Haunted highways & spooky streets: 10 of the UK's most daunting drives

Spooks, spectres, and hairy hands – dare you drive on Britain’s most ghostly roads?

Fancy taking a road trip to visit the things that go bump in the dark?

Are you a horror aficionado who loves to freak yourself out until you have to sleep with the big light on? Or are you more the kind of person who can barely cope with the terrifying ‘heffalumps and woozles’ scene from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh?

Either way, there’s something undeniably exciting about visiting places notorious for their ghosties and ghoulies.

There’s no feeling quite like that little frisson of excitement that comes with the tense unknown as you drive through a dark space, unsure of what might be lurking around the corner.

It’s like playing hide-and-seek as a child, with that anxiety-inducing wait for the seeker.

So, why not dial up the excitement and take yourself off across the country for a ghostly safari?

Whether you fancy a road trip to a notorious castle or want to brave Britain’s most haunted roads, hoping to glimpse a phantom for yourself, there’s something for everyone.

Unless you really, really hate ghosts, ghouls, spectres and beasts. In which case, take this as a ‘where not to go’ guide and plan your long-distance journeys accordingly.

But if you’re feeling brave, load up your lease car and head on out.

Who knows what you might see?

1. Pluckley Village, Kent

There’s something about driving through winding lanes and quaint English villages that inspires a weird kind of terror.

Especially on foggy autumn mornings when mist shrouds the church spire and hides the countryside from view.

And especially when that village is Pluckley.

It holds the title of most haunted village in Kent – which, unlike winning Village of the Year, isn’t the sort of accolade that’ll make your house price go up. It’s supposedly home to over 12 ghosts, and it’s even in the Guinness Book of Records because of its ghostly inhabitants.

The spectral residents include a highwayman hiding in a tree, a phantom coach complete with ghostly horses, a miller at Mill Hill, a schoolmaster hanging in Dicky Buss’ Lane, and the Lady of Rose Court who poisoned herself after becoming entangled in a love triangle.

Plus, there’s the White Lady haunting St Nicholas’ Church, and the Red Lady with her white dog prowling the churchyard.

Wherever you go in Pluckley, there’s likely to be a ghost.

If you’re feeling especially brave, hop in your car and drive through Screaming Woods (officially Dering Woods, but the nickname is very apt).

Locals report hearing long-lost souls wailing through the fog-clouded trees, while others feel an overwhelming sense of being watched. Some have even seen black shadows following them, and ghostly figures that disappear if you get too close.

2. A75 Kinmount Straight, Scotland

Otherwise known as ‘Ghost Road’ – always a good start.

The Kinmount Straight is often called Scotland’s most haunted road, and has been the site of numerous bizarre sightings over the last 50 years. Drivers report seeing everything from people to carriages to animals, with figures stepping in front of cars, only to disappear before impact.

The Ferguson brothers witnessed an alarming variety of phenomena on the A75, including the ghost of an older lady who ran towards them with outstretched arms, and several ghostly beasts.

Another couple reported seeing a man by the roadside with a sack over his head.

Worried they’d hit him, they turned back to check – but when they reached the spot where they’d seen him last, the man was gone.

Bob Sturgeon, who ran a roadside snack van near the ‘sighting hotspot’ (ghost watching is a hungry sport, after all), rarely went a week without someone spying a ghost. The most common sighting was bedraggled people pulling carts or carrying bundles.

One lorry driver was apparently so traumatised by his experience that he gave up on lorry driving altogether.

3. Blue Bell Hill, Kent

Winding through Kent’s beautiful chalk hills, Blue Bell Hill has a notorious reputation that belies its gentle, not-spooky-at-all name.

This innocuous stretch is home to the ghost of a young woman clad all in white – the spirit of Suzanne Brown, a 22-year-old bride-to-be who died in 1965.

She’d been celebrating her hen night with friends Judith Langham and Patricia Ferguson when their Ford Cortina spun out of control, colliding with oncoming traffic and killing all three.

