Читать книгу Twin Cities Haunted Handbook - Jeff Morris - Страница 23

LAKE REBECCA PARK RESERVE

9831 Rebecca Park Trail, Rockford, Minnesota 55373

directions

From downtown Minneapolis, take I-394 West for a little more than 9 miles until you get to the US-12 exit on the left of the highway. Follow US-12 West for 17 miles and then turn right onto County Line Road Southeast. Follow this for about 2.5 miles and this takes you into the park itself.

history

Lake Rebecca Park is a beautiful park that surrounds several small lakes, the largest of which is called Lake Rebecca. The park offers hiking trails, boating opportunities, and play areas for children.

The darker history of this area involves a man who was depressed and walking one of the trails with the intent of ending his own life. He found a particularly remote section of a trail with a remarkable view of Lake Rebecca and sat on a bench to further contemplate suicide. Deciding to go through with it, he pulled out a gun and shot himself in the head. His body was not found until the next day.

ghost story

The bench where the man shot himself is supposedly haunted. When people are walking or jogging the trail alone, especially in the evening, they see a man sitting on a bench overlooking the lake. These witnesses don’t think much of it until they get closer and realize the man has a gaping bullet wound in his head. Soon after the witnesses notice this wound in his head, he vanishes. He often watches people as they approach on the trail, his eyes vacant and creepy.

While this ghost is most often seen sitting on the bench, he has also been spotted slowly walking along the trails in the area where he killed himself. He again vacantly stares at approaching hikers, who notice the bullet hole in his head before he vanishes.

visiting

This park opens at 5 a.m. and is open until 10 p.m. These are the only times you can walk the trails looking for the ghost of the man who shot himself. This is okay because it gets dark before 10 p.m., and you are able to walk the trails at night. Just make sure you bring sufficient light and that you leave yourself enough time to exit the park before it closes.

The trails the man is seen at most often are the two that cross near the southwestern corner of Lake Rebecca. There is a paved trail and an unpaved trail near the southwestern lakeshore. The ghost is seen most often on benches in this area.