenue, Cimarron
Flickr/Kent Kanouse Retrace your steps and continue on to Cimarron.
The list of guests who’ve stayed at the St. James Hotel reads like a Who’s Who of the Wild West. Billy the Kid, Black Jack Ketchum, Jesse James, the Earp brothers…
At least 26 people died here over the years and not all of them from natural causes. Bullet holes are still visible in the hotel. Room 18 is permanently out of commission because it belongs to a spirit named T. J. Wright and he doesn’t like to share!
Here is a link to St. James Hotel’s website.
- Dawson, New Mexico, 87740
Flickr/Albert Mock When you arrive in the ghost town of Dawson, turn when you see a sign for the cemetery. That’s pretty much all that remains of this haunted town. It’s the location of two massive mining disasters. The first explosion, in 1913, killed 263 miners, while 121 people lost their lives in a second accident, in 1923. This place feels decidedly spooky.
- Shuler Theater, 131 N 2nd St, Raton, NM 87740
Facebook/Shuler Theater The Shuler Theater, now a state landmark, opened in 1915. The first performance was a musical comedy. Less amusing are the mysterious noises and cold spots reported here.
Here is a link to Shuler Theater’s website.
- Plaza Hotel, 230 Plaza Street, Las Vegas
Flickr/Enrique A Sanabria The Plaza Hotel, constructed in 1882, has an impressive façade and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Its interior certainly takes you back in time. Be sure to check out the lobby bar, which is called Byron T’s. Byron T. Mills once owned the hotel and he apparently decided to continuing occupying his property even after death!
Head south, back down I-25. At the far edge of Santa Fe, veer off onto Highway 14, also known as the Turquoise Trail. There are plenty of pseudo ghost towns along this route: Los Cerrillos, Madrid (which was once a ghost town) and Golden.
Here is a link to Plaza Hotel’s website.
- Los Cerrillos, New Mexico
Flickr/Ysmay Although this is often classified as a ghost town, a few residents remain in Los Cerrillos. As you pull into this historic town, you may be tempted to check whether you’re driving a DeLorean, because it certainly feels like traveling back in time. Whether or not this Wild West town contains actual ghosts is unclear, but paranormal activity wouldn’t seem out of place here.
Rejoin I-40 and return to Albuquerque to complete your trip.
Google Maps
Flickr/Pete Zarria
Technically, Albuquerque is in Central New Mexico, but we’ll start here because it’s a geographically convenient city in which to begin and end our loop. Plus there’s no shortage of ghosts in Duke City. So let’s head to the KiMo Theatre.
This stellar piece of Pueblo Deco architecture opened in 1927. Sadly, a 1951 boiler explosion at the theatre claimed the life of a boy named Bobby Darnall. His spirit remains at the KiMo, where he enjoys playing tricks on performers. To increase your odds of spotting Bobby, check out the lobby and its staircase, where he has most often been sighted.
Here is a link to KiMo Theatre’s website.
Flickr/killbox
Even when this building functioned as a psychiatric hospital, patients believed it to be haunted. Apparently, the spirits here liked to pull patients’ bed sheets off during the night. It has since become the Hotel Parq Central but the odds are good that ghosts are still in residence.
(This shot shows the building before it became a hotel.)
Here is a link to Hotel Parq Central’s website.
Flickr/Angi English
Drive north along I-25 toward Santa Fe, which boasts three more haunted hotels.
Multiple restless spirits roam La Fonda including a judge, a slain bride, and a cowboy. But if you’re hungry, grab a bite at La Plazuela. The hotel’s restaurant is located in a lovely courtyard, which is now enclosed.
When it was still open to the elements, a failed salesman allegedly committed suicide by leaping into the courtyard’s well. His ghost has been sighted disappearing into the floor in that same spot - very Willy Loman.
Here is a link to La Fonda on the Plaza’s website.
Yelp/Joseph N.
Once the Old Saint Vincent Hospital, this hotel is super creepy - as in people claim blood appears on the basement walls creepy. If that’s not enough to give you chills, there have also ben several reports of mysterious crying on the third floor, which is believed to be coming from the spirit of a baby.
Here is a link to Drury Plaza Hotel’s website.
Facebook/La Posada de Santa Fe Resort & Spa
This hotel grew to encompass the old Staab House and it is that building that people believe is haunted. The spirit in question belongs to the lady of the house, Julia Staab. In fact, the hotel named its restaurant, “Julia: a Spirited Restaurant and Bar,” after her.
