Upstate New York is a sometimes overlooked alternative to the nearby metropolis of New York City. It is home to a wealth of natural beauty featuring the Catskills and the Hudson Valley yet still has plenty of accommodations and nightlife while offering a more tranquil experience than nearby NYC.
However, this tranquility also comes with the warning of a noteworthy amount of paranormal activity found in the area. This is especially true throughout the town of Saratoga Springs which is home to a myriad of centuries-old buildings and Civil War-era sites. This makes it a great destination for the brave ones with a knack for the paranormal.
Here is a list of some of the best places to experience contact with the "other side" in spooky Saratoga Springs.
10 The Olde Bryan Inn
If the wooden walls of this restaurant and bar could talk, they would have many stories to tell dating back to the late 1700s.
Spirits in colonial-era clothing have been spotted, but the star of the paranormal show here is a Civil War period widow named Beatrice, also referred to as the "lady in green."
This spirit roams the building in her Victorian-style dress and wanders in and out of what is believed to be her old bedroom where she was left behind by her husband who died in the Battle of Saratoga.
The hearty dishes served here are also another reason to visit this restaurant that opens for lunch and dinner Wednesday through Sunday.
9 Canfield Casino
Canfield Casino has been featured on America's Most Terrifying Places and the famed TV show Ghost Hunters.
This playground for the wealthy elite of Saratoga Springs in the late 1800s is now registered as a national historic landmark and is the site of the Saratoga Springs History Museum as well as a space for events and, of course, paranormal tours.
8 Grant Cottage
Famed President and Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant spent his final days in this cottage where he finished his memoirs before losing his battle with throat cancer.
Many of Grant's belongings still fill up his former home including the very bed he died in. The suspected lingering spirit, however, is not believed to be Grant himself but instead a female former caretaker.
- The cottage opens to visitors seasonally, and its website provides information for specific dates along with various events and tours.
7 General Philip Schuyler House
One of the ghost-inhabited sites of Saratoga National Historic Park is the beautifully restored home of General Philip Schuyler, who is considered to be one of the founders of Saratoga Springs.
Notable names like George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson have also visited the house.
- The house opens to visitors from June to Labor Day for special exhibitions and also hosts an annual Candlelight Tour every October.
6 Saratoga Battlefield
With many of these paranormal sites relating to the Civil War era of Saratoga Springs, the local battlefield itself can not be left off this list.
Saratoga Battlefield also lies within the Saratoga National Historic Park and the gorgeous scenery alone makes it worth a visit and features a road for driving tours that is available in non-winter months.
Visitors to the battlefield have reported a range of paranormal encounters from sights of wounded soldiers to hearing sounds of the battle itself.
5 Historic Grooms Tavern
The Historic Grooms Tavern dates all the way back to 1825 and holds a palpably eerie atmosphere throughout the complex consisting of a tavern, a wagon and blacksmith shop, and a frame privy.
Reputable historians and ghost hunters alike agree that the complex is home to a small group of spirits (suspected to be a woman and two children) but visitors can walk in knowing that they are playfully friendly, as paranormal accounts only report being lightly touched by unseen entities and unexplained moving of objects.
4 Saratoga County Homestead Hospital
The spooky remnants of the Saratoga County Homestead Hospital built in 1937 operated as a tuberculosis sanatorium until 1960, after which it functioned as a nursing home for nearly 20 years until shutting down for good.
Spirits left behind in this building with a long list of sorrowful past residents roamed the halls undisturbed until a new owner purchased it in 2019.
Since then, it has undergone restoration and is now open for paranormal investigation tours and photo tours at specified dates and times.
3 The Batcheller Mansion Inn
The Batcheller Mansion Inn which currently functions as a bed and breakfast dates back to 1873 and has been the subject of multiple visits from the Albany Paranormal Research Society.
This eye-catching inn is notable enough for its aesthetic, but it is highly suspected that spirits of the founding Batcheller family continue to roam its halls.
Since the building is still an operating bed and breakfast, this paranormal experience is only available to those brave enough to book an overnight stay.
2 The Parting Glass
The Parting Glass is a vivacious Irish pub regularly full of patrons enjoying live music and a game of darts along with a cold pint.
This is fitting for the building which centuries past served as the haunt for gambling, Vaudeville acts, and any seedy character looking for an amusing night out.
Visitors now may have their dart game suddenly interrupted by an apparition of a "lady in white" or one of a variety of different ghosts of the past reported to have been seen in the pub.
1 Greenridge Cemetery
What is a haunted list without a cemetery? Greenridge Cemetery, established in 1844, is the oldest in Saratoga Springs and it features tons of decorative mausoleums, gravestones, and statues which create an unsettlingly immersive yet beautiful atmosphere.
Notable names of those found at their final resting place here are George Crum who allegedly created the potato chip and George Batcheller of the Batcheller Mansion.
- The cemetery is open from dawn to dusk and a Twilight Cemetery Tour is provided by the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation once a year.