Everything OddWay knows about. Narrow it down by what you're after, or where you're going.
Creatures people keep reporting and nobody has caught.
Plattsburgh, NY
This Legends & Lore marker on Cumberland Head commemorates Champ, the serpent-like creature allegedly seen in Lake Champlain for generations. More than 300 reported sightings have become part of regional folklore, and New York even symbolically protects the creature.
Canaseraga, NY
Local legend says two girls disappeared into the Klipnocky forest after being told to hide there for safety and were later reported as large, hairy women living in the woods. The story was in circulation by the 1920s, and today a Legends & Lore marker on County Route 13C gives travelers a specific public-road stop tied to the tale.
Chester, NY
Generations of Warwick-area folklore describe an enormous snake that grabs its own tail, forms a hoop and rolls downhill toward its victims before striking with a spiked tail. The legend now has a dedicated marker overlooking the area associated with the creature.
Lyons Falls, NY
Lyonesse is a supposed 15-foot river creature first famously reported in the Black River in 1951, described as dark brown with unusual fins and silver-colored eyes. The town installed a Legends & Lore marker beside the river, making this unusually obscure New York cryptid easy to visit.
Port Henry, NY
Bulwagga Bay is one of the locations most closely associated with Champ, the legendary creature of Lake Champlain. The marker here preserves a local origin story in which a scorned suitor becomes the lake monster, while Port Henry has built a much broader identity around decades of alleged Champ sightings.
Silver Lake, NY
Stories of a monster in Silver Lake became so popular that a local hotel owner built a mechanical sea serpent in 1855 and secretly launched it into the water to attract tourists. The hoax was eventually exposed, but the Silver Lake serpent survived as local folklore and now has its own Legends & Lore marker.
Stories a place tells about itself, passed down and still repeated.
Southfields, NY
Local legend says Revolutionary War loyalist and outlaw Claudius Smith hid stolen valuables inside caves at nearby Cat Rocks before his capture and execution. Treasure hunters have searched for the supposed cache for generations, and a Legends & Lore marker along Route 17 records the story; do not leave public access areas to hunt for it.
Esperance, NY
Local legend tells of a widowed French woman accused of witchcraft by neighboring settlers during the nineteenth century. The story claims she was eventually shot through her window with a silver bullet and buried beneath a pine tree so she could not return, and a Legends & Lore marker now preserves the tale along Route 20.
Ballston Spa, NY
In 1869, Spiritualist Samuel Hides said a séance message from the spirit of Benjamin Franklin told him exactly where to drill for a healing mineral spring. A spring was struck at the predicted depth, and the story became part of Ballston Spa folklore; a Legends & Lore marker now identifies the site.
West Edmeston, NY
A Brookfield-area tall tale tells of a turtle larger than a cottage emerging from Gorton Lake and dragging an impossibly heavy wagon of rocks into the water. A Legends & Lore marker on Gorton Lake Road preserves the story at a specific roadside location.
Germantown, NY
According to local tradition, Rev. Johann Frederick Haeger was visited on Christmas Eve 1720 by a spirit calling itself the "Master of Time and Space." The spirit supposedly showed him visions of Germantown's future, and a Legends & Lore marker now identifies the location tied to the story.
Sleepy Hollow, NY
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and the adjoining Old Dutch Church landscape are inseparable from Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. A Legends & Lore marker inside the cemetery specifically commemorates the story that the Headless Horseman tethers his horse among the graves.
Hotels, theatres, prisons and back roads with a reputation.
Amityville, NY
The house associated with the 1974 DeFeo murders later became internationally famous through claims made by the Lutz family and The Amityville Horror books and films. It remains a private residence, so OddWay visitors should view only from public streets, should not enter the property, and should avoid disturbing the occupants.
Mexico, NY
Dr. William Casey transformed this former carriage house into an elaborate medieval-style cottage before his death in 1978. Later visitors reported organ music, cries for help, moving furniture and the apparition of a young girl; tours, ghost hunts and investigations are arranged by reservation at Mexico Point State Park.
East Rockaway, NY
Local boatman David "Dave Push" Terrell was found dead in the water in 1910, and folklore says his spirit later haunted the Haviland-Davison Mill. The historic mill was moved to Memorial Park in 1963 and is now a museum, with a Legends & Lore marker preserving the ghost story.
Dunkirk, NY
The Dunkirk light station dates to 1827, with the present Victorian keeper's house and tower preserving maritime and military history along Lake Erie. Reports include footsteps, voices, humming and unexplained touches inside the keeper's house and tower; the site operates as a museum and also schedules paranormal investigations.
Syracuse, NY
The museum occupies Syracuse's 1850 Weighlock Building, the only surviving canal weighlock structure of its kind. Stories associated with the building include apparitions, footsteps and voices, while visitors can normally explore the canal exhibits during regular museum hours.
Staatsburg, NY
A local fiddler was reportedly robbed and murdered on a bridge here in September 1808. The bridge is gone, but folklore says his music can still be heard on moonlit nights, and a roadside Legends & Lore marker identifies the site.
Sighting sites, crash lore and the towns that kept the file open.
