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GREY CLOUD ISLAND

Grey Cloud Island, Minnesota 55071

directions

Take Warner Road from downtown St. Paul to US-10 East and follow US-10 for 7 miles. Take the County Road 22 exit and turn right onto Summit Avenue. Take the first right onto St. Paul Park Road and then the first left onto 3rd Street. Follow 3rd Street for about 2.5 miles. It will change its name to Grey Cloud Island Drive South and take you across a bridge onto the island. The entire island is reputed to be haunted.

history

There is a higher concentration of Native American burial mounds on this island than anywhere else. It was inhabited by the Woodland Mound Builder culture as early as 100 B.C.E. and had been an area of settlement for Native Americans until 1838. In 1838, a treaty between the Dakota and the European settlers forced the last Native American settlers on the island to move west of the Mississippi River.

Europeans soon moved into the structures that still stood on the island. The first settlers were two fur traders, the younger of which had married a Native American woman. He named the island after his wife’s mother, whose name was Grey Cloud.

Throughout the years since 1838, the island has remained sparsely populated. For a while there was a lime kiln on the island that was used to make mortar. The kiln still stands today but has not been used for many decades. Today, the area is a National River and Recreation Area with the National Park Service. There are still some people living on the island, but the population density is much less than that of the surrounding areas—perhaps because some people are scared of the island after dark.

ghost story

After the sun sets on Grey Cloud Island, the ghosts come out. The ghostly occurrences on the island are all visual. People actually see these ghosts, and despite the denials of the residents, they tend to see them often.

Perhaps the most-often-seen ghosts on the island are strange lights. People encounter strange balls of light floating around on all parts of the island. People driving the streets see them floating nearby in a field or actually crossing the street in front of them. The balls of light are most often seen in the wooded areas of the island.

People also run across an apparition of a Native American man in full Dakota dress, perhaps Chief Medicine Bottle himself, the last Native American leader to inhabit the island. Again, this apparition is encountered throughout the island but only after darkness falls.

Finally, people see a motorcyclist riding the roads of Grey Cloud Island at night. Alarmingly, the rider and bike are both translucent, and they make no sound as they roll along.

visiting

There are things that make finding these ghosts easy and things that make finding them difficult. On the easy side, the roads of Grey Cloud Island are all public roads and are open throughout the night. You are able to go late at night when there are no other drivers on the road and traverse the haunted island for as long as you need in hopes of sighting one of the apparitions.

Unfortunately, there are things that you need to look out for and pay attention to when visiting the island, especially at night. Many of the island residents absolutely deny that there are any ghosts here, and they hate ghost explorers who come onto their island looking for ghosts—mainly because of vandalism reportedly caused by ghost hunters. If you are on the island at night, do not step upon any ground that may be private property. Pay attention to all applicable laws and make sure that you do not do anything to disturb the island’s residents.