Said to have a history of unexplained occurrences like babies crying at night, Steamboat Springs’ Butcherknife Creek is a notoriously ‘haunted’ Colorado spot.

Butcherknife Creek is a waterway in Steamboat Springs that runs through the Strawberry Park campus of the Steamboat Springs School District and then through Old Town.

According to The Group Real Estates, Butcherknife Creek has long been connected to disturbing tales and occurrences, including eerie voices drifting through the banks at night, footsteps that appear when nobody appears to be there, and unexpected chills that seemingly come out of nowhere (even on summer nights).

According to folklore, these mysterious events could be linked to early settlers camping near the area. Another version of the legend says that the creek itself is home to a restless spirit.

A couple renting a bungalow along Butcherknife Creek in the Old Town neighborhood once sought answers for the suspicious noise of a baby crying that they heard from their room, according to an article from the Steamboat Pilot.

They turned to Marianne Capra, a local historian of Routt County. Capra set out to discover the source of the noise. Capra investigated, searching through historical documents related to the area and folklore from local cultures to find the context of the crying noises.

Capra discovered a book called “Ute Tales” by historian Anne Smith. The book includes the oral tradition of the Ute Native Americans. The local tribe, the White River Utes, passed several stories down about creatures called “water babies.”

In one similar account, a man heard the sound of a baby crying near the Green River, looked up, and saw a creature sitting on the water. According to the story, the man threw a stick. But that might have not been the best decision, as he had terrible dreams at night and got sick afterward. According to the Steamboat Pilot, the tribe member who told the story believes that the water baby haunted the man because he had disturbed it.

So, the next time you’re enjoying Butcherknife Creek in Steamboat Springs, listen carefully, and you might hear the sound of a baby crying, and some other spooky occurrences.

Marianne Capra even does tours in Steamboat Sprigs where she tells this story, and other stories of spooky happenings.