At River Legacy Park are several places rumored to be haunted. One of them is Hell’s Gate, along a shady trail through swampland. Local legend has it that it was along this trail that captured Union spies were marched on their way to be hanged. Here, phantom sobs and prayers are heard, and along the walkway folks have seen an apparition of a Confederate general with red hair. Another spooky spot at the park is known as Screaming Bridge, where a carload of football players is said to have crashed head-on with another car and burst into flames, falling off the bridge to their deaths. The road is now closed to cars, but some reports mention seeing a mysterious fog and glowing tombstones in the water under the bridge, bearing the names and death dates of the deceased. A ghostly hobo also is said to walk near the railroad tracks in River Legacy Park. According to the local tales, he was shot when he saw a man beating up a woman and stepped in to break it up. He appears as an old man in rags.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 701 Northwest Green Oaks Boulevard
Arlington, TX 76006
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 32.78888294814094, -97.11505656073001
- County:
- Tarrant County, Texas
- Nearest Towns:
- Arlington, TX (3.7 mi.)
Euless, TX (3.8 mi.)
Hurst, TX (4.0 mi.)
Bedford, TX (4.1 mi.)
Pantego, TX (5.7 mi.)
Dalworthington Gardens, TX (6.4 mi.)
Colleyville, TX (6.8 mi.)
Richland Hills, TX (6.8 mi.)
North Richland Hills, TX (7.3 mi.)
Grand Prairie, TX (7.4 mi.)
Contact Information
- Web:
- http://www.riverlegacy.org/
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
I used to exercise at river legacy park while attending college at UT-Arlington. The walking trail was located within a wooded area near the river. It was a beautiful place. However, the wooded area had an uneasy feeling about it. The deeper I would go along the path, the more strange it felt.
I have not been to the park in about 20 years and would like to see it again someday. I am sure it has changed !
That car crash on Screaming Bridge was not football players. It was four young women. Not all of them died. One woman is still alive. Also there was not a head on crash. The bridge was out so the car of girls went airborne and crashed into the ravine below. The bridge supports had been burned out by three young men who wanted to prevent African Americans living in Mosier Valley from traveling to Arlington. You can google this information to verify it.
What can i google to find this story?
just google screaming bridge in Arlington, lots pop up, some true, some not. But the person was correct, the painted bridge isn’t the real bridge, nor was it football players. the real bridge was on Greenbelt, which is the road just West of the painted bridge. to find the real bridge, go North on Greenbelt, but instead of going left on the new road, go straight towards the train tracks, you will come to a burm before the train tracks and a ravine on both sides. The original bridge was crossing the ravine.
growing up I always heard that the car crash invloved two couples returning from prom in the vehicle and it crashed head on with another vehicle killing all four teenagers who had attended prom. I remember visiting screaming bridge and deadman’s curve as a teenager.
I just got back from river legacy today and can’t shake what happened earlier. I bought a bike today because my friend Todd wanted to go bike riding there. I’ve never ridden the trails there but I’ve walked them, so I’ve always wanted to go deeper. I’m an amateur and he was showing me the trails. He was getting farther ahead than expected and I was starting to lose my breath. I could see him through the trees and he was calling back at me when I started feeling dizzy so I stopped. I was sitting down and I could hear something like a growl. It echoed in my ears for a second time but louder and it was definitely some kind of animal or creature. It was right next to me. I instantly covered my head with my arms and laid face flat. I peeked out a second later to see what it was, and thankfully nothing was there, as Todd pulled up. I asked him if he saw anything like a hog or armadillo around scamper off, and he said no. I told him what just happened and he was insistent that there weren’t any animals around. There was low cut grass so any animal around would’ve easily be spotted. I was almost crying as I was shouting at him that I knew it happened. Anyone else had this happen?
Sounds like you just let the hype get to you is all. Glad you’re ok. Just remember next time to take it easy and stay calm.
what in the world would there have been in arlington during the civil war to spy on lol
A few years ago the Fort Worth Star-Telegram had the complete story in the Sunday paper. It was girls in the car and the bridge was out. I have no idea about the reason that the bridge was out. My recollection of what I’ve heard over the years and read in the paper but the girls went off the near end of the bridge support and crashed into the bridge support on the far side. I do not recall there being any survivors.
Screaming bridge no longer exists. As others have mentioned, it was 4 girls that drove off a bridge that was out. The bridge was located a few miles north of the park, close to Trinity Blvd. The bridge people seem to be calling Screaming Bridge is an old single lane bridge that did have several head ons, but no reported hauntings.
I went to Hell’s Gate the other night. Walked all the way back to the posts, and as a clairvoyant, I can usually tell if something had activity. All I felt was a breeze, and the sweat beading up on my brow. There’s no activity, here. Furthermore, there really was no activity in this area regarding the Civil War, and the one and only redhead general for the Confederacy was stationed on the east coast. This one is just a myth.
would be really nice to speak to a clairvoyant for confirmation re: loved ones on the other side. do you do such things?
My sons and i went looking for this spot today but could not find it. Whether or not it’s haunted remains a mystery but we would like to at least see the spot. Could you help with directions once inside the park?
Just went to Hell’s Gate. Literally nothing. Bit disappointed.
The Bridge at the back of River Legacy Park is not the actual screaming bridge. The real bridge is Just north of the trinity river and it goes over train tracks not a river at all. It’s where Greenbelt dead ends before you can curve to the left and go on to trinity blvd.There are Barricades up but you can easily just drive around them
The pictures of the three posts are not what is left of a gate. They are old supports from a railroad trestle that used to traverse that area. The tracks are depicted on 1960’s era maps and another part of it is STILL standing on the Trinity River that line up perfectly where the tracks were in the park. There are two LARGE concrete supports on either side of the river as it runs along the north side of the park. The tracks ran from an old gravel pit up to the Rock Island Railroad. This area was / is prone flooding.
the tracks here had to be built above the flood plain. You can find a lot of other railroad ties and spikes all over this area. There is no such thing as Hell’s Gate. After hours of studying, I have found nothing that even came close that indicated that any “spies” were brought to this area for hanging. Bird’s Fort was gone by the time of the Civil War so nothing there either. No captured soldiers were brought any further west than a camp somewhere in east Texas. No Hell’s gate… no tree… no hangings. Also stories about Screaming Bridge is nothing but folklore and bad information passed down from generation to generation. Accident that is connected with the bridge in River Legacy park didn’t happen in the park. Lots of bad info about these to locations. I’ve attached the photo of the old trestle that crossed the trinity.