National parks are supposed to be peaceful. You know, a break from the chaos of life—a place where you can hear the wind rustling through the trees or watch the stars sprinkle the night sky like someone spilled glitter. But sometimes, those serene landscapes hide something… darker. And if you’re anything like me, just the idea of being alone in the wilderness at night is enough to send shivers down your spine. Let me tell you about five stories that will make you think twice before heading into the great outdoors.

1. The Vanishing Hiker of Yosemite

Yosemite National Park is breathtaking. Granite cliffs, roaring waterfalls, ancient sequoias—it feels like a postcard brought to life. But for years, locals and park rangers have whispered about "The Vanishing Hiker."

The story goes like this: a young woman named Emily set off alone on the Mist Trail one sunny morning in 1981. She waved to a few passing hikers but never returned to her campsite. Search teams scoured the area for weeks but found nothing. Not a scrap of clothing, not her backpack—nothing.

Fast forward twenty years. A family hiking the same trail took a group photo near Vernal Fall. When they developed the picture (back when people did that), there she was: a pale, translucent figure standing just behind them. A woman in a 1980s windbreaker, her face frozen in an expression of quiet terror.

Some say Emily got lost and died of exposure, her spirit still wandering the trail. Others? Well, they think something dragged her away. But what? And why?

2. Screams in the Smoky Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains are magical in the early morning, mist curling through the trees like some enchanted spell. But not all magic is good.

A camper named Tom shared this story on an online forum. He and his wife were backpacking deep in the park, far from any trailhead. Around midnight, they heard it—a woman's scream, sharp and chilling, cutting through the stillness.

Tom grabbed a flashlight and stepped out of the tent, heart pounding. The scream came again, closer this time. His wife begged him to stay inside, but he couldn’t. He scanned the woods, the beam of his flashlight bouncing off gnarled branches, but there was no one.

And then the screams stopped, just like that. Total silence. Tom turned to go back to the tent when he saw something. A figure. It was crouched low to the ground, just beyond the edge of the light, its eyes glowing faintly. It wasn’t a person.

He never could describe exactly what it was. "Not an animal, not a human, but something in-between," he wrote. They packed up and left before dawn.

3. The Phantom Camper of Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree National Park feels otherworldly even on a normal day, with its bizarre, alien-like trees and vast, empty deserts. But one camping trip went beyond "strange" for a group of college friends.

They’d set up camp near an old, weathered picnic table. Everything was fine until sunset, when one of them noticed something: footprints circling their tent. Bare feet, and too small to be an adult’s.

“Probably a kid messing with us,” they joked nervously, but the nearest campsite was miles away. Still, they brushed it off and went to bed.

Around 3 a.m., the whispering started. Faint, like the rustling of leaves, but unmistakable. One of them unzipped the tent and froze. Sitting at the picnic table was a figure. Small. Motionless. Staring directly at them.

They grabbed their keys and bolted, leaving the tent and gear behind. Days later, when a park ranger retrieved their belongings, he found something chilling scratched into the wood of the picnic table: “Come back.”

4. The Staircase in the Woods

This one isn’t tied to a specific park, but people swear it’s real. Have you ever heard of random staircases in the middle of the forest? Perfectly built, like someone just plucked them out of a house and left them there?

A ranger working at Shenandoah National Park once found one while clearing a remote trail. Just a staircase—no other structures, no debris, nothing. It was pristine, almost like new, and completely out of place. Against his better judgment, he climbed it.

He said the air at the top felt different, thicker somehow, like being underwater. And then, a deafening noise—like a freight train roaring past, except there were no tracks, no train, not even wind. He blacked out and woke up on the ground, hours later, with a splitting headache.

Rangers are now trained to leave these staircases alone. No climbing. No touching. And if you see one? Walk away.

5. The Shadow in Glacier National Park

This one still gives me chills, and I wasn’t even there. A friend of mine, Katie, told me the story after her solo trip to Glacier National Park. She’s an experienced hiker, super logical—definitely not the type to scare easily.

She was hiking the Highline Trail, which is famous for its sweeping views and sheer drop-offs. Midway through the hike, she felt it: the sense of being watched. She glanced back, and there it was. A tall, dark figure standing on a distant ridge.

At first, she thought it was another hiker, but something was off. It didn’t move, didn’t shift its weight—just stood there, motionless. As the trail twisted and turned, she lost sight of it. But every time she stopped to catch her breath, there it was again, closer this time.

By the time she reached the trailhead, she was practically running. She told a park ranger, who just nodded gravely and said, “You’re not the first.”

So, what do you think? Coincidences? Overactive imaginations? Maybe. But next time you head into the wilderness, just remember: nature doesn’t always play by our rules. And sometimes, the things we can’t explain are the scariest of all.