We're back with another fun haunted travel blog! This time we're traveling along the edge of the Great Lakes Region with some haunted travel spots in Illinois and Wisconsin. You'll find all manner of paranormal spaces on this list including sacred grounds, haunted cemetery plots, and even spooky hotels! Grab your best ghost hunting gear and pile your pals in the car cause we're going hunting. Let's make the Winchester Brothers proud with our hunting skills.


Let's Take a Road Trip and Visit Haunted Illinois & Wisconsin!

We've scoured the internet to find some of the most intriguing haunted sites on a great road trip along the Great Lakes region and Greater Chicago Area! You'll start in Illinois and make your way up along Lake Michigan, ending in Wisconsin. By the time you're done you'll have traveled nearly 1,000 miles of haunted grounds. Godspeed, travellers! (Dress warmly if you embark in the autumn or winter months, that lake effect is no joke y'all.) 

Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Collinsville, IL

This is a historic site once home to an ancient Native American village, and it is rumored to be home to a host of spirits of the Natives who used to reside here. There have been reports of orbs, strange shadows, and balls of floating light. Remains of the Native Peoples have been found on site. Archaeologists believe the location coordinated with a stellar event involving a supernova shining day and night for a three-year duration.

Peoria State Hospital Museum and Cemetery in Peoria, IL
In its prime, the mental illness institution campus contained 63 buildings on site. Many of the buildings have since been demolished, but the Bowen Building was the last one standing. The grounds are also home to four different cemeteries. Some paranormal investigators have even reported tastes of blood in their mouths or smelling the pine scent used in cough syrups for ill patients. There have been sightings of patients walking through walls, echoes of footsteps, banging on the walls, and pushing or shoving of the investigators.

Greenwood Cemetery in Decatur, IL
It is believed that prior to the 1820s this was the site of a Native American Burial Ground until colonizers took over the site and used it as a graveyard from the 1820s on, becoming an officially recognized cemetery in 1857. Visitors to the site have reported hearing screams and strange lights from inside some of the mausoleums. Visitors report seeing apparitions of confederate prisoners in tattered uniforms wandering in a daze. You might even come across The Greenwood Bride, a lonely figure in a wedding gown searching for her beloved!

Peoria Public Downtown Library in Peoria
Legend has it that this library was built on cursed grounds! Mrs. Andrew Gray lived in the house in the 1830s, and when financial troubles ultimately led to foreclosure, she allegedly cursed the grounds for future owners and residents. The house was eventually demolished and the library was erected in its stead in 1894. Shockingly, the first three directors of the library died under quite mysterious circumstances! Eventually the old library was demolished and a new improved building was built in its place in 1966. Staff have reported feeling cold drafts, seeing apparitions of former directors lurking in doorways, and even whispering their name amidst the stacks.

Old Joliet Prison in Joliet, IL

The site of a tragic 1915 murder of the prison warden's wife, known fondly by inhabitants as "The Angel of Joliet", a subsequent riot broke out with prisoners demanding justice be served and her killer remanded to their custody for retribution! Since then this castle-style prison complex has been the site of numerous haunted sightings. Multiple executions were carried out on the grounds until its closure in 2002, and some believe it is their lost souls who wander the premises. True Crime aficionados and "murderinos" may know it was also the "home" of notorious murderers such as John Wayne Gacy, Richard Spec, Nathan Leopold, and Richard Loeb. It recently reopened to tourists in 2018 after extensive renovations and safety precautions.

Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery in Midlothian, IL

The local area was originally settled by English colonizers and homesteaders who relocated from New England in the 1830s. It was originally named the Everden Cemetery after the original property owner Conrintha Everden, who bought the land in 1835. There have been many reports of spooky phenomena such as floating orbs, strange lights, and even sightings of a phantom car! If you are brave you may even witness a farmer with his horse, a white cloaked spirit of a woman with her infant, and a woman sitting atop a tombstone. (Fair warning the site linked above plays annoying music but it's still worth the visit if you mute the tab!)

Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, IL
From “The Eternal Silence” statue of a hooded cloaked monk to the isolated grave of Daniel Burnham to the imposing architecture of The Palmer Mausoleum, there is no shortage of haunts here! You might hear cries of disembodied voices, or be overcome with an overwhelming sense of dread, or notice the eerie stillness and silence and cold spots. You’ll just have to visit and see for yourself!

Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL 
This site was once home to the Chicago City Cemetery. Originally 35,000+ bodies were buried here, and about 12,000 bodies still remained on the grounds upon this shocking revelation in the late 2000s!

The Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL

Said to be haunted by the ghost of The Woman in Red who fell to her death in 1920 on New Year’s Eve. Guests have reported sightings of her terrifying ghostly figure wandering around the 10th floor as well as in and out of The Gold Coast Room and the Palm Court. Additional reports of The Woman in Black have been recounted by many guests. This sassy spectre is rumored to be tied to an unsolved mystery shooting in 1944, in which a stranger burst forth from the guest's bathroom, opened fire, and disappeared. It's rumored to be a spooky haven for lost souls with other hauntings reported on the grounds in addition to these two notable ones!

