Off the Trails

In July of 1991, 12-year-old Jared Negrete set out on his first overnight backpacking trip with a group of Boy Scouts in the mountains of Southern California. But somewhere along the way, Jared became separated from the group and disappeared into the rugged wilderness surrounding San Gorgonio Mountain. What followed was an extensive search, a handful of puzzling clues, and a mystery that remains unsolved more than three decades later.Sources:Wikipedia, NamUS, LA Times, Reddit, Find A Grave, Hiking Angeles ForestSupport us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at [email protected] Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!**We do our own research and try our best to cross-reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode, and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.

Some stories stick around because they leave people wondering what’s true. Others stick around because people want them to be true. Today, we’re diving into a few bizarre stories that captured people’s attention but ultimately didn’t hold up under scrutiny. And even though they’ve been debunked, they’re still pretty fascinating to look back on.Sources:Wikipedia, History, CNN, Telegraph, TimeSupport us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at [email protected] Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!**We do our own research and try our best to cross-reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode, and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.

We officially made it- today is day 13 of our 13 Days of Sunday Scaries, and with this episode, we’re wrapping up our trip through the archives. The next time you hear from us, we’ll officially be kicking off our brand-new Sunday Scaries for 2026!But before we get there, it feels only fitting to end the countdown the same way Sunday Scaries originally began- with some haunted hikes.For this episode, we’re heading onto trails across the country where beautiful scenery comes with some pretty unsettling history. We’ll explore a trail built around one of Missouri’s most infamous haunted roads, a cliff in Maine marked by the tragic death of a young girl, and a Grand Canyon trail where hikers say they can still hear the cries of a grieving woman.We’ll also head into the mountains of Virginia, where the spirit of a little boy is said to wander near the place he was found more than a century ago, before finishing in the forests of Oregon at an abandoned stone ruin known today as the Witch’s Castle. Support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at [email protected] Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!**We do our own research and try our best to cross-reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode, and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.

We’re continuing our trip through the 2025 Sunday Scaries archives, and for this one, we’re handing the storytelling over to you.Sometimes the creepiest experiences outdoors aren’t the ones with a famous legend or ghost story attached to them. Sometimes, you’re just walking through the woods when something suddenly feels… off.For this episode, we’re sharing listener stories about those moments- from unexplained voices and figures in the trees to strange encounters on familiar trails, and that overwhelming feeling that, for whatever reason, you need to get out of there.Whether there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for these experiences or something a little stranger going on, these are the stories that tend to stick with you long after you’ve left the trail.Support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at [email protected] Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!**We do our own research and try our best to cross-reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode, and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.

In June of 2015, a family traveled from New Mexico into the mountains of southern Arizona for what was supposed to be a quiet Father’s Day weekend camping trip. But shortly after arriving, one member of the family disappeared during a walk that should have taken only a few minutes.Sources:Tombstone News, Las Cruces News, Charley Project, Reddit, Labyrinth Podcast, Strange Outdoors, NBC News, Facebook, WikipediaSupport us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at [email protected] Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!**We do our own research and try our best to cross-reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode, and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.

In today’s episode, we’re diving into some beautiful bodies of water with histories that are a little darker than their scenery might suggest.We’ll hear about a heartbroken woman said to haunt Long Island’s largest lake, a spot in New Hampshire where unexplained whispers and footsteps have been reported for centuries, and a Louisiana swamp connected to a devastating hurricane and the mysterious woman some say predicted it.Finally, we’re heading to Australia, where a picturesque swimming hole has claimed more than 20 lives- and according to local lore, there may be something more than dangerous currents pulling people beneath the surface.Support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at [email protected] Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!**We do our own research and try our best to cross-reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode, and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.

Today’s Sunday Scary is a follow-up to our last episode, Strange Places. But this time, instead of traveling to several different locations, we’re spending a little more time exploring two places that prove something doesn’t necessarily have to be haunted to be unsettling.First, we’re heading to Northern California and Mount Shasta- a beautiful 14,000-foot volcano surrounded by stories of unexplained disappearances, hidden civilizations, mysterious figures, strange lights, UFOs, and even alleged portals to other dimensions.Then, we’re traveling across the Atlantic to a picturesque stretch of river in England where the danger is much more real. What looks like a narrow stream you could almost jump across hides powerful currents, underwater caves and crevices, and depths that are hard to imagine from the surface. And over the centuries, it’s been connected to more than a few tragedies.Two beautiful places, two very different kinds of mysteries, and plenty of reasons to be careful about what might be hiding just beneath the surface. Support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at [email protected] Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!**We do our own research and try our best to cross-reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode, and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.

Every forest has its stories, but some are a little stranger than others. Stories passed down for generations, warnings about places you shouldn’t go and things you definitely shouldn’t take- and encounters that, decades later, still don’t have an explanation.For this Sunday Scary, we’re heading back into the woods for a collection of myths and legends involving curses, mysterious creatures, a headless horseman, strange objects in the night sky, and a cemetery where simply counting the steps could supposedly reveal exactly how you’re going to die.**Pardon the early days audio qualitySupport us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at [email protected] Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!**We do our own research and try our best to cross-reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode, and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.

Searchers covered six hundred square miles and hiked a combined four thousand miles on foot looking for someone in need but they found nothing. Then on day twenty-four, a cabin door opened revealing a woman everyone had started believing was dead. This is the story of Tiffany Slaton.Watch the full press conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eAvrSge4z4Sources:Denver Gazette ABC ABC 7 Independent YouTube The Resort AP NewsSupport us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at [email protected] Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!**We do our own research and try our best to cross-reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode, and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.

Before we kick off an all-new season of Sunday Scaries this October, we’re taking it all the way back to where it started. Over the next 13 days, we’ll be rereleasing every Sunday Scary episode from the past three years, leading right up to the first new episode of 2026.And we’re starting with the episode that officially kicked off the series back in October of 2023. From haunted mountains and eerie trails to legends that have lingered in the New England woods for generations, this is Sunday Scary #1: Haunted Hikes of New England.**Pardon the early days audio qualitySupport us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at [email protected] Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!**We do our own research and try our best to cross-reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode, and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.

On June 11th, 1998, a man drove his truck into the Devil’s Punchbowl parking lot, locked the doors, grabbed his daypack and hit the trail. Deputy Jonathan Aujay would never return.Sources:Charley Project, Wikipedia, Strange Outdoors, Strange Outdoors-2, OAG, Prison Legal News, Outside Online, WitnessLASupport us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at [email protected] Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!**We do our own research and try our best to cross-reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode, and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.