Paranormal Trail Draws Visitors To W.Va. With Spooky Attractions

Don’t look now, but West Virginia’s new Paranormal Trail just got a little bigger – and a lot spookier. 

In the two weeks since the West Virginia Division of Tourism launched its new West Virginia Paranormal Trail, nearly 5,000 visitors from 39 states and three different countries have already signed up.

Now, the trail has added four new destinations, for a total of 18.

Cryptid Mountain Miniature Golf in Morgantown, decorated with the state’s paranormal creatures, is one of the new attractions. 

“A cryptid is usually some type of animal or being that is believed to exist. There are some witnesses, but there’s no verifiable, conclusive evidence to say that this thing exists,” said owner Matthew Tolliver.

Tolliver said people consider many different things cryptids, from ghosts to aliens to Bigfoot.

“There are even some animals now that we know really do exist that people used to think were mythical,” he added. “For example, the giant panda or the Komodo dragon.”

Tolliver’s indoor course has a free detective map of newspaper articles about local sightings – including a Bigfoot report near Fayetteville.

“From 1883 to 2020, all of the props are based on those original descriptions of course Mothman, the Flatwoods monster, the Grafton monster,” he said.

Also new to the list: the West Virginia Bigfoot Museum in Sutton, the Silver Run Tunnel in Cairo and the Hempfield Tunnel in Wheeling. 

For a complete list of trail attractions and details on how to register, visit the Division of Tourism’s website.