Kentucky After Dark Trail

Louisville’s Waverly Hills Sanatorium was built to serve as a tuberculosis hospital in the early 1900s. It closed in 1961 with advancements in tuberculosis treatment, but its creepy pedigree has cemented it in local lore as a haunted landmark. Paranormal activity at the former hospital is said to include sights such as ghost children and a man in white lurking in the halls, and several ghost-hunting television shows have featured the former hospital. 

The Waverly Hills Sanatorium is just one of 21 stops along the Kentucky After Dark trail. Launched by Kentucky Tourism in late 2023, the trail engages the public’s love of otherworldly tales by highlighting the haunted history of the Bluegrass State and other creepy attractions. 

Stops include the Nada Tunnel along Highway 77 in Powell County, where the spirits of a worker and his dog are said to linger, and the Lexington Opera House, an 1886 structure that replaced a former theater after it burned down. The Anderson Hotel in Lawrenceburg invites visitors for public tours and allows private paranormal investigations. 

Other ghostly stops include the International Paranormal Museum in Somerset, where visitors can get a glimpse of Gladys, the haunted mannequin. An hour’s drive east in Manchester, travelers will find The Chestnut House, a former funeral home built in the 1800s where ghostly activity has been reported. 

In addition to highlighting paranormal and haunted locations, the trail includes seasonal attractions such as the USS Nightmare, a haunted house attraction staged on a ship docked along the Ohio River in Newport.

To prove you survived the creepiest spots Kentucky has to offer, pick up a passport from participating tourism offices and collect stamps from each site along the way. For more information about the stops along the Kentucky After Dark Trail, go to kentuckyafterdark.com.