Dudleytown
The Damned Story: One of the most renowned damned places in Connecticut is the abandoned — and allegedly cursed — village of Dudleytown.
But as with many “dark” places, Dudleytown wasn’t always like that.
Like much of Connecticut, settlers came to the area around what is now the quiet little town of Cornwall in the mid 18th century, and that includes the first Dudleys who came from England (via Guilford) to the Litchfield Hills in 1747. They helped create what became a thriving community, known then as Owlsbury, primarily fueled through the region’s growing iron industry. Homes were built, the land was farmed, iron was forged, the town grew and prospered, and all was well.
Or so it seemed.
Some attribute the demise of the town to multiple mundane factors — the depletion of the farmland, the decline of the area’s iron industry, the natural progression of younger Americans heading west to settle new lands, etc. Of course, there are others who simply believed the Dudley clan was cursed, as an inordinate number of Dudleys supposedly came to untimely ends, and that the curse extended to the village they helped found. Whatever the cause, Dudleys died off and the settlement’s population continued to dwindle until about the turn of the 20th century, when the last resident finally gave up and abandoned what was left of the town. The surrounding forest slowly swallowed up the homes and buildings, and today, the only remnants of what had been are a few crumbling foundations and empty cellars . . .
Oh, and the curse of the Dudleys.
The story goes that anyone who has tried to live in what had been Dudleytown has come into some terrible misfortune. Over the years, there has allegedly been everything from suicides to demonic possessions, and all the hysterical drama in between. The Warrens famously recorded a Halloween special from Dudleytown in the early 1970s, declaring it officially “demonically possessed,” which essentially opened the supernatural floodgates. Since then, it has been home to all sorts of alleged paranormal experiences, with visitors witnessing all manner of spirit and phantom as well as having unsettled feelings of dread and fear. As you might expect, the area has also drawn the attention of those enthralled with dark forces and demonic rituals, plus a healthy number of amateur ghostbusters and teenagers simply searching for trouble. In short, it’s become a damnation destination.
Of course, much of the mythology around the “curse” of Dudleytown have been debunked (by a Dudley descendent, no less — the Rev. Gary P. Dudley), but why would anyone let that get in the way of a good spooky story?
If you’re interested in a detailed (and honestly, much better) accounting of Dudleytown’s history, as always, we recommend David Phillips’ excellent Legendary Connecticut.
Our Damned Experience: We have yet to visit Dudleytown.
If You Go: You can’t. The remains of Dudleytown are on private property owned by the Dark Entry Forest Association who vigorously discourage all visitors. It is heavily patroled by local and state police, who will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute any trespassers.
View Dark Entry Rd in a larger map
I had the pleasure of visiting Dudleytown a couple times before they really started cracking down on trespassers as heavily as they do people “loitering/trespassing” around Union Cemetery. This stepped up in intesity if memory serves after the release of the first Blair Witch Prokect film, which it has been said took a lot of cues from the Dudleytown storyline. Perhaps it was because of all the local legends and scary stories I had heard about going in “after dark,” but I only went during daylight. But I will go on record to report that even going while the sun was up was *very* creepy.
One thing that has stayed with me was the utter silence. Quite literally, you can’t hear anything. On the way to the grounds, you hear the usual rustling of leaves in the wind, the chatter of woodland animals, etc. When we got there, each time we went, it was deathly silent upon setting foot in the actual grounds wherein you find the hollows, cellars and foundations.
With the recent upswing in paranormal popularity, from ghost tours in New Orleans to all the shows on various cable networks, I think the Dark Entry Association is really missing out on a potential “oddity/curiosity cash cow” for the Cornwall area. I’ll also back up the “vigorous discouraging” attitude of the locals… it’s surreal. I’m sure it’s just out of frustration of cleaning up after trespassers and whatnot, but it really plays into the entire Dudleytown mythos… that temptation of the unattainable.
Last year me and my boyfriend went to dudleytown in mid November (08). We entered through Dark Entry Road, which didn’t have a street sign but we were able to figure it out through directions, pictures and a good hunch. We noticed the sign but of course ignored it anyway. As soon as we left the car our phones lost service. We walked until we came across what looked like stone basements. I tried using my phone the entire walk and sometimes it would ring 2 or 3 times and then go to a strange static. I thought nothing of it though, we were in the middle of the woods! The only scary thing we saw was a white tailed deer. Birds were chirping, it seemed like any other hike in the woods. We couldn’t leave well enough alone though and both took a rock from as close to the “foundations” as we could get. A little disappointed we made our way back to the car with our rocks. Once we actually sat in the car, service returned to our phones. We drove away with our rocks in tow and after leaving Cornwall center we witnessed (what I thought) was a funny but strange accident involving vehicles in front of us which could have easily included myself had I not been paying attention. I dropped him off home (he forgot his rock in my back seat) and I put my rock on my front porch and went in to watch some TV. I tried to turn my volume down via remote but it wouldn’t work. I pounded the keys a few times and suddenly the the volume started lowering.. but I wasn’t touching the remote. It was stranger because the volume decreased in single increments.. 10-9-8-7… down to mute. The problem with that is either manually or by remote the volume only ever changed in increments of 2..
I was freaked out enough that the next day I through the rock on my porch in the woods and forgot about it. It was easy to forget about too seeing as though my car was breaking down daily, weekly if I was lucky. After cleaning it out, preparing for yet another trip to the shop, I found the rock. I gave it back to my boyfriend and he put it under his bed. Later that night we fooling around taking pictures and in almost all of them “orbs” can be seen, unexplained smoke. One in particular, half of my face is covered in a haze…
This is the point where I started to see a relation between “odd” things happening and these rocks we took. Strange things seemed to follow them. I am by no means a superstitious person and frankly don’t believe the myths surrounding dudleytown, much of the reason why I took those rocks, to “challenge” whatever all the hype was about.
We put the rock in the car the next day, with intentions to dispose of it. It was forgotten again for a few days but remembered once my car starting acting up again. We were leaving a friends place when we finally decided to toss it and left it in the parking lot on a grassy area in front of her apt. Less than 2 weeks later her house was raided and she was in jail. Of course, had they been law abiding citizens a raid would have never took place, it just seemed ironic that it happen so soon after we left the rock. They had been living there for over a year with no problems.
Listen, I’m not saying that anything that happened in that month was paranormal, supernatural or whatever else. What I am saying is that enough strange, uncanny things took place that I began to almost fear a ROCK. I noticed a distinct pattern between where they were placed and negative things that took place there. My fears almost seem confirmed since discarding the rocks last year I’ve had no car problems, no “hazy” photos and no self adjusting volume. Of course, there were smaller coincidences that are forgotten or not worth mentioning but all in all both of our families think we meddled with something we shouldn’t have and honestly, I do too. Sometimes there are just too many “coincidences” for it to be a coincidence.
I am the founder of the group NEST (New England Spiritual Team) and am extremely interested in getting permission from this group to go to Dudleyville. Does anyone have the contact info for this group so I can try to go there? Or does anyone know anyone else who I can talk to to go there with permission? Thanks in advance.
the dark forest entry will not let any one into dudley town they dont care the reason .. i went there with my girlfriend last year it was not at all weird there were no orbs nothing but a realy old lady who called the cops and the cop who gave us a ticket i have pics if anyoe would like to see htem let me know mfft23@yahoo.com
I went camping there several times in the 70′s and I will say that we did not sleep. I will agree with Jesse above and state the absolute silence and the absence of any creatures that usually habitat wooded areas was a little unnerving. When we used to camp, I was eighteen and all I heard that the place was supposed to be haunted. When I read a book that chronicled the history of Dudleytown, I only went back a few times during the day because I wouldn’t go there at night anymore. One of the times I went back during, I found a dead horse in one of the foundations. It was covered with branches. It hadn’t even decomposed yet. Somebody dumped a dead horse down in the foundation less than 48 hours prior. I can add some details to this, but I don’t think anybody would believe me.
Brian,
could you elaborate? i know you said no one would believe you, but i’d still like to know the details. respond on here and i’ll leave give you my email adress
I went to Dudleytown years ago with 3 friends. We walked all over the place, saw the remainders of the foundations but absolutely nothing paranormal. The woods was like any other woods (birds, deer, etc.) and we took tons of pics just to be sure we looked at every angle of this story. The pictures held nothing out of the ordinary. As much as I am a skeptic in these matters, I’d still be the first to plow my friends over in a flat-out run if I heard or saw anything out of the ordinary! Nothing to report about this one and if you look into it’s factual history, there is not much truth in all the legend behind it either. Sorry to disappoint…..
Sky Guy,
I apologize, I haven’t been on the site for awhile, but I know other people (friends at the time) who can attest to the dead horse and our camping trips. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any of them in 25 years, but a friend of mine brought proof to a gathering that the horse was there. It was something out of The Twilight Zone. I will not post what happened on this website without permission from the owners of the site.
Go ahead Brian, we just monitor language.
Steve
[...] of course, gotta have a story from Dudleytown — here’s one from Stacy – Last year me and my boyfriend went to dudleytown in mid [...]
