The Witch Of Red River Gorge

Walking along the trails of Red River Gorge in Kentucky gives one the impression that you are the first person to ever see it. It's a wonderful experience. Full of first, second, and third generation forests, it's truly a wonderful experience to enjoy the divine silence save for the breezes and the occasional sound of a stream.

It was along one of these beautiful trails that ran adjacent to the Red River that my wife and I found a small canopy of leaves that blocked some of the gentle sprinkles of rain. Looking towards the river, I noticed what looked like a stone wall about two feet high. The ground nearby was small clearing which indicated that is was a well used camping spot. It was then that I noticed someone standing there in a deep black cloak.
"Are we interrupting someone's ritual?" I asked my wife as I pointed out the person to her thinking of someone of a Wiccan faith. "What do you mean?" she asked confusedly. "Never mind, let's just walk on" I said wondering why she couldn't see the person.

So, as we continued along the trail, I noticed that this person would also continue, yet I never saw the head of the person look to our direction. We stopped again next to one of the boulders along our trail. We quickly discussed the idea that the person will reach the swinging bridge before we do, which we knew would be a problem.

A childlike sense of fear overcame me as I realized that cloak was appearing to glide along the path next to the river. Then, as a gust of wind hit me, I could no longer see the cloaked person, yet my wife jumped and stepped backward, her eyes wide with fear. "What's wrong?" I asked. "She's right in front of us." she said shaking. I looked and saw a bowed branch of a tree that appeared to move as though someone was pushing it. Yet, it was this very branch that my stated that "she" stood upon. At this point, "something" shot away through the forest from the area of the branch and the vegetation moved as though a deer was running through it.

We quietly, and very quickly, walked to the bridge, now almost darkened by the falling sun. We made our way to our car parked at the trail head, got in, and headed home. Oddly, we didn't talk very much about our "ghostly" experience, we just sat quietly thinking about what had just happened.

"What did happen?" I wondered.

reply to post by Divine Strake


Is this a story or personal experience? I am not trying to sound condescending at all I am just curious.

reply to post by VoidWalker


Yes, it happened. Despite my being somewhat of a skeptic, I witnessed something I can't fully explain. It was interesting that within the RR Gorge history, there used to be a woman during the 1800's I think, that they called a witch.

It's tricky because there are many people lost within that area that stiff have not been found.

reply to post by Divine Strake


Very interesting.... Kinda creepy. Do you feel like it was purely evil presence?

reply to post by VoidWalker

Well, not really. I think if any evil were to be sensed, it would have happened in a much more noticeable way. I think the "mood" was more of a "curious" manner than evil.

Now that I look back on it, I am grateful for the experience. I always want to believe as much as others in things, but very rarely get the chance to experience it for myself.

reply to post by Divine Strake


What I find striking is that I have had a situation happen to my brother and I while we were camping out in the middle of the woods. How you described the wind pick up and what not is kinda what happened with me. I live in the Midwest and camping in the woods is kind of our get away. We spend several nights in a row hiking and camping. On one night it was kind of an eerie night, we both were hiking and the sun was getting ready to call it a day. We are both grown adults, but for some reason that day we were both creeped out all day long. We kept looking behind us and just felt uneasy all day. When we set up camp we made our food and sat around and were just talking bout what was needed to be done for the next day and how far we need to hike to make it to our destination. The sun was down by then and the wind picked up like a wind tunnel. We were deep in the woods and usually isn't that fierce. It only happened 2 or three times that these strong winds hit. After that we laughed it off as usual, but then we were hearing things in the distance. We could hear drums and chanting. I swear it was as clear as day as if we were near an indian tribe. It was jaw dropping. We called out several times and it never stopped to call back or anything. It just kept playing. This went on for several minutes. We decided to get up and turn on our lantern and start walking towards it. Well what we thought was the area it came from. Something made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end immediately and I didn't want to go any further nor did my brother. We both decided to hike back and on our way back we could hear something breaking and cracking limbs all the way back behind us. We got in our tent and decided to talk some about what just happened. That is when we heard a scream that I could never try to replicate or imagine. If I could combine a bloody murder scream with a howl and a deep growl that is what I heard. I remember thinking first what the hell was it that I had just heard. I know the woods and I know the animals... I don't know what this is... I haven't gone back since and I don't think I ever will to be honest. I stayed up all night listening to something walk around my camp and the screams I will never get out of my head. I think of what my brother and I encountered might have been evil. No sense of wonder or curiosity here. It was terrifying.

That is when we heard a scream that I could never try to replicate or imagine. If I could combine a bloody murder scream with a howl and a deep growl that is what I heard.

As well, I had an experience similar to this while in Minnesota. We thought since we were on a reservation that the drums we were hearing were someone's drum circle. The sounds, as it turned out, were coming from Battle Point, on the Leech Lake where the last official battle with native americans is said to have occurred.

We had arrived there on the anniversary of the battle, and it was the first thing we noticed when we got out of our camper. When we mentioned it to some of the natives, they all sort of laughed and said "Oh, you could hear that?" Apparently it's a routine event there to hear those drums, and most everyone just accepts it as, well, ghost drums.

Your experience gives me chills, and I love it. It's been a while since I've read something that really put me there, as though I was experiencing it with you. Awesome!