Bloods Point Cemetery in Belvidere, IL
This graveyard was founded in 1935, and is famed for sightings of a nefarious woman buried on site named Beaula who murdered all of her children and now haunts the grounds for eternity. Visitors have also reported the site has a very off-putting stench.

Kemper Hall in Kenosha, WI
Once used as a boarding school for young ladies, Kemper Hall is now a recreation center and considered one of the most haunted destinations in Wisconsin! Rumor has it that the grounds are haunted by the ghost of a headless nun who died when several students cornered her and shoved her down a stairway. Some visitors have also reported apparitions of nuns peeking out of the windows.

Fork in the Road Mukwonago, WI
We thought it might be nice to include a restaurant stop off on our trip, and what better than a haunted one! Visitors to this establishment have reported seeing foggy apparitions out back, heard ghostly footsteps in the halls, and even heard the echoes of pool cues hitting pool balls and rolling across the floor.

Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, WI
If you’re looking to take a break on your spooky road trip, why not spend the night here if you dare! Spirits here are said to appear in your room and interfere with your television or radio. You may even hear a pounding or knocking on the walls at night, jangling your nerves and your wits. Many MLB players refuse to stay in the hotel due to disturbances, yikes!

Brumder Mansion Bed and Breakfast in Milwaukee, WI
If you prefer an even more frightening lodging experience, try this terrifying B&B. Guests have reported disturbing nightmares, apparitions floating in the halls and in and out of rooms, and it’s even been said that blood was found in a bathtub that no one had been using. Guests have been reporting hauntings in this four-story building for nearly 100 years. You can read the reports and decide from there, if you dare!

Karsten Hotel in Kewaunee, WI
If you’re interested in strange spectral encounters, then this is the hotspot (or cold spot…) ghost hunters like you are just dying to experience! In fact, it’s so haunted that the owners have fully embraced the paranormal experience and accept it. It has been in operation since 1912 and is home to at least three very active specters. Stay for the night, if you can make it that long...

Maribel Caves in Maribel, WI
The grounds are the former site of the Maribel Caves Hotel aka Cherner Hotel, a site known for its wonderful activities and fine amenities, but which sadly burnt down to the ground with its guests still inside. The hotel has had its fair share of notorious visitors from famed living gangsters and mobsters like John Dillinger to the spectral figure of the former owner’s ghost.

Sheboygan County Asylum /Sheboygan County Comprehensive Health Care Center in Sheboygan Falls, WI

The facilities first opened in 1876 in Winooski as the Sheboygan County Hospital for the Insane, but was replaced and relocated in the 1880s in Sheboygan Falls, and eventually closed in 1950. the SCCHCC was built in 1940, and used as lodging and facilities for WWII POW's, and later converted to housing the mentally ill, disabled folks, and elderly in need of nursing care; this facility closed as recently as 2002. Folks who have visited report physical manifestations of ghostly contact including hair pulling, door slamming, banging, and even disembodied screaming! Some have even seen shadowy figures moving about the corridors. It's worth mentioning that the only way to visit the SCCHCC site is by booking an organized ghost hunting tour run by Fox Valley Ghost Hunters group; anything else is considered trespassing and is illegal. 

High Cliff State Park in Sherwood, WI
If you like spending time in the great outdoors, you may enjoy the challenge of pitching a tent on one of the most haunted campgrounds in Wisconsin! It’s considered a hotbed of supernatural and paranormal events, which some attribute to the fact that there are Native American burial grounds nearby the camping ground. Some folks report strange figures and apparitions and otherworldly sounds in the dead of night.

West Cove Lanes in Ladysmith, WI
Stop in for a bite to eat or explore the nearby campgrounds. But be on the lookout for the ghosts that frequent this bowling alley. Folks have reported hearing footsteps with no figure in sight, and peals of laughter when no one is there. Others have seen an apparition of a man in a flannel shirt. Will you strike the big time and see a spirit or will you roll a gutterball and zero out?

***Note: The notation of haunted sites such as Native Burial Grounds or inclusion of Asylums and Prisons does not mean this writer condones the industrial prison complex, nor does she support rampant ableism of society or any mistreatment of mental health patients. All Native American and Indigenous grounds should be respected as sacred sites. Please do not desecrate any memorials, totems, belongings, or other property located on these grounds. Do not remove anything from the premise as many sites are historic grounds. Some items may also be personal property belonging to estates, families, local historic organizations etc and removal of any items or pieces of architecture or memorial may result in legal issues.

*** Second Note: Trespassing is illegal and those found doing so may be prosecuted by local law enforcement. This blog nor its writer do not condone trespassing and ask readers and travelers to respect local restrictions and guidelines and behave accordingly. Author and blog and its team or any related parties are not responsible for any occurrences of possession or hauntings or for your untimely demise as a result of spooky ghosts and demonic happenings should you encounter any. Travel at your own risk. :)

Ghost hunting trail itinerary plan created by Ellen Avigliano

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