I went there in 1997 with three friends. It was late March and it got dark fairly early still. We went up the trail from Dark Entry road around 3 pm. By time we got to the top it was around 4 or so and just starting to get dark. We realized if it was getting dark at the top of the mountain it would surly be dark earlier in the valley where we parked the car. On the way down the trail, it was just about completely dark a third of the way down, we picked up a few branches to use as walking sticks and checking for ice in front of us. LOL, of course we didn’t have a flashlight that was part of the fun of it. We went there with the intention to see if anything was going to happen. Yes, we saw the foundations and walked all over the place. There were 4 of us so we were able to cover a lot of ground by splitting up. On the way down it was interesting to hear something in the distance. As we got closer we saw a fire, it turns out a group of college kids from Uconn were spending the night there as an experiment. They were quite spooked by us since we just appeared out of the dark. They couldn’t believe we had the balls to walk all around there in the dark without at least a flashlight. Like I said, we were looking for something to happen. Nothing did. The only thing I can say that was unexplainable was the fact that the car we came in had electric door locks and they always worked perfectly. Always! When we finally got back to the car around 8 or so the door locks wouldn’t work. Only the key was able to make the locks operate. When we left Dark Entry road wel pulled over about 300 feet southbound on route 7 to check the locks again. Just to keep it the same we all got out of the car locked the doors and then tried to open them as usual. Interestingly enough, they worked again and Always did from that point on until the car was sold many years later. I could never explain that, but I guess in hind sight, something strange did happen there. I was told to never take anything home from there. Im not a complete believer, but I would heed the warning. Its too bad a bunch of idiots ruined it for everyone after the Blair witch project came out. Damn bastard kids vandalized the place and lit fires. Now NO ONE can go there unless you are named in the land trust. You would just have to park far away and risk it by walking miles through the woods. Im sure you could get away with it. Just dont go alone. It is VERY remote and if you fall and get hurt you could be in trouble. Cell phones barely work in that area. When I went there cell phones werent even in option in that neck of the woods. Its nice to say at least Ive been there and did it. In the dark:).
I will be bringing my son to Dudley Town each time that he doesn’t behave.
I grew up near by and visited Dudleytown many times as a kid . We used to go bottle digging around the cellar holes. I never experienced anything “paranormal” but will confirm the creepy silence there.I have hiked/backpacked all over and never found a wooded area quite like it.Occasionally the lone deer or Chickadee, but mostly dead silent ,devoid of life.
The Appalachian Trail used to run near by but was re-routed decades ago..At the base of Dudleytown mountain ,near the old trail,is Baldwin Cave. You have to shimmy down a long tube that leads to a large room formed by glacial boulders.Probably the coolest cave in CT.
Back in the 70′s,the local Cornwall kids used to have keg parties in Dudleytown and its legend used to draw devil worshipers and wackos performing animal sacrifices. The local,very wealthy,residents got fed up and closed the whole area down.Who can blame them.I wouldnt want those kind of people hanging around my neighborhood. The locals are constantly watching for tresspassers and you will definately get in trouble with the cops should you try to explore.
dose anybody know the directions to get up there like how to get up there past dark entry road
I enjoy snooping the web and reading stories about the area.
The fact seems in late years the land owner Dark Entry Forest Association does not want any stranger on their land and no excuses. Actually they own 800-900 acres and NOT the whole area. They think they own everything. I’ve asked…o…only locals (not knowing who I even was) can get permission and other excuses…
Oddly nobody even knows what the ‘association’ is about.
At town hall I suggested it was THEM that were into odd things like satanic stuff. They without saying so possibly agreed with me. All the secrets ?? !!! I have seen strange stuff up there and don’t think anybody has been hanging around but ‘them’. (it’s an easy walk or wander from the end of Bald Mountain Road)
I’ve had bad luck up there but it could just be my imagination. It is so much work to get there now somebody is so tired they can imagine anything.
Good News is now the Mohawk Trail is supposedly all off their property now. The problem is they think they own everything and call the police every time they see somebody. Town roads are ‘town roads’ ??
My interest is Baldwin Cave. Can somebody help me ?? Even with Cornwall Town Hall it is a mystery. Dark Entry Forest Association says it’s not on their property. (via telephone conversation)
Otherwise excuse my bad-mouthing Dark Entry. I don’t really care because their treatment of me has been terrible so why say nice things ? hey..they own their property but treatment of others ? Then they think the town is supposed to worship them.
Baldwin Cave ?? Any help ? I am zz4——–at——–coltsfoot.org
I was there about 20 yrs ago. I also experienced the silence that a couple other posters spoke of. No birds chirped, no squirrels moved about…nothing. Also of interest were the flies. As I stepped into the foundations of the old homes i noticed a preponderance of flies. As I stepped out the flies stayed inside the foundation area. As we all know swarms of flies indicated the presence of evil……
Anything behind all that….who knows? Interesting and fun anyway.
Went to Dudleytown via the Mohawk Trail in Dec. of 2006 or ’07. The one wierd thing is that the gps went crazy when we got near to the trail at the top of the road. The gps’ (we were looking for a geocache) arrow would spin crazily and change the distance whenever we faced the site but returned to normal just from turning around and facing the other direction. Since this is controlled by satellite I found it very odd.
No ghosts, friend took a piece of foundation and he remains one of the luckiest people ever. The Mohawk trail goes through D-Town and does not belong to the DEFA but you aren’t allowed to step off the path even a bit it seems.
Further, we were somewhat interrogated after we parked the car down at the bottom of the road near the river. We still went but the guy who questioned us apparently headed us off and drew an arrow with the words Echo Rock in the snow. We played dumb when talking to him earlier and said we didn’t know where the cache was hidden upon which he suggested Echo Rock but he knew where we were really going I have no doubt.
Oh, and the gps malfunction only occurred when it got dark.
It is directly between two state parks, strange names but like Wy- something State Park. Beyond that I am not going to reveal anymore information because it is indeed private property. I have met a member of the Dark Entry Forest Association. I tried to talk about some information out of them, and they told me I had it all wrong. I will not say names, but they had quite a history themselves. Nonetheless, the land is private, and despite the offer I gave them to scavenge the land, they refused. State Police are around the area just because of the natural location between state parks and nature preserves, but the people who are part of the Association will not hesitate to take action themselves. They will do things like take pictures of your car, and report you to authorities. There are ways to get in regardless, DON’T TAKE ANYTHING!!!!
The Dark Forest Entry Association has got to be creepier than anything that takes place in Dudleytown, and I have heard a lot of stories about this place.
What needs to be done is that their people and their cars need to be photographed, them and their little organization need to be thoroughly researched, and the results spread around as much as is possible, guarding against court orders and whatever else the people who own the place can do.
Tell them they need to go into the Light.
someone on yahoo asked about dark forest and their question got deleted….strange to anyone else?
[...] Dudleytown, Cornwall — If you were going to rank the most famous of Connecticut’s haunted places, you could [...]
Does anyone have directions to Dudleytown??
No offense people but u think alot of you who ha e been there are letting your imaginations get the best of you, I used to work at Mohawk mnt in high school and every now and then we’d go there and wait for people to cone along so we could scare them, vie always heard wind and birds and animals, and if you want to brave the ticket youllsee you even have cell phone service there now as long as you don’t have sprint, I grew up in Burlington and li e neAr the oh so scary green lady cemetery too. My friends and I Wouk do the same thing there hang out inthe commons parking lot wait for people to ask directions send them the long way then scare the crap out of them, been to both places numerous times day and night never seen anything out of the ordinary except one time a wolf at green lady was just sitting at the edge o the Forrest staring u’s down. If u want to see something really creepy go across the street from the green lady cemetery not where the camp is but the other side of upson rd go into the woods about a hundred yards or until u can’t see the rd and start kicking around the leaves and brush, there’s a bunch o flat graves that say murdered in and a year that where allure real spooky stuff happens
I have to partially agree with Bejota. Last year me and my friends took a spontaneous trip to Dudleytown after a long night of drinking. We got there around sunrise and drove right to the top of the mountain where we began to walk into the woods. Surprisingly we were not bothered by any locals or state police. Once in the woods we did notice a strange silence but other than that nothing out of the ordinary. Any odd feelings or imaginations we had we determined were from the lack of sleep (it was 5 am and after a 2 hr drive). I went to Dudleytown hoping I could catch a glimpse of all the hype surrounding the place and left with a lot of skepticism. If somebody came out with evidence of pictures, evp’s, vidoes then maybe ill start to believe in the legend. Im sorry to disappoint but I am too a big believer of the paranormal and think many places are haunted, Dudleytown im not so sure of.