Here is a link to La Posada de Santa Fe’s website.
Wikimedia Commons/John Phelan
Although Julia Staab is buried here, this cemetery is unnerving for a whole other reason. Until the recent construction of a subterranean wall, prairie dogs that had invaded the cemetery repeatedly unearthed human remains here.
Facebook/Doc Martin’s
Refuel at the Doc Martin Restaurant, located inside the Taos Inn.
This restaurant is frequented by the ghost of Arthur Manby, a controversial land speculator who arrived in New Mexico in 1883. In 1929, a headless corpse was discovered in his home (next door to the Taos Inn). Some thought the body was Manby’s, while others believed he had staged his death and used someone else’s body in place of his own. The truth was never discovered, but a spectre that resembles Manby has been spied in the kitchen at the Doc Martin Restaurant.
Here is a link to Doc Martin Restaurant’s website.
Flickr/Cherie Benoit
Continue on to this Northern New Mexican ghost town. While it’s not haunted, it was home to a serial killer. A man named Charles Kennedy used to rent rooms in his home to weary travelers. He then robbed and murdered them.
Flickr/Kent Kanouse
Retrace your steps and continue on to Cimarron.
The list of guests who’ve stayed at the St. James Hotel reads like a Who’s Who of the Wild West. Billy the Kid, Black Jack Ketchum, Jesse James, the Earp brothers…
At least 26 people died here over the years and not all of them from natural causes. Bullet holes are still visible in the hotel. Room 18 is permanently out of commission because it belongs to a spirit named T. J. Wright and he doesn’t like to share!
Here is a link to St. James Hotel’s website.
Flickr/Albert Mock
When you arrive in the ghost town of Dawson, turn when you see a sign for the cemetery. That’s pretty much all that remains of this haunted town. It’s the location of two massive mining disasters. The first explosion, in 1913, killed 263 miners, while 121 people lost their lives in a second accident, in 1923. This place feels decidedly spooky.
Facebook/Shuler Theater
The Shuler Theater, now a state landmark, opened in 1915. The first performance was a musical comedy. Less amusing are the mysterious noises and cold spots reported here.
Here is a link to Shuler Theater’s website.
Flickr/Enrique A Sanabria
The Plaza Hotel, constructed in 1882, has an impressive façade and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Its interior certainly takes you back in time. Be sure to check out the lobby bar, which is called Byron T’s. Byron T. Mills once owned the hotel and he apparently decided to continuing occupying his property even after death!
Head south, back down I-25. At the far edge of Santa Fe, veer off onto Highway 14, also known as the Turquoise Trail. There are plenty of pseudo ghost towns along this route: Los Cerrillos, Madrid (which was once a ghost town) and Golden.
Here is a link to Plaza Hotel’s website.
Flickr/Ysmay
Although this is often classified as a ghost town, a few residents remain in Los Cerrillos. As you pull into this historic town, you may be tempted to check whether you’re driving a DeLorean, because it certainly feels like traveling back in time. Whether or not this Wild West town contains actual ghosts is unclear, but paranormal activity wouldn’t seem out of place here.
Have you had a paranormal encounter at any of these places? Are you bold enough to take this drive? Let us know.
OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article.
Address: 1134 Cerrillos Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87505Address: 421 Central Ave NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102Address: 806 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM 87102Address: 828 Paseo De Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501Address: 330 E Palace Ave, Santa Fe, NM 87501Address: 125 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, Taos, NM 87571Address: 131 N 2nd St, Raton, NM 87740Address: La Fonda on the Plaza, 100 E San Francisco St, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USAAddress: Elizabethtown, NM 87718, USAAddress: St. James Hotel, 617 S Collison Ave, Cimarron, NM 87714, USAAddress: Dawson, NM 87740, USAAddress: Historic Plaza Hotel, 230 Plaza St, Las Vegas, NM 87701, USAAddress: Los Cerrillos, NM, USA
The OIYS Visitor Center
Haunted Places In Northern New Mexico July 15, 2020 Leah What are the creepiest cemeteries in New Mexico? If you’re brave enough to take a haunted road trip through New Mexico, you might also be interested in visiting the state’s creepiest cemeteries. By far the most notable is the Dawson Cemetery, filled with the supposed ghosts of miners. Beyond that, cemeteries like the Fort Bayard National Cemetery, Fort Stanton Cemetery, Angus Cemetery, and Fairview Cemetery are all supposedly haunted by the paranormal or are - plain and simple - creepy to be in. Can I go ghost hunting in New Mexico? With so many New Mexico ghost stories, you might be itching to go and explore the paranormal yourself. You can visit places like the Fort Stanton Historic Site, which the Ghost Hunters (of TV show fame) have explored. For a spooky town that may be crawling with spirits, brave a visit to Deming, New Mexico. Supposedly, there are ghosts that hang all around town in various places. The town’s dark history includes many deaths in the former tuberculosis sanitarium, alleged satanic cult activity, and plenty of urban legends. Are there any haunted restaurants or bars in New Mexico? If you’re traveling around the state searching for ghosts in abandoned places in New Mexico, you might get a little hungry and need a fuel break. Luckily, you can keep your paranormal trip theme going with a visit to the most haunted restaurant in New Mexico. Double Eagle Restaurant in Mesilla, New Mexico has quite a few spine-tingling stories of the ghosts within its walls. While you enjoy delicious steak and drinks in this fine-dining atmosphere, you can experience the history around you and the story of two lovers’ deaths - the supposed souls that are lingering here to this day. They are said to cause unexplained occurrences in the building, like furniture moving on its own or glasses breaking.
