Read on for some Estes spookiness… if you dare.
The Haunting at the Baldpate Inn
In 1911, Gordon and Ethel Mace built a classic log cabin for themselves and several smaller tourist cabins to accompany it. In 1917 they built a larger lodging facility which became the Baldpate Inn, named from a fictional inn in a mystery novel. Regulars were given keys to their own buildings, just like in the novel. This tradition was practiced until WWI when the cost of metal rose so steeply, they could no longer afford to give away keys. So guests started bringing keys with them to leave at the inn, starting the famous “Key Room.” Word on the street is that today, both Ethel and Gordon continue to stay at their old Inn. Ethel has been spotted in her rocker reading the Bible or spilling drinks while Gordon has been sighted roaming the hallways and enforcing the no smoking rule by smashing guests’ cigarettes or stealing the pack all together.
The Baldpate Inn is now the Seven Keys Lodge! Check it out!
Legend of the Blue Mist
Miner Bill came to Estes in 1883. He was known around town to have some strange tendencies and spent about a year in an insane asylum. When he was released he set to prospecting in the Horseshoe Park area, which is now our beloved Rocky Mountain National Park. He filed two mining claims and began constructing trails for access to these mines. Often, he would come into town for supplies and had a habit of talking to himself and of the “divine.” He had a fear of something he liked to call, the blue mist. According to Bill, on cloudy nights near his cabin, “a being” would manifest and a blue mist would appear in the trees. It would always leave three toed claw marks in the snow and on the trees around the cabin. Animals were often found dead with nothing left but bones and Bill believed there to be a connection. Bill went missing and was eventually found dead with nothing left but bones along with three toed animal tracks surrounding him.
