Entry No. 19 — the Pueblo file — filed under: haunted

Silver Cliff Cemetery

“National Geographic sent a writer in 1969; he left without an answer.”

The blue-white orbs here first hit print in 1956, when the Wet Mountain Tribune reported ghosts carrying their own lights at night — though miners swore they had seen them since the 1880s. National Geographic sent a writer in August 1969; he watched dim round spots glow among the graves and left without an answer. Locals once killed every light in Silver Cliff and Westcliffe to rule out reflections — the orbs kept dancing. They recede as you approach. Nobody has explained them.

The move: Drive out on a moonless night, kill your headlights at the gate, and walk the rows together until one of you spots a blue orb — no flashlights, your eyes need twenty minutes to adjust.

📍 Before you go The cemetery sits about a mile south of CO-96 on Mill Street (County Road 340) — the last stretch is dirt, and you park along the fence by the gate. It is actually two adjoining graveyards, the Protestant Silver Cliff section and the Catholic Assumption section, on uneven prairie ground, so watch your footing among the 1880s stones. The orbs only show on truly dark nights: aim for a new moon, and pair the trip with dinner in Westcliffe, a certified Dark Sky community five minutes away. From Pueblo it is roughly 55 miles west via CO-96 through Wetmore.

• 📍 Silver Cliff (adjacent to Westcliffe)
• 💸 $$
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: 1435 Mill St (County Road 340), about 1 mile south of CO-96, Silver Cliff, CO 81252

Hours: Added 2026-06-11 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4

last checked: 2026-06-11