The sun has set, and you find yourself driving on a road illuminated only by the headlights beaming from your vehicle. You haven’t seen another car in miles.

You start to get a feeling in your gut that something is “off”. You ignore it, focusing on the task of getting to your location.

Out of the corner of your eye, you catch movement on the shoulder. You glance and see something. You quickly shake it off; you’re speeding away anyways. It was nothing, just late-night delusions. Right?

If you were traveling on one of these iconic roads throughout the U.S., there’s a chance it wasn’t “nothing”. These are some of the most haunted highways in America, each with its own creepy tale:

Route 666 – New Mexico
Route 666, now known as U.S. Route 491 and commonly nicknamed “Devil’s Highway”, is known for a “mad trucker” that terrorized drivers. This “trucker demon”, as it is known, is said to have forced drivers to swerve off the road to avoid a collision. In some cases, this resulted in a fatal crash.

Some stories even involve the truck being engulfed in flames, like a fireball, while it chased a car.

Two theories have emerged as to what travelers who encountered this phenomenon experienced. The trucker was a demon summoned from hell because of the “666” number of the highway, or there was someone actively trying to harm others.

Interstate 4 – Florida
On Interstate 4 between Daytona Beach and Orlando, there is a section called the “Dead Zone” at St. John’s River.

Drivers have noted that while talking on the cell phone, they will hear other voices coming through the phone, which some call the ‘voices of the dead’.

CB radios are prone to unexplained static noises as well.

Phantom hitchhikers, apparitions, and balls of light have all also been reported on this road.

Kancamagus Highway – New York
This highway weaves through the White Mountain National Forest and is a popular destination for “leaf peeping” in the fall. While the highway itself isn’t haunted, the Russell-Colbath House, which stands alone within the woods, is haunted.

The story goes that Thomas, husband of Ruth Colbath, left to complete errands during the night in 1891 and never returned. Ruth, heartbroken but hopeful, left an oil lamp glowing in the window to guide him home for the remainder of her 39 years until she died in 1930 at 80 years old.

Her husband returned home three years after her death, but his absence was never explained.

Drivers on the highway report they still see an oil lamp lit in the window of the house at night, even though the building is unoccupied.

Route 66 – Chicago, Il. to Santa Monica, Ca.
Stretching over 2,400 miles and aged 100 years, historic Route 66 has its fair share of ghost stories and haunted attractions along the way.

These are a few of the haunted locations you will encounter if you travel the whole route:

• McPike Mansion, Alton, Il. – Reported orbs & apparitions
• Ghost Town of Avilla, Mo. – Haunted by Bloody Bill & headless Rotten Johnny, features a “Death Tree” with ghosts and shadow people in town.
• The Skirvin Hilton, Oklahoma City, Ok. – Paranormal activity of a woman crying, infant crying, disembodied voices, floating objects & strange sounds.
• The Amarillo Natatorium, Amarillo, Tx. – Cold spots, dancing apparitions, poltergeist activity.
   

Bray Road – Elkhorn, Wi.
Bray Road is off U.S. Route 12 and is known for the Beast of Bray Road. Sightings of this wolf-like creature became prevalent in the 1980s and 1990s. There were many stories, including an 18-year-old girl in 1999 whose tire hit something while driving on Bray Road, causing her to get out and check the tire. There was nothing in the road; however, on the side of the road was a large creature, standing on two legs.

She quickly got back in the car to drive away, and the creature jumped on her trunk. Luckily for her, it slid off as she sped home in the rain.

The Week, a Walworth County paper, charged Linda Godfrey with investigating and collecting all of the stories involving the Bray Road monster. Godfrey compiled these stories into a book: The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsin’s Werewolf.

Bonus: Haunted Truck Stop – Tri-County Truck Stop – Villa Ridge, Mo.
In the Summer of 2012, the Syfy channel’s Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files ran an episode about the abandoned Tri-County Truck Stop in Villa Ridge, Mo. The conclusion of the show was that the truck stop was haunted.

The St. Louis-based ghostbusters, Paranormal Task Force, encountered an apparition of a man in a flannel shirt in the men’s restroom, a coffee pot crashing on the floor, a light bulb being thrown at them, and many more paranormal occurrences.

Even More Tales
If you can’t get enough ghost stories, check out these books:

• Truckers Ghost Stories: And Other True Tales of Haunted Highways, Weird Encounters, and Legends of the Road by Annie Wilder
• Haunted Highways: Spooky Stories, Strange Happenings, and Supernatural Sightings by Tom Ogden

Have you driven on any of these roads and witnessed something you can’t explain? Or do you have other ghostly, terrifying trucker tales? Share them with us in our Facebook Group: RoadPro Driver’s Lounge