Sightings of Suzanne have been reported ever since, with some claiming they picked her up from the roadside only for her to disappear without trace, while others have spotted her crossing the road and vanishing into thin air.

But Suzanne isn’t the only ghost.

Sightings have been reported as far back as the 1930s. But with the hill being the site of a Neolithic burial chamber, we’re not surprised some spirits have hung around

4. B3212, Dartmoor, Devon

This one hits close to home for us, with Carparison HQ on the outskirts of Exeter.

And believe us when we say there’s no way we’d go bombing down this road in the dark.

You’ll never forget where you were when first told the tale of the hairy hands. Unfortunately, I was camping on Dartmoor, sat trading stories around a campfire.

Which turned an already spooky tale into nightmare fuel.

The B3212 runs from Exeter to Yelverton, cutting through rugged terrain past stone tors, ruins, and mysterious Bronze Age stone circles. But the stretch we’re interested in runs from Postbridge to Princetown, home to Dartmoor’s prison.

Here, the hairy hands have plagued drivers since the 1900s.

The 1910s saw a spate of accidents with drivers losing control on this road. In 1921, respected prison medical officer E.H Helby crashed his motorcycle, tragically dying after shouting at his two passengers to jump as he wrestled an unseen force for control.

Another motorcyclist reported a similar incident, but this time the passenger clearly saw disembodied hands wrest control of the bike.

Since then, hundreds have reported encountering the same ownerless hands.

Could you think of anything worse than hairy hands of unknown ownership appearing on your steering wheel? No, us neither.

(Though many locals are sceptical of the legend, believing that the accidents result from people driving too fast on narrow lanes they don’t know. And to that we say – spoilsports.)

5. M6 Motorway

If we said ‘picture a haunted road’, you probably wouldn’t think of a motorway.

They’re so new and, well, motorwayish. How could they possibly be haunted?

Spanning from Rugby to Carlisle, the M6 is one of the UK’s busiest roads, but has been the site of paranormal sightings since opening in 1958. You’ll find the usual suspects: ghosts darting across the road only to vanish, spectral animals, spooky figures, and glowing eyes.

But the M6 loosely follows an ancient Roman road that allowed soldiers passage through England into Scotland.

Apparently, someone forgot to tell a group of these soldiers that Rome fell in the fifth century.

If you’re unlucky – or lucky, depending on how you look at it – you might see these soldiers still parading on, endlessly doomed to repeat their last march.

The old Roman road is now well below the tarmac, but physics is no barrier to these centurions – you’ll see them wading through concrete like they’re marching through water.

Some believe these soldiers were heading into battle, or that the road itself was the site of a bloody conflict, while others say this section was built on a Roman burial ground. Either way, the toll charge isn’t the scariest thing about the M6.

6. Bodmin Moor, Cornwall

Moorland really does lend itself to spooky tales.

Whichever moor you find yourself on, there’s sure to be some ghost or ghoul ready to scare the pants off you.

Bodmin Moor is no exception, but it’s not regular human ghosts that haunt this place. It’s home to something different – the Beast of Bodmin Moor.

Since 1978, there have been over 60 reports of a large cat-like creature, baffling police and stumping experts. Theories have ranged from a supernatural entity to an escaped wild animal.

A string of mutilated livestock did nothing to dispel the rumour, and grainy photographs haven’t helped solve the mystery. Even a 1995 government investigation concluded that while there was no evidence the beast existed, there was nothing to say that it didn’t.

The most plausible theories centre on the beast having escaped from a private collection or zoo.

Circus entertainer Mary Chipperfield released three pumas in 1978 (the year the beast was first spotted), while Dartmouth Zoo claimed in 2016 that different pumas were released in the ‘80s.

Whether flesh or myth, if you see glowing eyes in the darkness, we suggest a swift U-turn.

