Spokane, Washington

Greenwood Cemetery

Local legend has it that an old, decaying staircase outside this cemetery is haunted by dozens of ghosts.

According to local legend, the staircase at the Greenwood Cemetery in Spokane, Washington, is more than just a little haunted. If you walk up the stairs without any lights on, the story goes, you will see the faces of men, women, and children when you reach the top. Those brave enough to climb the stairs will also hear, they say, the shrieks and cries of the dead and they will feel something akin to rain on their skin.

Supposedly the site of satanic rituals, the staircase, dubbed “1000 steps” because nobody can make it to the top, according to the legend, leads from the side of an access road up to the cemetery. Renovations made years ago have rendered the staircase unnecessary and it sits decaying and rarely, if ever, used by standard visitors stopping to spend time with the cemetery’s residents.

Even if you are able to make it to the top of the staircase without being overcome by fear and don’t experience the presence of ghosts, you will still see beautiful landscaping and hundred-year-old tombstones.

The staircase is located on private property and entering it without the permission of the property owners is considered trespassing. Local police and security officers regularly patrol the area to specifically catch trespassers.