At this circa 1900 historic lodge, folks say, reside the ghosts of Native Americans who once fought a battle nearby. Guests have reported seeing a black apparition and strange orbs of light, and they have felt cold spots and experienced doors that open and close by themselves. It should be noted that the actual main lodge building itself is haunted, but not the surrounding cabins, so ghost enthusiasts would be better off booking in the main building.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 178 Rte 71
North Utica, IL 61373
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 41.3190396, -88.99426160000002
- County:
- LaSalle County, Illinois
- Nearest Towns:
- Utica, IL (1.7 mi.)
Deer Park, IL (2.7 mi.)
Oglesby, IL (3.8 mi.)
La Salle, IL (5.2 mi.)
Naplate, IL (6.1 mi.)
Peru, IL (7.0 mi.)
Cedar Point, IL (7.8 mi.)
Tonica, IL (8.1 mi.)
Ottawa, IL (8.1 mi.)
Leonore, IL (9.0 mi.)
Contact Information
- Web:
- http://www.starvedrocklodge.com
Please note: It is your responsibility to acquire appropriate permissions before investigating any location listed on this site. Private property should be respected at all times, as should all posted signs concerning trespassing, hours of operation and other local regulations. Many "ghost hunters" have been arrested because they failed to contact property owners and/or local authorities ahead of time.
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Comments (10)
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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 worked as a maid at the lodge. One day at work I was asked by another housekeeper to bring some soap to the third floor. She was alone on the third floor when I came up. I used my pass key to open a room that I was told needed soap. I was startled when I opened the door by a woman standing by the window, her back to me looking out. She turned & looked at me, and turned back to look out the window again. I said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had checked in, I have your soap.” I put the soap on the bed and left. I went down the hall to where my co worker was finishing up her rooms. I told her the people in 302 must have checked in & I gave her some soap. My co worker said, “No one has checked in, these rooms are all empty. I’ve been here all afternoon by myself.” So we went done to the room & knocked on the door. No one answered & we went in & the room was empty. No one was there!
I stayed in 223. My wife and I went out and when we returned we found the cold water was running in bathroom. Maybe plumbing, not a ghost. We had no other issues. But I do know we did not have it on when we left. It was also a strong stream, not a drip.
I haven’t ever seen much in the Lodge, but the Saint Louis Canyon was the site of a triple murder in 1960. Three women were raped and beaten to death, their bodies left in the canyon. That Canyon always feels cold and sad to me, no matter what time of year we visit there.
Last year my boyfriend and I were hiking on the path near the river. we were heading towards one of the canyons, there was quite a path leading to it and just around one of the turns we saw a young girl with dark hair walking towards us, she was in a light purple dress (60s style). She made eye contact with me for a moment, and just looked past us and kept walking. We both stopped and looked back, she was gone.i was looking for a family but We hadn’t seen anyone for about 10 minutes, and there was no one at the canyon itself. The canyon only had one entrance point. We headed for the car after that.
I had a very similar experience at the Saint Louis canyon. I happened to be overlooking a beautiful view and I was alone. As you stated there’s only one entrance to that canyon. There was nobody around. Just my dog and I. As I was overlooking a beautiful piece of scenery, my dog suddenly became a bit squeamish, which right there was way out of character for her and she wandered off, I was like whatever, she’ll find me when I start walking again. I was too caught up with the view it was beautiful. Moments after my dog wandered off, I heard a young woman’s voice from behind me which clearly asked me, “are you enjoying the view?” Without turning around, I said, “yes, it’s amazing, isn’t it?” No response. I than turned around to see who was talking to me and nobody was there. I found my dog a few minutes later. Another thing that I found very weird after that initially happened to me was after I found my dog I found a rather big stick on the ground and I threw it for my dog to go get it my dog has never turned down a stick before. She never went for it she just wanted to get out of there and then, so did I. Never went back to St Louis canyon again I’ll go to a lot of other parts that part I have stayed away from from this day something was just very off. I had just found out a few months back about the triple murder in 1960 I never knew of that. I was telling a girlfriend of mine the story of what happened to me at starved Rock in that canyon and how I saw my dog acting ways that she never acted before. She then told me about the triple murders and said one of those women reached out to you. I have never had the type of chills that ran down my spine immediately after she confirmed what I experienced.
Several years ago I was hiking with my family near one of the canyons. We heard loud yelling some distance behind us, and figured it was a group of teenagers having fun. But then we started hearing a drum, like a Native American war drum. The yelling faded away but the drumming got louder. I turned back to look, and saw a man standing near a tree, another crouched with the drum between his legs, both dressed in Native American clothing and both staring straight at us. The man standing moved slowly behind the tree and out of my sight. My family and I got out of there as quickly as we could, hearing the drum the whole way. When we finally got out of the woods, we found ourselves at the lodge and got a ride from a ranger back to our car. We never went back to Starved Rock again.
My daughter and I were both in our beds in room 303 about to fall asleep, our cell phones on the nightstand between us. We both were startled by the sound of something falling on the floor. When we looked we found her phone, which was not anywhere near the edge of the table, on the floor. Neither one of us moved prior to the incident which might have been the cause. Somebody had to pick it up and drop it, or just knock it off.
I stayed in room 303 last week. The room was cold so I tried to raise the temperature on the thermostat. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the bureau drawers slowly open revealing a thick fleece blanket!! Also, during the night I woke up to use the washroom. Weird subtle lights were swirling on the door. It was pitch dark in the room, but when I turned on the bedside light they stopped. I loved my stay at the lodge, but there definitely is a heaviness in the air there.
I stayed in the main lodge on the first floor with my girlfiend last year in March. I can’t remember the exact room number but it was close to the back exit. I was exhausted the first night we stayed there from all the hiking, but I was woken up to an immense pressure on my chest. I remember I couldn’t move at all. The whole stay inside of the lodge always felt like someone was watching you, and things seeming to dart out of the corner of your eyes. My parents also stayed in the main lodge, a few months after around May. My dad felt tapping on his shoulder while he was sleeping and thought it was mother, only to realize she was facing the opposite direction…BEWARE OF THE MAIN LODGE!
Stayed in room 303 and around 6am I was trying to fall back asleep. I was half dreaming/half asleep when I felt movement on the bed around my legs. I woke up but kept my eyes closed and stayed still to make sure it wasn’t me moving in my sleep. The movement continued so my first reaction was “okay it’s not me, so it must be a mouse?” I opened my eyes and turned to grab my phone to use the flashlight but as soon as I moved, the movement on the bed stopped. I couldn’t find any animals, didn’t hear any pitter patters or squeaks. I saw a few other references to rooms 303 and 302 in these comments, so had to share my experience, too!