My ex used to go there when he was in middle to highschool and he told me everytime he went he had some kind of experience and he was always with someone who experienced and saw what he did. I will say he experienced way crazy things that u couldnt even imagine. His biggest mistake was that he took two wegie boards onto the site and opened up some kind of connection with the demons inside(but they didnt know that at the time). Some creepy childs voices started to talk towards them so they decided to get out of there. Needless to say that was not the end of the story nor the begining for they forgot to close whatev they had started and took the wegie boards home after some crazy things that happend. They saw a black cloacked figure that made a screaming noise backwards along with load crashing noises that were following them while they ran away. The weegie boards ended up doing crazy things like they would stand up on end and crash around in his trunk. He ended up bringing the weegie boards into his house..big mistake..one of the rooms ended up catching on fire for no reason. So this is just a little bit of info that he experiencd. He eventually had to destroy the weegie boards with some help from a girl who was practicing magic. I know this all sounds very hokey but his friends from each experience will tesify the same story. he did say that after he told his story to his classmates everyone ended up going and he feels like that has lessoned the activity. He did mention that each time he went he was with a small group either two or three ppl. I didnt mention everything that happend cause it could really become a book or movie, it takes him about 2 hours to tell everything, and let me tell you it scares the crap out of me each time he tells it…
I too am very interested in Baldwin Cave
not really interested that much in dudleytown itself, but the cave near it..
I have been inside Tory Cave in new milford, and I am interested in this Baldwin Cave
It is right off the old appalachian trail?
Liz–I am very interested in hearing more of your boyfriend’s story. If one of you could email me at victoriagracemerwin@yahoo.com I would very much appriciate it.
Early ’80s I took numerous groups of HS kids on Appalachain Trail 7-night backpacking trips.
A few times, when still allowed, I had to camp in what was on the map “Dark Entry Ravine”.
One trip I actually had a kid go utterly “mad ” from drugs at 1am (throwing possessions into fire for starters). I had to tackle him, bind his hands and walk him down mountain to Bairds Store and call police (1980s – no cell phones) who I guess remanded him to parents. Never saw that kid again.
Another time a widow-maker (large tree limb) crushed a tent during a gust of wind on otherwise calm night; kids were luckily around the fire. Plus it was my fault for not checking their tentsite.
Found out a few years later by mistake that I was camped in heart of DTown.
I found out in a convoluted way when I realized my great-grandmother’s farm was about a mile away as the crow flies.
Did they deal with DTown people? Never know. Was I a catalyst for spirits?
Spent a good part of my life “on the trail”…the two wierdest things to ever happen did so in Dudleytown – then only known to me as Dark Entry Davine!
My ex husband and I went hiking around Dudleytown on Dec. 21, 1982. (I remember the date because it got dark so quickly.) It was very cold, and seemed like a typical, deserted old New England forest in the winter: kind of quiet and creepy, especially due to the old foundations around the area.
One strange thing happened, though, that seems in keeping with the malfunction of electronics and equipment. I took several photos of my husband sitting in the middle of an old foundation with my dad’s 35 mm camera.. When I had the photos processed, that was the only photo that came out. It was a very eerie-looking triple exposure, making it look like two heads of my husband were coming out of one head. And, the camera was broken. When it was taken to a camera shop they said it was not repairable. I have not been back since.
…above comment by me should say Ravine…on trip when tree limb fell I confiscated 6 Ballentine Ales in glass bottles that one poor kid had carried from Mt. Everett, MA. I actually stole them from his pack and other leader and I drank them late at night. Next morning when kid saw empties I told him raccoons drank them (he was a dummy – he carried 6 bottles about 25 miles) or maybe wood nymphs or spirits. How prophetic! I recall that day so well.
We did carry empties out.
I went there with 1 friend whos a guy his uncle and 2 girls(big mistake) got to the entrance the girls started crying my friends uncle made us stop and leave i was so dissapointed making it to the entrance and having to leave maybe next time D:
I did a research paper on this place in 2007. It was about the folklore and debunking the myths of the “Dudleytown Curse.” I knew for my presentation I’d have to go and shoot some photos, so a friend and I made the 45 minute drive up.
I had maps of the area and I drove up a hill I can no longer remember the name of, but made the mistake of parking in the somewhat hidden turnaround of a long driveway near an entrance (not the Dark Forest entrance with the green pathway of moss that runs through the pine trees). I knew it was a very residential area so we went midday on a weekday, thinking most folks in the area would be at work.
It was a normal woodlands hike with some neat stone foundations that were flooded (it was early Spring). No equipment malfunctions and no shortage of forest sounds occurred, and there was plenty of wildlife in the area. We weren’t disruptive in any way and we didn’t disturb the area.
After about an hour and a half of hiking, we walked out of the same entrance I parked near, but when as we were getting in the car, a woman in a pickup truck swiftly pulled down a driveway across the street and parked behind me, blocking my car in the turnaround. She looked livid. She approached my car and barked that she had written down my license plate number and if I ever came back, she’d call the police. It was probably an empty threat, but she seemed angry enough to scare me away.
It IS a privately owned area, so I don’t know if I’d risk going anymore. The people that live nearby have obviously had bad experiences with kids coming up there and are sick of it. It’s almost more risky than going to a place where guards are employed because the residents seem to get some kind of thrill from watching out their windows for trespassers. I’m surprised she didn’t call while we hiking. She may not have seen us until we were leaving.
Well, that was 4 years ago and I’m sure the people have gotten even less tolerant since. Still, if you really want to go, have a good plan and be stealthy as hell. The residential hilly street (don’t park there) is off a main rural road so I don’t know what your alternate options are. But if you’re dying to go (if you’re into local ruins, folklore, and history, not the paranormal), just plan in advance. Don’t snoop around in your car first and don’t be obnoxious.
Went there in the early 70′s and eighties and didn’t experience anything unusual.
My mother and I went to Dudleytown before the fires and before the Blair Witch Project craze — I think we must have gone in 1998? My mother grew up in the area and heard stories about the place. We entered with no problem, since it was before the Dark Entry Forest Association really started cracking down, and entered on Dark Entry Road. It was a lovely summer day, and I think it had rained the night before. We walked a bit of the way in and saw some of the old foundations. We did not SEE anything odd at all, however, the FEELING in there was decidedly odd. My mother said she felt that there was something watching us, and we will absolutely confirm that it was utterly, completely silent. No birds, no wind, no leaf or insect sounds, nothing. We didn’t stay very long because it just felt like something didn’t want us there. We took some photos there of the signs, trees, foundations, and there is a photo of me in there as well. One of the photos has a distinct orb floating in it, and in the photo of me, there is a strange mist behind me that I never visually saw. It gives me a strange feeling to look at these photos, to this day.
My sister and I tried to visit later, but there were police men there who didn’t want us going in and my perception is it’s pretty much impossible to get in. It’s too bad because despite the creepiness, Dudleytown and Dark Entry Forest is absolutely beautiful and a haven for rare birds — I’m not sure how they get around the fact that the Forest is part of the Mohawk Trail. I really think the Association should just open it up to hikers again, and I’m not sure what the deal is with all the secrecy.
Sorry to say, but in the early 90s I was up there three different times over the course of a year; Fall, Winter, and late Spring, and I never saw anything unusual, except a very rare type of owl. It was very interesting to see those little guys, but that’s the closest I ever came to seeing anything ‘paranormal’, despite going all the way down to the old foundations. Even then, the folks that live up there were none too happy with unauthorized visitors, regardless of the fact that I was older and only there to do some birding. A lady in a red SUV thoroughly questioned why I was there, and informed me that I’d have to have a permit to go down into the woods again. She didn’t call the police on me that time, but I felt pretty certain that, the next time, she’d make good on getting my car towed before I hiked back up the trail head, so I never went back. I did take her advice about Cathedral Pines, which is just as good for spotting the saw-whets and other old-growth dependent birds. As a bonus, you don’t have the worry about turning an ankle in the chuck and sink holes where the soil has sunk into granite fractures.
brian,
please include the details.
I camped in Dudleytown for three nights in September 1999. It was right before the Blair Witch Project came out. That movie ruined it for everyone, because every moronic “ghost-hunter” went up there, set fires and caused all kinds of problems. There was a teacher in my high school who took kids up there for camping trips.
My experience there was, for the most part, un-eventful. It gets dark early because of the tree cover and we sat around the fire freaking each other out with stories. We took a midnight trip to the actual town and saw a handful of cellar holes. Anyone hoping for remains of actual buildings, etc. would be sorely disappointed because they simply aren’t there.
I didn’t experience the “dead silence” that people talk about. I heard plenty of birds, coyote and Bobcat screaming in the night. When a Bobcat screams it sounds like a woman being murdered. I had to convince several of my friends that what we were hearing was Bobcat!
Dudleytown definitely has a lot of posts, and a lot of mystery to it. Unless you have physically been in the land, which is damn near impossible, a lot of these stories are myths. The ones prior to 1999 have a lot more credibility. The Blair Witch Project started an endless nightmare of myth and bull being fed to people because they heard that abandoned or spooky woods would somehow mean a place was haunted. Honestly, read up whether at the Cornwall Library or online and see the history of the location. Yes it definitely is rich and vibrant, but that does not mean that the place is necessarily haunted.
Many times people question if there was nothing to hide, why is the land guarded. The reason it is guarded is simple, the land is privately owned, and if people are going through the land, and somehow get hurt, then they are at liberty to sue the owners of the land for negligence. The DEFA specifically decided that it would be a good idea to close it off. Now all the rumors that they are a cult like organization is all myth again. Honestly the land is private, and it is known as a “land trust”. The association was brought together by a multitude of people, which is why it is not owned by only one person, they are an entity that does things together.
