The Haunted Stanley Hotel & Mining Town of Silverton

Located in Estes Park, this hotel was the inspiration for Stephen King’s book, The Shining. In 1911, an explosion in room 217 sent chambermaid Elizabeth Wilson through the floor with two broken ankles. She still haunts the halls. Guests have, over the years, continually reported the appearance of a ghostly figure on the fourth floor with a description loosely resembling Flora Stanley.

Silverton, which is perched in a lofty valley at 9,000 feet in the southern San Juan Mountains, began as a mining town. Silverton retains the wild, wooly and independent energy of a remote mountain town where snowfall is measured in feet and whiskey is served neat. The fact that the rough-and-tumble spirit has not been scrubbed away makes Silverton all the more charming, authentic, and adventurous.