Pine Bush, NY
The Pine Bush UFO & Paranormal Museum explores the Hudson Valley area's long history of UFO sightings through interactive exhibits, witness accounts, displays and alien-themed experiences. This is clearly a UFO-focused attraction and belongs in the `ufos` category rather than `haunted`.
Real events too strange to have made the textbook.
Fishkill, NY
Military-surplus dealer Francis Bannerman built this eccentric castle-like arsenal on Pollepel Island between 1900 and 1918, later leaving a romantic ruin after explosions, fire and abandonment. The island is controlled by New York State Parks and can be visited only through authorized seasonal boat or kayak tours.
Westfield, NY
Completed in 1829, Barcelona Lighthouse is recognized as the world's first lighthouse powered by natural gas. The grounds are open year-round and the restored tower can be climbed during staffed seasonal hours when weather and staffing permit.
Buffalo, NY
This enormous Art Deco railway terminal opened in 1929 and was abandoned by passenger trains in 1979, leaving its tower and concourse as one of Buffalo's most imposing industrial-era landmarks. Interior historic tours are currently suspended during restoration work, but an official self-guided outdoor audio tour follows designated exterior paths.
Sugar Loaf, NY
The intersection of Hambletonian Road and Pine Hill Road became known locally as Calamity Corners because of a succession of deaths, accidents and violent events associated with the area. Its reputation begins with the 1818 murder of Richard Jennings, a case often cited as an early American murder-for-hire, and a Legends & Lore marker was added in 2026.
Cooperstown, NY
The Cardiff Giant was a ten-foot stone figure secretly manufactured and buried before being "discovered" in 1869 and promoted as a petrified prehistoric man. One of America's most famous nineteenth-century hoaxes survives today inside The Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown.
Stony Point, NY
Doodletown was a small Hudson Highlands settlement whose remaining residents left in the 1960s after the Palisades Interstate Park Commission acquired the property. House foundations, roads, cemeteries and interpretive signs remain in the woods, reached only by hiking trails inside Bear Mountain State Park.
Small, specific collections run by people who care far too much.
Bronx, NY
Edgar Allan Poe lived in this small Fordham cottage from 1846 until shortly before his death, and his wife Virginia died here in 1847. The preserved house is now a museum containing exhibits and period furnishings connected to Poe's final years, with regular weekend hours and additional private tours by arrangement.
Gilboa, NY
Gilboa became famous after quarrying exposed fossilized tree stumps from one of the oldest known forests on Earth, dating back roughly 380 million years. The local museum and outdoor fossil displays preserve examples from the site, with regular public hours concentrated on summer and early-fall weekends.
Lake George, NY
This old-fashioned horror wax museum fills a Canada Street building with moving monsters, gruesome tableaux and classic horror characters. It operates seasonally in Lake George, so current opening dates should be checked before treating it as a guaranteed walk-in stop.
Le Roy, NY
Jell-O was developed in Le Roy in 1897, and this museum preserves advertising, packaging, recipes and artifacts from the dessert's unusually successful history. The gallery operates seasonally from spring until shortly before Christmas, so check its current schedule before routing here.
Lily Dale, NY
Lily Dale has operated as a Spiritualist community since the nineteenth century, and its museum occupies a former schoolhouse filled with photographs, documents and artifacts from generations of mediums and séances. Access is tied to the Lily Dale grounds and its seasonal programming, with a gate fee required during the summer season.
New York, NY
Mmuseumm is a tiny cabinet-of-curiosities museum built inside a former freight elevator in a Tribeca alley. Its displays focus on overlooked everyday objects and contemporary artifacts, and the interior has very limited seasonal hours even though the exhibits can often be viewed through the windows from the alley.
Giant objects, odd monuments and things built for no clear reason.
Irvington, NY
This exuberant pink Victorian residence was transformed in the 1870s into an eight-sided domed house inspired by nineteenth-century octagon-house theories. It remains a private residence, and both the house and grounds are accessible only through advance ticketed guided tours.
Kent, NY
Chuang Yen Monastery occupies more than 200 wooded acres and houses an enormous indoor Buddha surrounded by thousands of smaller Buddha images. The Buddhist Association of the United States welcomes visitors to the monastery at designated times, but religious services and current visitor schedules should be respected.
Brooklyn, NY
Coney Island USA's Sideshows by the Seashore continues the neighborhood's freak-show and circus-sideshow tradition with sword swallowers, fire performers and other live acts. The organization describes it as the last permanently housed circus sideshow in the United States, but performances follow a seasonal schedule rather than running every day of the year.
Oneida, NY
Built in 1989 on a tiny platform in the middle of Mason's Pond, Cross Island Chapel measures only about 28 square feet and has been promoted as the world's smallest church. The chapel is reached by boat for private ceremonies, but ordinary travelers should view it from the public roadside rather than attempting to cross the pond.
Orchard Park, NY
A natural gas seep burns inside a small grotto behind this waterfall in Chestnut Ridge Park, creating the strange sight of fire flickering through falling water. Reaching the flame requires a wooded hike and a walk along Shale Creek, and muddy or wet conditions are common.
East Otto, NY
More than 250 large-scale sculptures are scattered through fields, forests and ponds across one of the oldest outdoor sculpture parks in the country. The main Mill Valley Road section is generally open from May through October and involves walking trails over varied terrain.