I feel like many people get irked and excited over the fact they hear something, and have to literally see if its true for themselves. I suggest if you do decide to visit, you come prepared, because you will most likely be arrested for trespassing and probably threatened by the neighbors of surrounding areas. Your call though…
ive been to dudleytown numerous times. There is one experience that really freaked me out. I went with my sister and a few friends. At the time i was a religious person so i brought my rosary beads with me. I was wearing a hoodie with a zip up pocket in which i put my beads. We were there for a couple of hours we saw the foundations and tried to find a cemetery. It was a very creepy place once your there you just feel something is not right. so after we left and were in the car for awhile i opened my pocket and my beads were gone. i dont remeber ever opening my pockets while i was there. It was the strangest thing. I really dont believe in stuff like that and i tried to think of a rational explanation maybe i did open my pocket and just didn’t remeber but either way it freaked me out.
It is very quiet there. You know I still go up there at least once a year, always early in the morning, and never even knew that the police are actually patrolling. Nobody has bothered me. I love the place cause I always find buttons, coins, and nails when I go there. Never any strange or weird happenings for me.
Back in 1997 me and my friends went for a long hike wanting to figure out the history with this place. As we walk for hours I stopped to realize the area around us was darker then wat we were walking in from before. Occasionally we would stopped to take photos of the foundations there (which I have pics if anyone would like me to post). In one of the pics I went over to sit on a tree lying in the leaves. All around me there was just darkness really nothing but that made us feel freaked out a bit. Down the trail more all I could think off was
a small child the gender a girl. After we walked father towards where we parked and found wat looked like to be. A bracelet it seemed very old and rusted. I brought in the car as we were driving back all I heard in my head was laughter much like my young daughter. Once at home I saw that my child was sleeping still but her toys were laid all over my room. At that time my daughter was to young to walk and was to small to get out of her crib. I put eveything bac and went into my room shortly after and dropped the braclet on my dresser stranger things happen which I will not post from graphic encounters. I was then thinking is the bracelet which I think from the little girl still atatched to it is anyone would like to hear more about the graphic encounters or more About different times heading there please post about it thnxs
Hey Christen! I’m really interested in hearing what you encountered after coming home. It sounds like some pretty interesting stuff. If you’re not comfortable with posting it on here feel free to email me at victoriagracemerwin@yahoo.com
Hi Victoria
Most of my encounters later were very strange and most not so serious. It was around two weeks after my daughters toys were moves around the room. I was getting home from work and my daughters babysiter was talking to a child when I walked in the door. So I asked who she was talking to and she said my daughters friend I was thinking how would my daughter have a friends with her not even being able to walk or talk. I told her she doesn’t have any friend do the women slowly looked bac at where she was talking and walked straight out the door. That night I thought it waste crazy having this happen so I brought the locket back to wheee I found it on the trail and slower and slower in progress things stopped. I was thinking I should go bac to the locket and see wat was so atachted to it. I brought some equipment and noticed the locket was moved farther from where I put it the that’s time thinking some bikers must of put it aside. Getting picture evidence at night of a small image like an orb surrounding the locket made me think of the strange happenings.
Once I headed home I wanted to use a summoning board and figured out the child was a young girl hiding from another presents that I will not say. I had some small and innocent encounters now and still on and hope to contact her again
I went there in 2004 I think…don’t remember but it was at least 5 years ago. I parked at the top of a hill in a residential area off of a main road and hiked in on the Mohawk trail. I didn’t realize it was considered trespassing since the trail supposedly goes right by it. We did have a hard time finding that mountain road and I stopped at a store to ask for directions and the girl at the store said she never heard of Dudleytown. Ya right! I didn’t know that locals I guess all stick together in this way of not letting people know where it is or how to get there. Anyway we found the Mohawk trail and hiked in….we looked like crazy for the foundations but didn’t see them. We did get to the area where it was located though because it was very silent and felt strange. My friend and I both definitely noticed a difference in the forest in that area. We passed by other hikers after we bypassed the area to hike up the nearby mountain who said that they did see foundations. Either way we definitely passed through the area and felt the creepiness. No one approached my vehicle or myself on the way out either.
I went last night for the first time at around 11 PM. Me and my friend took my dog and a BB gun with only a cellphone to light the way. Unfortunately we overstepped the trail, and went through to the other road, and then took another wrong turn. We didnt see the actual town, but we did see the vacation house where that woman allegedly went insane. I had the most dreadful feeling something was watching me the whole time, and when we finally left we found the right trail. We decided not to go, but i heard a giant branch crack, and something trecking through the woods along side us until we made it out. I live in a house that was built in 1790, and must say is thoroughly haunted, and i have never been as scared as when i went into those woods.
I haven’t made it to the ‘town’ itself but have tried numerous times, never quite getting there. The first time, a couple friends of mine and I decided to try and go. One of them is part native american and very into the culture. This is important in a minute. When we got turned around we stopped at a road side deli or convenience store and she went in to ask directions to the road leading in. When she came out she told us that the woman at the counter said she was an undercover state trooper (I’m still skeptical about this) and that she wouldn’t recommend us even trying but told us the name of the road, dark entry, and we looked for the damn road for an hour and a half an decided to just hang out in the local cemetary on cemetary hill rd or cemetary road. I loved it there, kinda creepy, but its filled with dead people (duh) When we left we noticed we had been there for HOURS and didn’t realize it. On our way home my other friend was in the back seat laying down because she felt sick, so we switched, then i felt sick. As we pulled in my driveway, my friend (the part native american) offered to ‘smudge’ me since we had a long day at the cemetary. She lit the smudge stick and started with her thing to cleanse me and the effing thing burst into flames. Some time later with a guy friend, he and I decided to look and suprisinly found the road with no problems, almost on accident. It was dead center of where, years earlier, I had been looking to no avail. We parked in a picnic area at the bottom and walked up. I had learned some common courtesy and was mentally saying things like i mean no harm, give me a sign if you want me to turn around and about half way up the hill my guy friend started feeling sick and I felt like I had two hands in front of me on my shoulders pushing me down the hill..I gave up pretty quick. This is just my experience though. I really feel like some people are almost allergic to paranormal activity, instead of reacting to the creepy like most of us, they are numb to it. I believe I have some empath characteristics and therefore have a bit of a hard time ignoring the energy, even from living people.
Back in highschool (in the 80 ‘s) we went on a few field trips & did a dig at the foundations. Definately creepy but attribute it to my age back then. Went back a few times as an adult & it was still creepy, but not scary in the least. From what I can remember, if u go past kent falls a mile or 2 and take a right at a slight intersection you will find a road on the left which is very very steep (my brakes were actually smoking last time I was there) We had no plans of entering but a lady pulled outta her driveway & parked behind us ready 2 call the cops!
“During the 1920′s Dr. William C. Clark set up a summer home in the abandoned town. One evening he came back from a business trip to find his wife laughing hysterically. She
told her husband about the apparitions and demons that had visited while he
was absent. She killed herself when they returned to New York. Ironically,
Dr. Williams remarried and continued to spend his summers in Dudleytown. In
fact, he formed the Dark Entry Forrest Association, which helps to protect
Dudleytown’s remains. “
My husband and I went there a few times back in the early 1990′s. The first time we went there we were met by a woman (not kidding) wearing black with a black hat walking her black cat…..that was when I had seen the sign Dark Entry Forrest. My first feeling was that I was being watched…. I turned around and I was, I was face to face with a deer…quite
unusual….we continued to explore the foundations and what looked like uncapped wells that seemed to be everywhere. We came upon a camp site that seemed to have been left rather quickly. (it had been there for a while) The people seemed to have left tents and camping equipment and clothing. It looked like it had been there for a while. There was a place where they had had a campfire and there was eating utensils and a frying pan. It looked like it had been sitting for a while, as it had leaves and rain water inside them. My husband pointed to a tree, and the trees in the area were very large and had no lower branches. About 1/2 way up the tree there was a fork sticking out of it. About a foot higher, was a knife sticking out of it. For someone to do this they would have to shimmy up the tree like 20 feet or so…very creapy!
About 2 weeks later we went back there with his boss and his boss’s son. The campsite was still there almost in the same condition as it was before. Again, we looked around and saw all the foundations. I’m not sure exactly what happened next but someone was spooked and we decided it was time to leave. We all climbed into my husband’s boss’s car and started to leave. The front tire came off the car, and it damaged the car so the drivers door wouldn’t open. As we started off walking down the road, a couple gave us a ride. They were at Dudleytown taking pictures for their book they were writing.
We always talked about going back, but never did.
My friends and I wanted to actually take a visit there this season. What is the best way to enter? People are saying Mohawk trail, but what about Dark Entry road? We just want some adrenaline and spooky experiences to talk about.
