A great number of haunted sites litter the greater Reno area. Some attribute the wealth of supernatural activity here to the region’s rich mining and Wild West heritage. The problem is few of these places are open to the public. Here are five paranormally active sites—where I’ve encountered ghosts—that you can easily visit.
Cal Neva Resort, Crystal Bay (Lake Tahoe), Nev.
Built in 1926 on sacred Washo ancestral grounds and straddling the California-Nevada state line, the Cal Neva once was party headquarters for The Rat Pack and their celebrity pals, such as Marilyn Monroe. Owned by Frank Sinatra in the 1950s and early ‘60s, the hotel/casino attracted A-listers for wild parties, where elite guests sauntered the tunnel network underneath the buildings to the showroom, cabins and boathouse with complete privacy.
Employees have shared their coworkers’ eerie experiences with me. Like the security guard who saw a transparent figure sobbing in a hallway or the employee who encountered the shaman apparition and photographed it with his cell phone.
Personally, I’ve encountered strange happenings: a levitating object, a moving shadow and EVP there. When you visit, try to stay in the cabins once reserved for Marilyn or Frank Sinatra, or book hotel tower room 101 for an eerie night. And, visit the showroom, which is still decorated as Old Blue Eyes directed. I’ve never experienced anything odd in the remaining tunnels (the Feds blew up most of the network after suspecting that Sinatra was breaking interstate laws), but it’s interesting nonetheless.
Washoe Club, Virginia City, Nev.
Easily one of the area’s most paranormally active sites, the upper floors of the Washoe Club will thrill any ghost hunter. Lena, the apparition of a beautiful woman of the night, has been seen on the spiral staircase. For years, a framed photo of this specter hung on a wall on the first floor, but a leaking roof destroyed this amazing print. See my posts “Dancing with the Ghosts” and “Inside Moon” for details on my personal experiences in the Washoe Club. To gain access to the second and third stories, you can take a daily tour or for a real paranormal experience, become a member of the club and then rent out the building overnight for a private investigation.
St. Mary’s Arts Center, Virginia City, Nev.
Regular readers of my blog will recall my past post about my experiences (En“light”ened ghosts of St. Mary’s Arts Center) at St. Mary’s Arts Center, Virginia City’s former hospital and orphanage. Stories abound of the White Nun apparition on the second floor, the kitchen ghost and the creepy mental ward in the attic. The arts center holds classes in this stately, three story brick building and offers dormitories to its students, or rent the entire building.
See my other two public haunt picks next week.