Santa Fe Walking Tours with Paul Hillman
Sponsored by Santa Fe Foodies

Ghost Tours with Paul Hillman
Step into Santa Fe’s haunted history! Join master storyteller Paul Hillman for a spine-tingling evening walk through the city’s most legendary sites. From restless soldiers to lovesick brides and cigar-smoking nuns, you’ll hear chilling tales of ghosts who never left the City Different.

1. La Fonda on the Plaza
Once home to the old Exchange Hotel, La Fonda is alive with ghostly legends. The spirit of Judge John Slough—shot after a barroom quarrel—still roams the halls in his long black coat. Guests have also seen a desperate traveling salesman leap into the restaurant’s fountain and vanish, and a sorrowful bride in white is said to wander the fifth floor, searching for her groom.

2. The Plaza
At the heart of Santa Fe, the Plaza holds centuries of haunted lore. Hear about Doña Tules, the glamorous 19th-century saloon owner whose harp still plays in the night air. Meet Billy the Kid, forever seeking the pardon he was promised. And beware the Presidio Phantom—an 18th-century soldier who marches unseen, still awaiting his hero’s welcome.

3. Inn & Spa at Loretto
On the grounds of the former Loretto Academy, the “Cigar-Smoking Nun” still lingers. Guests and shopkeepers have reported the scent of cigars, flickering lights, and floating cash drawers—all believed to be the mischief of Sister George, who taught here long ago.

4. The Santa Fe River
The tragic spirit of La Llorona, the Wailing Woman, is said to haunt the banks of the Santa Fe River. After losing her children to a sudden flood, she wanders in eternal grief, her cries echoing through the night and warning children to stay away from the water’s edge.

5. The Oldest House
In one of Santa Fe’s oldest adobe homes, love and jealousy turned deadly. When soldier Juan Espinoza defied witches’ orders in a love spell gone wrong, he lost his head—literally. Locals claim a headless horseman still gallops down De Vargas Street, searching for what he’s lost.

6. San Miguel Chapel
America’s oldest church hides a miraculous legend. A blind man, known as El Ciego, found he could see whenever the church bell mysteriously rang on its own. That same bell still hangs cracked and silent inside the chapel—but strike it, they say, and you’re destined to return to Santa Fe.

7. Drury Plaza Hotel (Former St. Vincent Hospital)
The old hospital walls whisper with memories. On the third floor, nurses once saw ghostly figures chasing each other through locked corridors, and a young boy’s cries still echo from Room 311. In the basement, staff encountered blood seeping through walls and eerie presences among ancient artifacts.

8. La Posada de Santa Fe
The elegant La Posada Hotel was once the mansion of Julia Staab, a socialite whose grief drove her into seclusion—and perhaps beyond. Guests still smell her favorite roses and feel her presence in Room 256, where sheets are tugged from sleepers and faucets turn on by unseen hands.