Hey Folks, life-long CT resident here, never been to Dudleytown, but I went a looked at the area on google maps. Looks like there’s some new-ish construction up there. Here’s my guess on the “mysterious” Dark Entry stuff: Hate to burst everyone’s bubbles, but they want to get rid of the land’s stigma and sell it for a hefty profit! Being a student of the Local Yokels here in CT, I have to say, that sounds like them. Everyone looking to make a buck, everyone looking to kill the fun. So yes they’re weird and catty about you coming on the land, not because, well they might be worried about lawsuits, but I’ll bet they’re looking for development deals. If they wanted it for the other usual reason for such actions by people in this state, they’d be looking to make a museum out of it, but if that were the case, they’d be making more about the creepy stories and encouraging responsible exploration of the area.
Trespassers did great damage to the area several years ago by lighting fires – many, many beautiful acres burned because someone was looking for a thrill.
went there 2 summers ago with 3 other buddies. we decided to enter dudleytown through bald mt. road ended up being a disaster as soon as we pulled up to the no trespassing signs a light from a nearby home came on and 3 huge great danes and an ugly old lady in a night gown were chasing us away the women yelling threatning to call police. it didnt end there. we got back into the car drove outta there and noticed the women was following us in her vehicle! she followed us all the way to goshen we finally ditched her by pulling into aj’s a local bar and resteraunt with great food!
@Chris (October 17th, 2011 10:57 pm): Bingo. Shame that money has to ruin (almost, at least) everything. That said, it would be nice if some land trust could get their hands on the property.
When I was in my teens my friends and I used to go to Dudleytown all the time, 75 76 77 It was creepy at night but during the day it was quite peaceful being from Southbury it wasn’t very far away. I also used to mow Union Cemetary when I was in the boy scouts I must of been 11 or 12. I remeber something about the white lady Ghost? Has any one else heard of this ? My scoutmaster was a Guy named Skipper Toth he once spoke of her I think?
Have you heard there is an independent movie being made about Dudleytown? They are now in post-production after a disasterous film shoot – including the arrest of eight cast and crew. You can check it out and stay up to date on the Dudleytown Curse Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/124889004194600/348836755133156/?notif_t=group_activity
I hiked at Dudleytown many, many times between 1977 and I guess it was about 10 or 12 years ago, when the Dark Entry Forest Association closed it to visitors. Indeed, the Appalachian Trail used to pass practically through it, with a lean to for camping, where I’m sure many hikers with no knowledge of the “curse” slept over the years. I can’t say I blame them for closing it. After “Blair Witch Project” came out all kinds of folks were going in there day and night, setting up cameras, etc. I did have a few weird coincidences there . . . and always an uneasy feeling . .. but then I knew about the “curse.” If I hadn’t I wonder what my experiences would have been.
What are they hiding in them woods. The cash crop.
Yes I know how to get into dudleytown. Its not the way the mean old lady will yell at you. all i am going to say is it’s were rt 4 and 7 meet. I been up their 3 or 4 times 1st was with 1 of my friends mean old lady ( who was nice) asked us what we were doing there, we pulled it out of are butts to say we were lost. 2nd time was with my mom I told her watch this some lady will come out and she did, mom started cracking up. 3rd time was with friends we were all high and i was making them bug out by telling them the stories never made it. I want to go back if anyone want to go I am game.
Why is it so difficult to find the names of the members of Dark Entry Forest Association? Would town records have them?? Its funny on how little you can find by searching the net on this group…names, how much they paid, the closing date….or am I just not searching correctly.
Will, I’d love to go to dudleytown. i’ve wanted to go for some time but I’m scared of the mean old lady. LOL
Rachel like I said I know the way where the popo’s and the mean old lady won’t yell at us lol. If you really want to go send me your E mail or facebook we can chat more about it then if you want too.
Will, shoot me an email when you get a chance. rkg0824@msn.com
Emailing you right now, check your spam I have aol.
I searched this up because of WWE know with the stories im like OMG
Will can u shoot me a email also karb0925@gmail.com
I just send you an email
NCk, I know a member of the group, he is a direct relative of one of the first families as most of them are.(clarke)
I do know they own small cottages in the area, on the mountain etc.
He has spent many nights camping, biking etc on the grounds. Sorry to say he has never seen anything unusual, but they did scare a ton of people at night!
That said, within a couple of days of him posting this in this forum and inviting me to go mountain biking on the property he received a phone call from a member of DEF threatening to remove his privileges if he followed through with the invite.
I tend to understand their position, they own beautiful property and don’t want to be woken every night by kids ghost hunting and leaving behind all the crap I would of left behind at nineteen years old.
Thanks Steve
For the post. You are FAR more understanding than I would have been. I checked the Cornwall town hall…they have a section called “people of cornwall”…but no clarkes…I was a bit surprised. I’m gonna check land records, any info on the sale or the organization of their llc or their INC…SOMETHING is got to be there with info on WHO the individuals are….it seems they are big into their “right” as landowners to exclude people (and I understand who annoying it could be to have a bunch of freaks mess up your land…but, I am ALSO SURE that those are a MINORITY of jerks messing it up for people who simply want to enjoy that section of forest) so, Im pretty big on MY right to research any information that is deemed public records. My brother, who is a big techie researcher for a company in DC told me that after I give it a shot…he would help me out using his databases…….THEY’VE made it such a mystery, now I gotta find out more.
Thanks again Steve…..its too bad you couldn’t go.
I do not mean to solicit through this site by any stretch, but I am definitely interested in forming a paranormal society. I have a lot of tools that can be used to do investigations, but I am having trouble finding people who are willing enough to come with me to the certain places.
I do have certain ways to obtain information and access to different places, but I can always use a hand, if you are interested please respond to untitledstory14@yahoo.com, and I will get in touch with you as soon as possible so we can form a new paranormal society.
If anyone is willing to give me and my friends directions please email me at Jeviscuso@gmail.com it would be much appreciated.
How do we know the DEFA did not set fire to there own wood and blames it on kid . I do not like those people
I have been to D-Town twice in my life and its nothing special. Im an very active backpacker and I can tell you from my experiences in the deep woods that animals tend to get quite when there is a potential predator around. I understand why Dark entry dont want people there. It is a beautiful area and it does have the history of that cornwall locked away inside. I dont advocate trespassing but the public does have the right to experience the what CT has to offer. I am trying to set up hikes to the top of the High Hills in Corwall. These are Bald Mountain, Woodbury Mountain, and The Coltfoot Triplets. Any one interested just respond to this. And now that I know that there is a cave that is being kept from everyone it makes me want to see it more. I would like to be able to contact the people that are in control of the land for permission to avoid unwanted arrests. Kinda sucks it seems that more and more of CTs woodlands are being taken away from the public. How sad.
I wanna see the cave too. I live nearby and know how to circumvent the local a-holes.
My mother went there with her friends and her boyfriend at the time in the 70′s or 80′s. It was overrun by a lot of trees and all you see are foundations of old houses, stones, and the feeling there isn’t entirely pleasant. Because it is closed, there is no one there to speak to besides the officers that patrol and the animals are normally just birds. There weren’t any other creatures to my mother’s knowledge. She did say it was an eerie feeling, and it was in the afternoon she went. The sounds there are quiet and she felt it was weird. She’s been to a couple of sites where there were tally marks on bricks and tree barks and didn’t feel she needed to go back. However, she did with her brother about 3 years later, and nothing was different. I decided to see for myself. Though it is watched by police, you can go in if you go past the street signs into small spaces where no one really patrols. You can tell where the patrolling men are. There wasn’t anything to strange, I think I just freaked myself out. After going to Camp Hazen (forgetting the location), I spent time with my counselor that lived a town over. He had nothing but weird things to say about the place and he visited it back in 94 or 96. He did not like the feeling and he immediately left after too eerie of a feeling. He has not been there since. Do be careful, though. Though I’ve heard different stories, all are not good. Either you go there and not have anything happen, or you go and something happens. It didn’t do it for my mother or I, but it did for my friend and his friends. Maybe it depends on the person.
I was searching for info on the Dark Entry Assoc. Here is a link to an article about the location and how Dark Entry came to be (small tid bit in the beginning) just for all that are interested.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1030_021030_BirdersJournal_2.html
I spent a good deal of time at Dudleytown in the early 90′s and the place was definitely eerie. The first time my friends and I went was with a large group of more than ten people. A bunch of them were drinking and being loud so me and two others who had never been decided to hang back to see if we could hear or see anything unusual. As we were sitting there and letting the other group get further ahead, we began hearing leaves rustling behind us and what sounded like footsteps. The three of us shined our flashlights at the area where we heard the footsteps coming from and we all saw the ground being disturbed (leaves moving like there were being stepped on) but nothing was there. Needless to say it didn’t take us long to catch up with the rest of the group since we ran about fifty miles per hour. Every time after that we went with a smaller group so we could hear and take in what was going on around us. That is just one story of many and I have some crazy pictures (that the Warrens used to ask me for the negatives of) from that place. I probably went at least twenty times but haven’t been in over fifteen years so I have no clue what it’s like now.
Will, my email is matt.koncz@gmail.com. My little brother and I have been dying to go forever. Trying to get up there for his 26th birthday in the next month. lemme know if that invite still stands.