The OIYS Visitor Center
Haunted Places In Northern New Mexico
July 15, 2020
Leah
What are the creepiest cemeteries in New Mexico? If you’re brave enough to take a haunted road trip through New Mexico, you might also be interested in visiting the state’s creepiest cemeteries. By far the most notable is the Dawson Cemetery, filled with the supposed ghosts of miners. Beyond that, cemeteries like the Fort Bayard National Cemetery, Fort Stanton Cemetery, Angus Cemetery, and Fairview Cemetery are all supposedly haunted by the paranormal or are - plain and simple - creepy to be in. Can I go ghost hunting in New Mexico? With so many New Mexico ghost stories, you might be itching to go and explore the paranormal yourself. You can visit places like the Fort Stanton Historic Site, which the Ghost Hunters (of TV show fame) have explored. For a spooky town that may be crawling with spirits, brave a visit to Deming, New Mexico. Supposedly, there are ghosts that hang all around town in various places. The town’s dark history includes many deaths in the former tuberculosis sanitarium, alleged satanic cult activity, and plenty of urban legends. Are there any haunted restaurants or bars in New Mexico? If you’re traveling around the state searching for ghosts in abandoned places in New Mexico, you might get a little hungry and need a fuel break. Luckily, you can keep your paranormal trip theme going with a visit to the most haunted restaurant in New Mexico. Double Eagle Restaurant in Mesilla, New Mexico has quite a few spine-tingling stories of the ghosts within its walls. While you enjoy delicious steak and drinks in this fine-dining atmosphere, you can experience the history around you and the story of two lovers’ deaths - the supposed souls that are lingering here to this day. They are said to cause unexplained occurrences in the building, like furniture moving on its own or glasses breaking.
The OIYS Visitor Center
The OIYS Visitor Center
If you’re brave enough to take a haunted road trip through New Mexico, you might also be interested in visiting the state’s creepiest cemeteries. By far the most notable is the Dawson Cemetery, filled with the supposed ghosts of miners. Beyond that, cemeteries like the Fort Bayard National Cemetery, Fort Stanton Cemetery, Angus Cemetery, and Fairview Cemetery are all supposedly haunted by the paranormal or are - plain and simple - creepy to be in.
Can I go ghost hunting in New Mexico?
With so many New Mexico ghost stories, you might be itching to go and explore the paranormal yourself. You can visit places like the Fort Stanton Historic Site, which the Ghost Hunters (of TV show fame) have explored. For a spooky town that may be crawling with spirits, brave a visit to Deming, New Mexico. Supposedly, there are ghosts that hang all around town in various places. The town’s dark history includes many deaths in the former tuberculosis sanitarium, alleged satanic cult activity, and plenty of urban legends.
Are there any haunted restaurants or bars in New Mexico?
If you’re traveling around the state searching for ghosts in abandoned places in New Mexico, you might get a little hungry and need a fuel break. Luckily, you can keep your paranormal trip theme going with a visit to the most haunted restaurant in New Mexico. Double Eagle Restaurant in Mesilla, New Mexico has quite a few spine-tingling stories of the ghosts within its walls. While you enjoy delicious steak and drinks in this fine-dining atmosphere, you can experience the history around you and the story of two lovers’ deaths - the supposed souls that are lingering here to this day. They are said to cause unexplained occurrences in the building, like furniture moving on its own or glasses breaking.