7. Alnwick Castle – Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland

Less spooky road, more ghostly road trip – you can tick off two of England’s most haunted castles in one day, being only half an hour apart via the B6431/A1 and B1341.

Start at Alnwick Castle (which you might recognise from certain films about a young wizard), said to be Northumberland’s spookiest spot. It’s home to the Alnwick Vampire legend, and hundreds of years of gruesome tales.

The twelfth century vampire legend tells of a castle worker who, suspecting his wife of adultery, climbed to the very top to catch her – but tragically fell to his death instead. Despite a Christian burial, his spirit could not rest, instead haunting townsfolk as unexplained illness spread and livestock perished.

Two men eventually unburied him, took him to the outskirts, and burned his corpse.

Only then did the supposed curse lift.

You might also encounter the Grey Lady in tunnels below the castle, believed to be a Victorian teenage maid who tragically fell down a chute and was crushed by a dumbwaiter.

At Bamburgh, meet the Pink Lady – a Northumbrian princess desperately searching for her lost love.

Her father disapproved of her suitor, banished him for seven years, and told her he’d married someone else. Heartbroken, she donned her favourite pink dress and threw herself from the battlements.

You might also see Green Jane (a starving woman in an emerald cloak who fell down the castle steps), and Dr John Sharp, who oversaw the castle’s eighteenth century restoration and loved it so much he never left.

8. Pendle Hill, Lancashire

Anyone who knows anything about witchcraft history will recognise the name Pendle Hill – the site of England’s most famous witch trials, and home to the restless spirits of those executed for witchcraft in the seventeenth century.

Located in East Lancashire near Burnley, it attracts visitors thanks to its spooky atmosphere and embedded folklore.

According to ancient legend, the Devil himself once jumped from Hameldon Hill, gathering rocks in his apron (but why was the Devil wearing an apron? For jam making? We’re not entirely sold). He threw a boulder towards Clitheroe Castle, but the apron string broke and the boulder landed near Pendleton, creating the pile of rocks you’ll find there today.

Most visitors come to learn about the witches and try communicating with their restless spirits.

The surrounding countryside remains wile and untamed, fuelling the mystery of those hanged for witchcraft.

9. A666, Greater Manchester

Sometimes, they just write themselves.

Of course the A666 became known as the ‘Devil’s Highway’ – there was no way a road named for the number of the beast would be pleasant.

We’re surprised a road was even given the 666 number. We thought it would be like hotels with no room 13, just in case.

But the A666 definitely exists, traversing the West Pennine moors (it’s always the moors) through bleak, rugged countryside. It’s been the site of numerous reports of ‘dark shadows’ lurking at night.

The most notorious stretch – the 5.5 miles from Egerton to Darwen officially called St Peter’s Way – is a renowned accident blackspot with triple the volume of accidents to anywhere else on the road.

Whether it’s down to poor road layout or something more supernatural, we’ll leave that for you to decide.

10. Electric Brae, Ayrshire

Less spooky, more ‘woah, that’s so cool!’, Electric Brae has mystified people for decades.

Its actual name is Croe Brae, stretching a quarter mile from the bend overlooking Croy railway viaduct in the west to Craigencroy Glen in the east.

Here, a stationary vehicle left to freewheel will seemingly roll uphill, defying physics. Locals once believed this was mischievous spirits using electromagnetic forces, making it a paranormal hotspot.

But the explanation is rather duller – you don’t actually freewheel uphill.

It’s a gravity hill, where surrounding landscape placement creates the sensation of going up, like when a departing train beside you makes your stationary train feel like it’s moving.

Though there’s logic behind this one, it’s still worth visiting for the feeling of rolling uphill.

So, there you have it. Britain’s most ghostly roads, from phantom brides to hairy hands and everything in between.

Whether you’re a believer or a sceptic, these routes offer the perfect excuse for a spine-tingling road trip.

Just remember to keep both hands firmly on the wheel.

You never know what might try and take control.