Title email Dudleytown. Do you live in the area?
me and my wife are planning on going hiking there to dudleytown, would love if anyone could send me some directions that could avoid cops.
email is chloride91@yahoo.com
chloride91-@-yahoo.com ( remove — )
Def want to go before they start shooting trespassers lol ive been researching for a good point of entry, I have maps and found the three dead end roads that lead to the grounds, I’ve been to Fairfield hills a bunch of times and did good at avoiding security, if anyone wants to go or talk about going to other places email me fouracephilly@yahoo.com
Def want to go before they start shooting trespassers lol ive been researching for a good point of entry, I have maps and found the three dead end roads that lead to the grounds, I’ve been to Fairfield hills a bunch of times and did good at avoiding security, if anyone wants to go or talk about going to other places, email me fouracephilly@yahoo.com
my friends and me went here a few months ago. It was definitely freaky going through miles of woods to get there, but there isn’t much left because all the housing has completely disintegrated. If you go though, go at night. The state can’t afford to patrol the place 24/7 so you’re in the clear if you go in the middle of the night
DEFA has never properly serveyed their land so no body knows where it begins and where it ends!
Anybody that’s doing tours email me at Joshua7790a@gmail.com it would be a great birthday present.
I would suggest that people take it seriously. The owners DO NOT want people on that land. Dont listen to people that say they will bring you on tours or show you around. The land is patrolled day and night regardless of what people say. Don’t let people on here lead you to believe that these back ways in are unknown to the state police and the DEEP, they are. I know this because I have done the proper thing and asked police in the area and residents trying to get official permission onto the land. They know of these places and people have gotten arrested at them. I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but people should know the real facts, yes you can be lucky enough to sneak in at night and get out with no problem. Or you can sneak in and be arrested on the spot because you obtained a false sense of security through other peoples stories. And it’s not just the land owners that are watching, many local residents are looking out too. Because they are sick of the people that are attracted to their community looking for ghost or some other nonsense. Sorry to get on my soapbox and preach, I just wanted you guys to be aware.
Oh and to Ryan, I don’t know who pays for it but the police are there day and night. Just ask them if you are ever in town and happen to talk to them. You know a random car on the side of a road or parked at state parks after closing hours within the vacinity of Dudley town is kinda a give away that someone might be trying to get in. The comment that you made is the false sense of security that I had eluded to in my previous message. also does everyone on here know how easy it is for cops to catch you when you post contact information on such a public forum. Use your heads guys.
I visited the Cornwall Historical Society yesterday and purchased 2 pamphlets on Dudleytown. I also saw the organization’s “Out of the Woods” exhibit which has some background about the Dark Entry Forest Association and includes old pictures. Most of the history of Dudleytown has been fabricated to make the area seem spookier than it is.
I have not explored Dudleytown and I would not trespass because it will make the DEFA less likely to allow hiking through the area in the future. However, a small chunk of Dudleytown can be accessed most of the year (ex Oct 22-Nov 1) via the blue blazed Mohawk Trail. If Dudleytown really is haunted, hang out on that part of the trail during the day and see if you can sense/see anything paranormal.
Will I’m also looking to get in!
Lesliefigueroa1@hotmail.com
Someone should take pictures of the crazy lady on Bold Mountain Road
It seems to have been a lil while since someone has posted on here, but, I will go ahead and post my thoughts anyway. I am very intrigued by the whole thing. The historical aspect of Dudleytown has peeked my interest as well as the possibility of strange occurances happening in that area. I understand why the DFEA has a tight lid on the location since it seems that a bunch of careless, disrespectful people have been there and vandalized the property or desecrated it in some way. It just sucks that because of these people goin up there actin a fool, it has ruined any chance of respectful people to conduct any kind of exploration or investigation or even taking photographs of the site, for that matter. As curious as I am, and how badly I want to go there, I will not even attempt it because of the risk involved, not to mention, thats its mostly private property. Sorry a bunch of inconsiderate people have ruined it for the rest of us, but thats the way the cookie crumbles, especially with locations that have been said to have “paranormal” activity.
I am extremely interested in paranormal locations and historical locations. Since Dudleytown is off-limits I guess I will just have to sit back and enjoy the stories, legends, and myths on the internet, because for every spooky story there is a not-so-spooky story. With all the research I have done on Dudleytown there seems to be a 50/50 chance of it being paranormal or not at all paranormal…so it appears I will just have to carry my curiosity around until it disapates.
lets do a camping trip up there and video the whole thing!matt mattlewis477@yahoo.com!the old creepy lady is just there to scare u!forget her and lets get the ball rolling!
Been there a hundred times in the past, early 90′s metal detected and found some cool artifacts, belt buckles, old dining ware, other scrap metal, never removed any of it? I knew who lived where from my own research, forget going in on Dark Entry rd, even though I took my 4 kids in there a few months ago, I saw a couple walking out who lived on the street, and they told me the womans name who freaks out at trespassers, ironic they were allowed to roam about. Either way do your history, Haunted? maybe, too me, historically significant. Too bad crazy people ruin it for nature and historian buffs.
DO NOT TAKE ROCKS FROM DUDLEYTOWN! During my high school years I traveled to the wooded area with a few friends at around 3AM. I can attest to the complete and utter silence that fills the air. There were no leaves rustling or crickets chirping. I did not experience anything out of the ordinary while walking around. My friends and I actually split up to cover more ground… and none of us saw anything except a flip flop in the mud near the entrance in which we came through (that hadn’t been there prior.) Butttt, two of the guys took rocks from the grounds and as we were leaving and driving down Dark Entry, we hit a bunny rabbit! BAD LUCK ENSUED! Weird, weird, weird horrible things started happening until the guys recognized the correlation and brought the rocks back!
I’VE BEEN HERE FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS(CORNWALL).1 DUDLY TOWN IS HAUNTED.2 IT IS PATROLLED BY STATE POPO’S.IVE BEEN THERE MANY TIMES I HAVE A PERMIT FROM THE DARK ENTRY ASSOCIATION.IVE ONLY GONE IN BY DAY LIGHT AND WOULD NEVER ATTEMPT IT AT NIGHT.I DONT GIVE TWO FIGS A BOUT” OHH ITS NOTHING, NOTHING GOING ON HERE.THIS PLACE IS NOT TO BE TAKIN LIGHTLY.DO YOUR SELF A FAVOR STAY OUT.I DONT GO THERE ANYMORE NOT WORTH THE THINGS THAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU.WHATS THERE WISHES TO BE LEFT ALONE.TO THOSE WHO THINK ITS ALL ITS ALL BULL.YOUR ETHER JUST NUMB AND DUMB OR JUST PLAIN STUPID.LIKE I SAID STAY OUT
[...] it before too. I’m not too sure about the accessibility of this one. ghostvillage.com ; damnedct.com ; [...]
I wanna goo !! Have no idea about it tho and am horrible with directions ! Can someone email me more info?… shelbylynn1104@aol.com
i went to dudley town years ago on friday the 13 at 12 am. we saw glowing green eyes floating, orbs floating, and we also heard the name mary being called repeatedly. our camera wouldnt take any pictures unless someone one in the picture. we saw the foundations and it was so dark. then we went to the old graveyard for the town and the same things would happen. floating orbs and the camera would not take a picture without someone being in the picture.
I want to go to ffld hills union cemetery anyone game?
Hey everyone, seems like nobody been on here for a while but just a shot in the Dark, Anyone been up to Dudley Town lately? Still extremely protected by the Pyscho Old lady and Police? I’ve been there twice about 12 years ago before they really cracked down on the place and want to go back badly soon, I only know of Dark Entry rd and Bald Mountain rd but they now seem to be hot spots to get busted. Any tips/hints would be greatley appreciated!!!
Ghost Busters, yes, it is still protected by 1 or 2 Dark Entry Forest Association members as well as by police. If you want to get in without being instantly arrested you will have to hike in through the blue-blazed Mohawk trail. Dudleytown is approx. 1.5 mi away from the trailhead. There are signs explicitly stating not to walk off the trail because it is private property. Be aware that there could be DEFA members around the trail in Dudleytown to ensure that no one’s coming onto their property. Also, the trail may be closed Oct. 22 to Nov. 5 to discourage kids from visiting Dudleytown as a Halloween activity.
Thanks Kristen, Is this Blue-Blazed Mohawk Trail on Bald Mountain rd?
Ghost Busters, I believe it is. The trailhead is at Cornwall Bridge (where you will probably get harassed because it is near Dark Entry Road) but I’m sure you could pick it up from Bald Mountain Road. The further away you can park your car and hike in, the better. You want to be as far away from Dark Entry Road as possible.
Hey peeps, thought I’d share my experiences of Dudleytown. I grew up in Avon CT and, as a troubled youth, had the pleasure of living at CJR in Litchfield for a year. This is where I first heard the Dudleytown legend from an older outdoorsman named John Sokolow. He had apparently had numerous paranormal experiences there and riled us kids up with stories of demonic presences, invisible forces and glowing green eyes. Allegedly, so many mishaps occurred on outings to Dudleytown that CJR no longer took students on outing there.
