In addition to its postcard-perfect mountain views, Estes Park has earned a reputation for something a little darker. Ghost stories swirl around town just as easily as the autumn winds, and every year, visitors come looking for a brush with its haunted history. This spooky season, I decided to follow them, joining three of Estes Park’s best-known paranormal offerings.
My first stop was the Historic Park Theatre, the oldest single-house motion picture theater still operating in the United States, where ghostly tales echo through the same auditorium that has shown films since 1913. From there, I ventured to the Stanley Hotel, where two different tours offer sharply different encounters with the spirits of the past. Together, these tours reveal how Estes Park’s haunted side is as enduring as its mountain skyline.
Haunted ghost tours of the Historic Park Theatre
The Historic Park Theatre is not just old by local standards. Built in 1913 and still operating as it was originally intended, it holds the distinction of being the oldest single-house movie theater in continuous operation in the nation. That legacy alone makes it worth a visit, and its ghost tour, led by owner and operator Jenna McGregor, layers in more than a century of the building’s haunted lore.
We began in the lobby before heading inside the theater’s auditorium, where McGregor set the scene: “Resident ghosts are spirits who normally stay within the area. We have 12 of them here that we know of, and they are not necessarily all human.” She says the theater’s friendliest regulars include a couple of dogs and, possibly, a cat.
While seated in the theater, McGregor shared a myriad of stories about supposed hauntings that have happened and showed photos that visitors have captured of the venue’s spirits. After more ghost stories, the route loops back into the lobby for a closer look at a 1917 projector, one of the theater’s proud relics. Outside, McGregor pointed up at the tower added by former owner Ralph Gwynn, a figure whose presence she claims is still felt in the building. Then it was up the stairs to the projection room, where Gwynn’s photograph watches over the equipment.
Finally, we returned to the lobby to wrap up with a few more stories. The tour is billed at 50 minutes, though mine stretched to over an hour thanks to McGregor’s mix of anecdotes, ghost photos, and bits of town history. Tickets cost $15, and groups are capped at 20 people. Be prepared to climb stairs and stand for periods of time. For those who want to take things further, the theater also offers late-night Ghost Hunts from 10 p.m. to midnight for $35, complete with an introduction to ghost-hunting tools and a chance to spend time in the building after dark.
The Shining Tour at The Stanley Hotel
The Stanley Hotel is forever linked with Stephen King, and the Shining Tour leans into that legacy with a theatrical, one-hour walk through the spaces that helped inspire his most famous novel. I joined the 4:10 p.m. Saturday tour, which began in the lower level of the main building. Nearly every time slot that day was sold out, a reminder that advance reservations are essential.
Our guide, Jacob, opened with a dose of myth-busting: Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film was not shot at the hotel. Most of it was staged in London. King, however, did stay here for a single night in 1974, and that stay sparked the idea that became “The Shining.” After briefly discussing the strained relationship between King and Kubrick, we walked upstairs to the McGregor Room, which was once the hotel’s grand dining hall but now serves as an event space and tour stop.
In the McGregor Room, Jacob recounted how King endured what he later called “the creepiest dinner” of his life, nearly alone in the cavernous space as the hotel prepared to close for the season. After dinner, King returned to room 217, the only available room that night, and it was there he dreamt a nightmare of his son running through the halls. Waking with relief, he stepped onto the balcony to smoke a cigarette. By the time it burned out, he had the beginning, middle, and end of his new novel written in his mind.
The tour also highlights the long history of hardship at the Stanley itself. In the 1970s, the hotel had no winter heat and was open only a few months each year. Bankruptcy loomed, and King’s visit came at a low point in its history. When he returned in the 1990s to shoot the ABC miniseries version of “The Shining,” he insisted the production alter the lobby’s wallpaper and other design choices to better suit his vision. The hotel was contractually required to keep those changes, which is why parts of the décor still echo the eerie aesthetic of the miniseries today.
The tour then ventured outside to view the balcony of 217 and hear more about the difference between “The Shining” book and the movie. The group was then led into the Men’s Dormitory, where the focus shifted away from King and toward the hotel’s broader paranormal lore. Here, Jacob shared ghost stories less connected to “The Shining,” but still tied to the Stanley’s history, including sightings of a spectral figure named Dennis. The mood here was more traditional ghost tour than film history, setting up a contrast with what came next.
The finale brought us to the restored 1909 Caretaker’s Cottage. Inside, guests can see a re-created bedroom that nods to Jack and Wendy’s room, a recreated bathroom set, and a glass case holding one of the prop axes from “The Shining.” For $30 a ticket, with groups capped at 14 and a runtime of about 60 minutes, the Shining Tour proves both entertaining and informative.
The Stanley Hotel Night Tour
If the Shining Tour is about lore, the Spirited Night Tour is about atmosphere. This 60-minute walk through the Stanley after dark emphasizes mood and storytelling, moving guests through some of the property’s most charged spaces while weaving together history, spiritualism, and decades of reported encounters.
When I joined the 5:40 p.m. tour, we began in the Lodge, where the guide outlined the history of F. O. and Flora Stanley. The emphasis was not on tragedy but on accumulation. Flora, in particular, was devoted to spiritualism and reportedly conducted séances several times a week during their summers at the hotel.
“If you hold a door open long enough, something is bound to come through,” our guide said, offering this as an explanation for the hotel’s reputation. We then heard about room 217, where Jim Carrey famously lasted only a few hours during the filming of “Dumb and Dumber” before demanding a new hotel altogether. There was Lucy, a spirit said to have died on the property during its years of disrepair, though the historical record is disputed.
From the Lodge, we moved into the Billiards Rooms, once one of F. O. Stanley’s favorite hangouts. Here, the focus was on recent ghostly activity. Guests were encouraged to scan their phones for “blue orbs,” which the staff say have been appearing in photos for several months. A discolored American flag from the Afghanistan war era also drew attention. It was dedicated to the hotel in 2010, but strange face-like patterns have surfaced in the fabric. The guide invited us to decide for ourselves what we were seeing.
The finale took us into the underground tunnels that run beneath the hotel. Dug into the mountain itself, these passageways once served as utilitarian routes for staff. Now they are among the most atmospheric stops of the tour, damp, close, and heavy with the building’s age. And there, our guide told us about Miss Wilson, the head of housekeeping, who was injured in a 1911 explosion and is believed by many to roam the halls still. She is said to be strict with single men staying at the hotel, a theory our guide half-jokingly connected to Carrey’s abrupt departure.
Tickets for the Spirited Night Tour are $30, with groups capped at 20 people. Children under 8 are not permitted, but unlike the Shining Tour, this route is wheelchair-accessible. As I left the tunnels, I was not convinced I had seen a ghost, but I had no doubt that the Stanley’s haunted reputation is built on more than tourist gimmickry. In Estes Park, the past lingers, and this tour invites you to meet it face to face.
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