Every year I go on a Denver ghost tour when October rolls around and this year my sister and I went on one that was solely focused on the Denver Botanic Gardens. It was a thrilling, chilling good time and if you’re thinking of booking a unique ghost walk in a historic part of Denver, this could be the right tour for you.
A review of the ghost tour at the Denver Botanic Gardens
Only offered in October, this tour is led by former and current staff members, many of whom have their own ghostly encounters to share. The tour starts with a movie that shares the history of the Botanic Gardens and how it used to be a grave site, how the bodies weren’t all moved, and then how the gardens came to call this area home. Then, it shows security staff footage from some of the things they’ve caught on tape or retelling their ghost sightings.
After the movie, you’re split into smaller groups and then head out to explore the property. We started inside and then moved out into the gardens, before finally coming to the Waring House. Honestly, knowing we could go inside this house was 90% of the reason we booked the tour. We’ve heard of the Waring House on our other ghost tours in Denver, but it’s not open to the public – except on this tour. There are some dark spirits that lurk in the shadows of the Waring House and we wanted to hear some first-hand tales about it. I was sufficiently spooked and ready to leave by the time we were wrapping up the tour.
Some of the ghosts we learned about along the way included:
- Wade: A former staff member who likes to smile and wave at current staff members
- Darth Vader: A shadowy figure that walks the perimeter of the property
- The Girl in White: A young girl who’s particularly attached to a certain spot on the grounds
- Jack: A childish spirit who likes to play
- The Lady in White: A spirit that’s assumed to be a bride who killed herself on her wedding day
There were many others that were talked about and our guide said each tour is a bit different depending on which guide you get.
Tour guide
Our guide, Kyle, was head of security at the Gardens and has plenty of stories from his years of working there. He also talked about writing some history books of Denver and takes his research into the history of the land, the buildings, and the people that were laid to rest here. He was a great guide and was authentic in how he shared his stories with the group. He also developed the ghost tour for the gardens and wrote the script for other guides, but letting them add their own stories to change it up a bit.
Price
We paid $31 for our tickets ($27 if you’re a member), and it was worth it. The tour is about two hours long, but ours went a bit longer so we definitely got our money’s worth from the experience. Plus it was cool seeing the gardens at night with no one else around.
Overall, it was a great ghost tour even though it solely focused on one property. Most of the ghost tours we do cover several buildings or streets but this one was focused on just the spirits in the Denver Botanic Gardens, both naughty and nice.
Have you done a ghost tour at the Botanic Gardens? Tell us about your experience in the comments section below!
