Elkmont Ghost Town

An abandoned early 1900s logging town inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where empty cottages and a crumbling hotel harbor restless spirits of former residents.

Elkmont was once a thriving logging community in the early 1900s that later became a summer resort for Knoxville's elite. When Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established in 1934, residents were given lifetime leases that gradually expired. By the early 2000s, the last residents had left, and the town's cottages, clubhouses, and hotel fell into ruin. The Wonderland Hotel, the community's centerpiece, partially collapsed before being demolished. Walking through Elkmont's abandoned streets, visitors report hearing laughter, music, and conversation from the empty cottages — echoes of the resort's lively past. Apparitions have been seen on the porches of the remaining structures, and some hikers have reported encountering a well-dressed couple on the road who vanish when approached. The site is particularly active on summer evenings, when the town would have been full of vacationers.