Affiliate Disclaimer: This article may contain affiliate links. We may earn a small commission if readers clicks through and make a purchase. See Affiliate Disclosure here.

Visit These 10 Creepy Ghost Towns In New York At Your Own Risk

There’s something about ghost towns that gives you chills, right? 

The idea of a place once buzzing with life now standing silent, its buildings empty, its streets overgrown—like stepping into a forgotten time capsule. 

New York State might be known for its skyscrapers and busy cities, but hidden among its forests, mountains, and countryside are abandoned towns with stories that will send shivers down your spine. 

Some were left behind after industries dried up, others fell victim to environmental disasters, and a few were simply swallowed up by nature. 

If you’re ready to uncover their eerie ruins, strange histories and mysterious legends, keep reading—these ghost towns will take you on a haunting trip through the Empire State’s hidden past.

1. Doodletown

alh1 / Flickr

Doodletown is an abandoned ghost town hidden in the woods of Bear Mountain State Park, about 50 miles north of New York City in Rockland County. 

Once a small but thriving settlement dating back to the 1700s, it was gradually abandoned by the 1960s after the state bought the land to expand the park. 

Today, you can still see crumbling stone foundations, old roads, and even a couple of cemeteries with headstones from the 1800s, giving the place an eerie vibe. 

Doug Kerr / Flickr

During its peak, Doodletown had a school, church, and around 300 residents, but by the mid-20th century, it became a ghost town as people were pushed out. 

Fun fact: contributing to its creepy reputation, it’s thought the name “Doodletown” likely came from the Dutch word “dudel,” meaning ‘dead valley’.

2. Tahawus

Adam Moss / Flickr

Another hauntingly empty spot worth exploring is Tahawus, tucked away in the heart of the Adirondacks, about 90 minutes from Lake Placid. 

This ghost town started as an iron mining village in the 1800s and later also became a logging town before being abandoned for good in the mid-1900s. 

Adam Moss / Flickr

What’s left? A cluster of decaying buildings, including the MacNaughton Cottage, where Teddy Roosevelt stayed the night he learned he’d become president. 

You can also walk along the remains of the old blast furnace and mining operations, which feel like a time capsule from the industrial age.

3. Potterville

Potterville, a ghost town off Lundy Road near Wawarsing in Ulster County, is one of New York’s most unsettling abandoned places. 

In the early 1900s, it was a small but functioning community until a devastating flood in 1927 nearly wiped it out. 

Adding to its dark history, the town was plagued by a string of eerie events, including a murder and mysterious deaths that followed, leading some to believe the land is cursed. 

While much of the town was bulldozed in the early 2000s, traces remain, including electrical lines and scattered debris. 

With its history of paranormal sightings and a reputation for being haunted, Potterville continues to attract brave hikers who want to explore the shadowy remnants of its past—but be warned, stories of ghostly encounters are common!

4. Rock Glen

Adam Moss / Flickr

Rock Glen, once a thriving mill town in Wyoming County near Letchworth State Park, is now just a whisper of its former self.

In the 1800s, it was powered by the waters of Oatka Creek, with sawmills and grist mills driving the local economy. 

Over time, as the mills closed and railroads bypassed the area, the town withered away, leaving behind foundations, overgrown paths, and the faint outline of old roads. 

What makes Rock Glen especially interesting is its connection to the nearby waterfalls that were vital to its early industries—you can still hear the roar of the falls, even if the town has gone quiet.

5. Love Canal

Adam Moss / Flickr

Love Canal, located in Niagara Falls, is one of New York’s eeriest ghost towns—but not for the usual reasons. 

In the 1970s, this once ordinary suburban neighborhood was abandoned after it was discovered that homes and schools had been built on top of a toxic waste dump from the 1940s. 

What remains is a chilling example of what happens when nature and negligence collide: empty streets, fenced-off lots, and soil that’s still unsafe to dig into. 

Adam Moss / Flickr

At its height, Love Canal was a bustling community with hundreds of families, but today it’s a cautionary tale with a creepy, almost post-apocalyptic vibe. 

The disaster even led to the creation of the federal Superfund program, which means this ghost town is more infamous than most on the list!

6. Happy Valley

Happy Valley, located in Oswego County in upstate New York, is a ghost town that feels like it’s been swallowed up by the wilderness. 

Once a small farming community in the mid-1800s, it was slowly abandoned after poor soil and harsh winters made it impossible for families to survive. 

Now part of the Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area, the area is dotted with faint traces of its past—crumbling stone walls, overgrown foundations, and a few scattered grave markers hidden among the trees. 

Wandering through the dense forests and swampy trails, it’s hard to imagine this place was ever home to anyone.

7. Parksville

Doug Kerr / Flickr

Parksville, in the Catskills of Sullivan County, tells the story of a boomtown that faded with the rise and fall of the Borscht Belt. 

Once a lively stop along Route 17, this town thrived in the early 20th century, packed with hotels, restaurants, and businesses catering to vacationers escaping to the Catskills’ famous resorts. 

When the resorts closed and highways rerouted traffic away from the town, Parksville became a shadow of its former self. 

Doug Kerr / Flickr

Today, abandoned buildings and boarded-up storefronts line the quiet main street, giving it an eerie, frozen-in-time feel. 

What’s fascinating, though, is that Parksville’s decline happened so recently you can still picture what it must have been like when the town was bustling with activity.

8. New Ireland

New Ireland, also known as Little Ireland, is located west of Limestone and is now surrounded by Allegany State Park.

It was settled in the 1840s by Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine, who carved out a small community in the rugged landscape. 

The town thrived for a while, but as the decades passed, its population dwindled. 

By the Great Depression, many of the descendants of its original settlers had left, many families moved to Pennsylvania and then further west in search of better opportunities. 

Today, the site is quiet and overgrown, with little left to mark the lives once lived there, but there are still a few traces left of this former town.

9. Red House

Mark K. / Flickr

Red House, also now part of Allegany State Park in western New York, is an almost-ghost town as it still has 30 official residents. 

In the early 1900s, it was a small, thriving community with farms, homes, a schoolhouse, and even a post office. 

But when the state decided to create the park, the residents were forced to leave, and their village began to be erased. 

Today, traces of Red House remain such as a few crumbling foundations and the quiet Red House Cemetery, where some of its former residents still rest. 

What makes this ghost town unique is that its land has been transformed into one of New York’s most popular state parks—so while much of the town itself is gone, its spirit lingers in the park’s serene forests and rolling hills.

10. Johnsontown

The Turducken / Flickr

Johnsontown, located in the heart of Harriman State Park, is a ghost town with roots dating back to the 1700s. 

This quiet hamlet was once a small, close-knit community of farmers and miners, searching for timber to use in shipbuilding. 

By the early 1900s, however, the state began acquiring land to expand the park, and the residents were relocated, leaving Johnsontown to fade into memory. 

Today, if you hike through the area, you’ll stumble across stone walls, old wells, and faint traces of roads that hint at the lives once lived here. 

One eerie detail? Local lore says some families resisted leaving, clinging to their homes even as the forest began to reclaim them.


Related Posts

Share to...