The Creepy Trail In Illinois That Takes You Through 5 Real Ghost Towns

If you're fascinated by abandoned buildings, you definitely need to plan a hike or bike on Illinois' Tunnel Hill State Trail that will take you through 5 different ghost towns!

 Tunnel Hill State Trail in Illinois

Tunnel Hill State Trail in Southern Illinois spans 45 miles and runs along the routes of the former Vincennes and Cairo Railroad. This railway trail was built in the late 1800s to transport coal and other goods to the southern part of Illinois, and the towns that built along the trail were booming.

According to enjoyillinois.com after many railway ownership changes took place, the railway routes went extinct, and in 1991 the trail was handed over to the state of Illinois who created the Trail that still exists today. Tunnel Hill State Trail has some strong African American history attached to it, but for now, let's focus on the 5 ghost towns you can visit along the trail.

Ghost Towns Along the Tunnel Hill State Trail

During the height of the railway operations, 7 communities developed along the trail, but when the railways died off only 5 of them survived; New Castle, Parker City, Forman, Bender, and Rago.

Together these communities included post offices, hotels, restaurants, stores, barbershops, and more, but most of the buildings have since been torn down and only remnants were left behind.

When I went on a hunt for haunted stories about these towns along the Tunnel Hill State Trail, I came across this video of what Parker City looks like today...

And this video about one of the tunnels you have to go through along the trail...

Read more about the history of the Tunnel Hill State Trail, here, it's truly fascinating!