A few years later in the summer of ’99, after the Blair Witch Project had hit theaters, a few friends an I were playing with a Hi8 video camera and just being goofy teenagers. Our conversation turned to Dudleytown, and i relayed all of the stories i’d heard. It turns out that our friend Sabrina’s family owned a cabin in Dark Entry where she’d gone as a kid. We got permission to go and loaded up the ole Dodge Caravan. I think there were 7 of us. When we got to Cornwall we stopped in town to get snacks and stuff and asked the locals about the place. We got only ominous stock answers like, “We don’t talk about Dudleytown ’round these parts.” We just chalked it up to folks trying to dissuade restless youth from exploring. When we finally found the place and pulled up the road, a man stopped and interrogated us about our purpose there. He was creepy and lived at the top of the hill. After we explained that we were allowed to be there he left us alone. We all walked up to the trial head and entered the forest. It should be noted that we were all a little drunk and high from wine and high end cannabis. The forest seemed normal at first with the normal sounds of scurring animals–until we came to a small clearing where only a gently swaying patch of eerie green stinging nettles was growing. Beyond this patch was an earthen foot bridge with a small stream running underneath. Once we crossed the bridge all sounds stopped. There were no birds or squirrels or anything! Even though it was mid-afternoon, it was pretty dark on account of the thick canopy. We saw a few stone foundations, but not much more. I felt like we were being followed and kept looking back. Up on the hill sides i swore i saw motion, but i have astigmatism so my vision at distance sucks. In the woods in New England there is a lot of garbage, so when I saw a white blob on the hillside, I assumed it was an old bleach bottle or something. Everytime I would look back and up though, it was there, regardless of how far we walked. A one point, and this is hazy, I encountered a very old woman just sitting in the woods silently. I walked up to what looked like just a pile of rags by a tree and looked around before I realized there was an old lady there! My friends grabbed me and whisked me away down the trail, admonishing me to leave her alone. On the way back though she was gone. Nothing much else happened except I narrowly avoided stepping on a rock with a red pentagram painted on it. We were all kind of mocking the place and chanting REDRUM on account of the red wine we were drinking. We went back to the cabin as the sun was setting and settled in for a night of chillin’. My friend Ryan and I decided we were going to brave the trail at mid-night and make our own Blair Witch Project. We had no idea what was in store for us. We packed about 5 flashlights, 3 butane canisters, a Coleman lantern and our Hi8 video camera. Oh, and a crowbar; for protection. We walked up the paved hill, took a deep breath and turned onto the dirt road, over the chain and into the dark. We had the camera running and the lantern going. Ryan was dragging the crowbar behind him which I noted was making a creepy noise on the rocks. He said, “Good, maybe it will intimidate the ghosts.” At that very moment the lantern inexplicably fell apart in my hands and smashed to the ground, the camera went dead and we were in total darkness except for the lantern mantles which were burning a GLOWING GREEN like two angry eyes!!! For an excruciatingly long and terrifying period we couldn’t get the camera or it’s light to come on, the flashlights wouldn’t work, not even our bic lighters would work. After fumbling in the dark and freaking out for what seemed like forever, the camera came back on and we walked out of Dudleytown siletnly; at the far end that is. Scared to walk back through, we decided to walk the back roads and circumnavigate the place. We walked downhill for hours until we came to a main road with a soccer field alongside it.We started a fire to keep warm and contemplated our next move. We were mostly lost. We reasoned that we could sleep there and hike back through Dudleytown in the morning. Then we heard a vehicle coming and flagged it down; a tractor trailer. The driver said he knew where Dudleytown was, and would be going right by it, but stated that he wouldn’t go anywhere near it because it freaked him out, and that we were on our own. Awhile later we flagged down another vehicle, a jeep. It stopped about 50yds from us and BAM! threw on it’s brights and offroad lights. A loud speaker told us to approach. The driver claimed to be an off duty Watertown Police officer. His name? Damien. Yeah. He enthusiastically agreed to bring us back to Dudleytown. Even though I was scared, we took him up since we were cold and lost. He brought us back alright, right to the same place we’d exited! He offered to use his pistol to shoot the chain off the the trailhead’s gate and drive us through, but we persuaded him not to, and walked back through Dudleytown, all the while trying to be as respectful as possible to the entities there. Nothing more happened except that we both noticed a waxing and waning sort of humming; pulsating almost. The next day, Ryan and I realized that both of us had broken a toe. Very strange.
I don’t remember ever watching the video, but Sabrina’s sister Elisa claims to still have the old tape in her possession. Maybe one day I’ll see it again.
the long story by Dudley 99 is complete BS because the descriptions of the area are totally wrong
Oh, c’mon Dudley99! Super lame story. You would never be able to talk your way into entering the forest, there is no foot bridge, most New England forests do NOT have garbage, even homeless people don’t literally wear rags, and a cop sure as hell wouldn’t be trying to shoot a chain! This is not the appropriate place for you to try out creative writing.
i guess ghost hunter and Kristin are jealous or something because they’ve never been there.
ghosthunter: in what way are my descriptors “totally wrong?” It’s been 13 years, but i’m pretty sure my account is accurate. I’d bet you’ve never even been anywhere near the place, or outside of your mama’s basement for that matter! go roll your your 12 sided die, ya dork!
41.809136,-73.345848 here’s the lat/long for the Epstein’s cabin for all you skeptics. as you can see, the trail head is walking distance from the cabin.
Quote from Dudley99: October 15th, 2012 1:18 pm
“41.809136,-73.345848 here’s the lat/long for the Epstein’s cabin for all you skeptics. as you can see, the trail head is walking distance from the cabin.”
I’m not entirely sure why you pointing out where someone’s cabin is located in relation to Dudleytown should make your story more valid. The things you described are SO far fetched. The old woman and cop suggesting he’d shoot a chain are not realistic. I may buy your story if the woman wasn’t literally dressed in rags and if the cop was joking. As it’s written now, no way did things go down the way you said they did. If I re-interpet what you said happened, it sounds like you stumbled upon a regular old lady, had some electronics die, and a cop was messing with you. Still can’t wrap my head around where you go into the woods and find a bunch of garbage. Cornwall woods are clean outside of a few beer cans and gum wrappers.
A friend and I went up there for a hike on 10/05. Spent 5 hours up there off-trail.
With respect to anything supernatural or other-worldly about the place, I’m not buying it.
About 13 years ago I and two friends hiked dudley town. I don’t remember the name of the access road, but it was up a mountain and on a small side street. You actually hiked down the trail. Living and hiking in CT my whole life it is not uncommon for any forest to be quiet and devoid of creatures. I attribute this to their keen sense of hearing and smelling and they sense danger from people. We found a stream with moss covered rocks, a few old stone remmenant foundations and a bunch of litter scattered arround. No signs of any paranormal activity or orb like creatures, just an ordinary hike in CT woods. I dont blame the folks for stopping and arresting people as it looked like a party spot. I have seen far more interesting places in CT. Not worth the trip.
test to see if I can post as Dudley99
Kristen, I guess i don’t really care if you or anyone believes me. I was just trying to contribute since so few people get to go there. I guess i felt attacked by you and some others. Who likes to be called a liar? The old woman was very disheveled in her appearance and seemed to be wearing several layers; she certainly didn’t appear normal. And yes, the supposed off-duty Watertown cop DID want to shoot the chain off the pole at the end of the trail. For all I know he was a security guard. i was just a kid, what did i know? I was totally sketched out by the guy and didn’t want anything to do with him, but we were cold and tired so we went with him. There are a lot of other weird details about that night, but nothing really happened besides two kids getting lost on a walk. At the time it was freaky as hell BECAUSE of all the weird stuff that happened. Truth is stranger than fiction I guess.
Dudley99 – I looked at your coordinates and they are not even in the same state- the eveny you described may very well have happened then but they didn’t happen at Dudleytown in CT.
uh, ok ghost hunter. Looks like someone needs a tutorial on how to use google. I’m pretty sure I know my way around CT; i lived there for most of my life.
True story, not fiction!
Moved all over the country threw out my life. Lived in Connecticut for 15 years now. I’ve hike through the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut from one end to the other. One boarder is Mass. and the other would be New York. Plus, I’ve also hiked Dudley Town with a geographical map over the years. There are trails on the Appalachian, but know trails really in Dudley Town.
During my exploration threw Dudley Town was a beautiful moment. People like I might just think well, “WHY” is that! I’ve read some notes on this board from a person in 2009 & 2012. What they have experience I have TOO but not Dudley Town. People like myself would ask, Where, When, How, and for What Reason. I would say, ask the person that’s doing all the weird hocus-pocus.
For myself, it all started on April 5, 2012. I drove up Rte. 7 North and stopped at the Shell gas station on Rte. 44 in Canaan early that day in the afternoon around 1:00 p.m. I jump out of my car and started opening my gas tank before I entered the gas station to pay for gas. A male 6′, turned around and touch my shoulder and said hi, my name is Jeff.
To get to the point, the gentlemen had on a pair of glasses that were 4 to 5″ around frames. The eye piece on the glasses were not normal looking. He stir into my eyes for a good 60 seconds. Also, gas stations have camera’s.
