In our ideal Denver self-guided walking ghost tour, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite spine-chilling buildings. During the fall, I enjoy scaring myself a little more than usual. If you want to make it less frightening for your kiddos, go during the daytime. You can walk it- make sure you time your parking, so you don’t get ticketed. Many places downtown have two-hour limits or so.
A Denver Self-Guided Walking Ghost Tour
The days are getting shorter, and the nights are getting longer. The air is crisp, with an eerie quality sneaking in as quietly as the twilight of this season. What a perfect time of year to explore all things creepy! Between Denver’s brightly changing leaves and the fresh air, autumn in Colorado is an extraordinary time. If you throw in this spooky tour, you’ve captured all things fall.
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If you prefer to hire a guided tour, there are some fantastic group tour options (including a ghost and pub tour) to check out haunted Denver. The Capitol Hill History and Haunted Tour is a two-hour experience that takes you through the history.
The Molly Brown House: 1340 Pennsylvania Street
We’ll start our four-stop tour with the Molly Brown House, one of the most well-known homes in Denver, as the former residence of socialites J.J. and Molly Brown. The previous owner was the unsinkable Molly Brown, who survived the 1912 crash of the Titanic.
In 1887, the city commissioned the governor’s mansion. The Browns later purchased the sprawling Queen Anne-style home.
The 7,000-square-foot Victorian house features red sandstone and gray Rhyolite stone and spans three stories, with an attic and basement. The stunning building features stained glass windows, decorative wood panels, and curved brackets.
Molly loved to travel and purchased the two Egyptian Phoenixes in front of her house. After she died in 1932, her beloved home was left to decay until the early 1970s, when Historic Denver, Inc. renovated the home to its original splendor.
After the repairs, the home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Start the Historic Denver walking tour at the Molly Brown House. Currently, the Molly Brown House Museum displays original architecture and furnishings.
The two former socialites still haunt the Brown home. Tour guides periodically smell J.J.’s pipe smoke at random times. Museum workers see mysteriously loose light bulbs, and tourists even report seeing furniture rearranged by a spirit wearing a Victorian dress.
The History of the Molly Brown Museum
Molly Bown was born Margaret Tobin Brown into a blue-collar family with five siblings in Leadville, Colorado. She met James Joseph “J.J.” Brown at a church picnic.
They did not have wealth, but they had plenty of love, and the two married in 1886. They lived in a two-room log cabin near the mine where J.J. worked.
By 1889, Molly and J.J. had built a family with two children and moved back to Leadville, where they lived in a beautiful house with the entire Tobin clan nearby.
J.J. eventually was the head of mining operations at Ibex Mining Company. He purchased Little Johnny Mine and discovered a large vein of gold within it.
Upon closer scrutiny, the gold was found to be pure, and the vein was even more significant than initially believed. By 1893, the mine was shipping 135 tons of gold per day.
The Brown family became wealthy, relocated to Denver, and purchased the Victorian Mansion. Molly and J.J. shared their money with charities and were philanthropists in both Leadville and Denver.
In 1909, they dissolved their marriage but remained friends. After the amicable split, Molly Brown spent less time in Denver and decided to rent their house to various families. After the Great Depression, she was forced to turn the house into a boarding facility. By the time she died in 1932, the house was run-down.
In 1958, Art Leisenring turned the home into a gentleman’s boarding house for two years. He leased it to the city of Denver as a home for wayward girls. In 1970, the city earmarked the Brown homestead for demolition. Leisenring formed Historic Denver Inc. and raised money to save Molly Brown’s House. The house was restored and opened as a museum.
Grosvenor Arms Apartments: 333 East 16th Avenue
The Grosvenor Arms Apartments opened in the fall of 1931. The apartment building features Gothic winged serpents that guard medieval stone walls. The flagstone courtyard welcomes you into a fortress of the past.
When the building opened, the advertisements touted a fireproof, child-free building with contemporary luxuries in its studio and one-bedroom apartments. However, the 1930s hardwood floors, arched doorways, and original fixtures remain in most apartments.
Two phantom residents haunt the Grosvenor Arms Apartment building– the man in the mirror and the woman upstairs.
A tall, broad-shouldered man appears in a large lobby mirror, wearing a dark suit and a fedora. An elegant young woman wearing a long skirt possesses the eighth-floor laundry.
However, these apparitions are rarely chilling. Over the years, the residents have felt comforted by these spirits. If your arms are full of laundry, the woman upstairs will press the elevator’s call button on your behalf.
Travel Must-Haves for Little Adventurers
Travel Car Seat – Not FAA approved, but safe as a booster in your Uber
Noise-Canceling Headphones – Soothing quiet for little ears
Kid-Proof Tablet Case – Drop-tested and travel ready
Fidget Toy Set – Pocket-sized fun for long layovers
Weighted Lap Pad – Like a calming hug on cars and planes
The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa: 321 17th Street
The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa is home to many spectral apparitions. The triangle-shaped haunted hotel opened in downtown Denver in 1892. Many visitors to the Brown Palace Club room have reported lights flickering, the carpet “crawling” underfoot, and a bartender who appears to flit in and out through a wall.
Perhaps Dwight Eisenhower had ghostly visitors in his campaign headquarters. The Brown Palace Club Room was used in 1952 as Eisenhower’s headquarters during his presidential campaign.
Employees and guests have reported experiencing sudden chills, doors slamming, the sound of invisible children laughing, and papers flying off tables.
One of the apparitions is a man dressed as an old-fashioned railroad conductor who walks into the wall when approached. The second is a senior woman in a long black dress wailing about her broken heater, who vanishes when maintenance arrives.
Denver Press Club: 1330 Glenarm Place
The Denver Press Club is the oldest press club in the United States and the only one haunted. Founded in 1877, it settled into its present home in 1925.
The Press Club is not a relic of the past, as the club ranks currently boast more than 500 members. This historical treasure boasts many contemporary journalists who treasure their First Amendment rights (as we all should!)
The journalists who spend the most time at the Denver Press Club see many mysterious occurrences. More than just caricatures of the past adorn the aging walls– spirits linger among the living.
A man and an employee locked up the club one night after closing. They sat downstairs, enjoying a nightcap.
Upstairs, they heard loud, stomping footsteps interrupting their conversation. They ran upstairs, but no one was there.
On another occasion, the club members saw a ghostly figure wearing a nineteenth-century policeman’s cloak. Club members describe trays of silverware rearranged or pots and pans moved. However, all encounters have been pleasant at best and, at worst, are a series of practical jokes.
If you are looking for clean, home-like accommodations, see our review of the family suites in Cherry Creek.
Should You Take Our DIY Denver Self-Guided Walking Ghost Tour?
Yes, if you are looking for a walking tour of Denver. And if you want to be creeped out and save money, this free tour will check the boxes. Walking along this self-guided Denver ghost tour brings true believers a candid look at Denver’s supernatural history. Once you’ve walked along this path, you may be disappointed that you have seen all of the ghosts of Denver. Fear not! Fortunately, Denver is teeming with spirits.
Where is your favorite haunted space? Drop it in the comments below.
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Thanks for the wonderful guide
You are so welcome!