The gentlemen had sneakers, cap, blue jeans, white t-shirt, skin was tanned, was bold with a fake beard like a tie and he was old because, I saw his sideburn and the hair was white. Plus the guy was driving a burgundy car with Connecticut plates. After, I walk into the station to pay for gas and pump the gas I took off. I was visiting family and around 11:30 at night I drove down Rte. 7 South through Mass and heard two different voices unfortunely. One man/woman. The gentleman voice stated, I want you to put a hand over one eye and look directly at the ground and drive. Women’s voice appeared and stated that this gentleman was dangerous and needed to locate where I was at that moment as she spoke.
Know more than five minutes later, I ended up in Lenox almost hitting a gas station. Five minutes later the guys voice appeared and stated meet me at the gun range on Rte.7 almost near BD company. I did not. So, he stated meet me at the Shell on Rte.44 Canaan.
I arrived at the Shell around 1:00 p.m. and ask to use the bathroom. As soon as, I got into my car, voice appeared and stated meet me at the parking lot up the road and that was were the electric power lines were located in Canaan.
Two days after, I recieved a email from a person named Dana Conn. The subject was “The 1832 Civil War Resolution. Never heard of the name that appear threw my email box. From April to December alot of different things have been occuring. 1. Seeing images that are not real, but actually they were real images just like a ghost but not a ghost. 2. I wake up one morning, sat at the end of my bed. For some reason I closed my eyes for a second or two. At the time my eyes were closed I could see a glow color of yellowish/green.
3. As I drove that evening from Canaan heading back to my hometown, voice appeared and stated park at the Appalachian trail parking alot. Once I arrived, he stated you will be able to see, hear, smell better.
I looked up symptoms for hypnosis on the interent found tingling of the brain, hear, see, smell better, plus other. 4. I though or maybe I should say, I seen the guy around my neighborhood.
I’m a person that is very healthy and not on medicine. I love the back country and other sports.
I visited Dudleytown in 2005 and even back then folks connected with the Dark Entry Forest Association were spreading rumours about the land being patrolled 24/7 be police and…um…idk others, but when I went I found it was like any other abandoned facility and completely impractical to secure.
The most effective deterrence is the complete and utter lack of parking on any of the access roads. The dead ends are well posted with no parking and no trespassing signs and even just driving up Bald Mt Road I had the crazy lady out of her house yelling at me and writing down my number plate. If you park on any of the access roads you are almost certainly going to get ticketed or apprehended as you head back to your car. However if you don’t try to be lazy, park in town (there is a convenience store with some nondescript parking about 1/4 mile from Dark Entry Road) and just walk in via the Mohawk trail you will be fine unless you try going on a high traffic night like Halloween.
Using the Mohawk trail gives one plausible deniability as to why you are in the area, parking in town or hiking along Dark Entry road. It is 1.5 miles from Cornwall Bridge to Dudleytown via the road and trail, however it is only perhaps 1/4 mile from the Mohawk Trail to Dudleytown itself so if you just want to visit the site your ability to and from public land will be well within the standard police response time of about 10 minutes and that’s assuming someone is actually there to call them. I spent perhaps 30 to 45 minutes on site when I visited and walked all the way down to the road access on the east end of the site. Any police response will come from that direction as it is only perhaps another 1/4 or 1/2 mile from Dudleytown to the Dudleytown Rd access and the road is accessible to even 2WD vehicles. The distance to Bald Mountain road is much longer and probably 4WD only. I didn’t bother walking that way as I was wary of the crazy lady.
Now the longer you stay the higher your risk of getting nabbed. While it is completely infeasible for either the Dark Entry Forest Association or the town to post 24/7 security, a single sweep about midnight on a daily basis is well within the real of possibility and if you’re trying to camp out there then that’s all it will take to get you in trouble. While a car parked for a few hours won’t raise suspicion, one parked overnight, with out of state tags even, is a huge red flag.
To sum up, park in Cromwell Bridge, take the Mohawk trail and only stay on site for an hour or less. There is a fairly well worn road/path leading in from the Mohawk trail to Dudleytown so just hustle as soon as you step off what is clearly public land.
Baldwin cave is just formation of some bolders not a real cave, Kids played in and the new owner filled it in with dirt.
So over the years it has been a back and fourth battle on how we are going to plan our trip up to Dudleytown in the past couple years there has been a few attempts all coming with success in paranormal happenings.
Attempt 1. We park and hit the trail into the woods in mid January with no leaves and a full moon you could see clear ahead we walked through the trail about a mile up when the group stopped at the same time, we all had an eerie feeling about the road ahead it was pitch black under the full moon, something did not seem right at all. As we stood and debated if we should keep walking you could hear the breeze in the tree tops when suddenly a breeze came down the trail directly at us like a janitor fan was put in front of our faces. As we turned to each other in disbelief we saw something i will never forget standing right before the dark area of the trail was the black silhouette of a man standing in the middle of the trail. Our heart dropped as we stutter to each if we are seeing the same thing it starts to approach us. We turn to run when of our friends stops us tells us for two of us to walk back down the trail backwards as the third would guide us down to give it a sense of being overpowered it kept getting closer as dark as night under the moon light until we reached a point we could see the car we ran back in total fear to our getaway car.
ATTEMPT 2.
We went for the adventure for my friends birthday when we got up there we sat outside the car to witness the infamous silence when we got back in the car our break lines were cut clean! Did not go back until about a year later!
ATTEMPT 3!
This Summer while shooting a documentary we went up there to get deep into the town, with a flawless plan we get into the dark woods where you cant see two feet in front of you due to the growth of leaves and trees as we walked with flashlights in hands shadows would jump from tree to tree no matter how still you were. It started a night of things that wont be easily forgotten. You would walk on the path while 10 feet into the woods would be something walking perfectly parallel to you. It got really crazy when you heard a faint faint singing in the distance getting louder the closer you get to the town. We reached the fork in the trail most people document in their adventures we turned the wrong way and the singing would disappear in the distance we turned back and took the correct way back into the town and just like that the singing came back! we reached the stone wall we decided to do shooting on the wall when you could hear someone splashing in the water , it wasn’t the water fall hitting the rocks because that sound was there too! we decided to keep going when we heard a sound that seemed like someone was dragging heavy metal through the water scratching the rocks and pebbles! We decided we had enough of the wall and passed into the town where we then started to get attacked by bugs left and right, after one girl got her shirt tugged on we decided to get out of there couple feet from the town there was no bugs! place got weirder by the second! we were waiting for the car to pick us up when we heard a loud pitch scream come from the woods behind us! the second the car got back we jumped and bolted out of there so quick! You think we would not go back but we wanted more and prove to others!
Attempt 4!
So We were going back up to Dudleytown for my friends birthday but the day before my friends brought me up there to guide them through the deep dark woods to see some scary ghost! well we got up there and nothing at first then When i asked out if something did not want us there to give me a sign right then I was hit by a rock that came from the distance! half the team left back to their cars when we stayed at the wall and there again the splashing in the water and something metal being dragged through the water and on the rocks! we eventually got out and you know what that means??? ATTEMPT 5!
ATTEMPT 5.
The day after being brought up there we go for our friends birthday so anniversary of getting our break lines cut the year before! So we go up there and have a car drop us off and pick us up once it is said and done, now we got up there hearing couple noises here and there. nothing big happened on the way up we took a few pictures in the woods to document we are alive and well in the one of the scariest places in America! well the one girl we had with us seemed to suddenly get really disturbed for no reason, she then claimed her neck was burning up when we shined our lights on her you could see nasty cuts forming on her neck! then she claimed them to be everywhere and there were the cuts forming all over her body! believe us or not we have the pictures to prove it! we got out of there as quick as possible and the cuts healed up when we got back but we got pictures while we were still there! but i have not been back since and well, when i do go back some day i will have no idea what will be ahead of me that night!
im going there and if this so caalled mean old lady or anybody else gives me a problem im going to have my own trick for them .
Anyone out there find the man that’s been hipnosising individual’s like me!
His been on the Appliachain Mountains following me and maybe others that just don’t notice.
I’ll state this for the last time, the gentleman needs to go to jail.
i went to dudley town and walked around. i got tired so i sat on a rock and then a severed head floated by and paused in front of me, turned and said “oooooooooo….you are an ass to believe the stories about this place.’ So i threw half my sandwich at the head and it yelled and swore at me and flew away. so then i got up and walked around some more and i was examining an old tree up close when i heard a voice say ‘coke or pepsi? coke or pepsi?’ really freaked me out because i’m a ginger ale guy myself. while i was there i also saw two skeletons doing it on a tombstone, a group of naked elves playing touch football and a rotting corpse wearing a macdonald’s hat walking slowly through the woods saying ‘they call me big mack, they call me big mack’
Recently visited Dudleytown during the day. In summation, it’s a pretty big disappointment. I wasn’t expecting much in the way of physical evidence but all there is are some stone walls, a few faint foundation lines, and collapsed stone chimneys.
We went the long way, parking on a dirt offshoot of Bald Mtn Rd and bushwhacking due NNW to the settlement. Given how long that took, I’d say the best way to go would be to hike the Mohawk Trail from the North, which as a previous poster mentioned gives you excellent plausible deniability and drops you off very close to DTown. I assume it’s a much easier trek as well.