Third Bridge: A Classic Aurora Haunt

Grab your popcorn (or your beer) and let me fill your heart with FEAR! (No? Okay, well I tried.)

Nevertheless, Aurora, Colorado’s Third Bridge is legitimately scary. Without a doubt, the Third Bridge is the perfect place for a frightening urban legend.

Imagine a long, dirt road adorned on both sides by tangled, gnarly trees. There are almost no lights, and its silence comes with such deafening ubiquity that a person could almost hear their heartbeat thump, thump, thumping in their head like Edgar Allen Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart. It’s easy to get lost, if not on the bridge than in the surrounding fields into which the road dips. If a visitor were to yell out into the pitch-black abyss, they would likely stir up paranormal activity before eliciting an actual human response. Animals seem to gravitate toward Third Bridge, with bugs swarming more fervently in the sky and birds seemingly landing only in the coldest, most disconcerting areas. Yeah, it’s spooky.

A perennial favorite spot for thrill seekers and stoners alike, Third Bridge is said to be the site of a number of grisly deaths, the souls of the dead supposedly haunting the bridge and surrounding fields. Most who know about Third Bridge grew up hearing about a tribe of Native Americans who were massacred by bloodthirsty settlers while the men were away. No life was spared, and the entire village was burned to the ground. When the men came back, they found their village destroyed and their families killed. With war drums beating, they rode off to avenge these deaths, and those war drums can still be heard today if you’re quiet enough — or so the legend goes. It turns out the urban tale is just that … a tale. I’m From Denver dug for evidence of the massacre, but found it is likely not to have occurred at Third Bridge. Yet, some of the details may be familiar to readers as the Sand Creek Massacre, which occurred nearly 200 miles away.

Tragically though, I’m From Denver found that there was a bloody incident between settlers and Native Americans near Third Bridge that was instrumental in helping foment government-sanctioned violence against Native Americans in the run-up to the Sand Creek Massacre. Depending on which account you believe, in 1864, a settler killed a Native American in cold blood for attempting to take his horse. That led Native warriors to kill the settler’s family before killing him too and leaving their bodies mutilated. The family’s bodies were brought to Denver, where Governor John Evans politicized their death to push for a violent war against Native Americans along the eastern plains.

Adding to the uncomfortably eerie vibe of Third Bridge is the 1997 death of two teens who went to Third Bridge to experience paranormal events, and the still unsolved and gruesome 2010 murder of a man near the area.

Some visitors report seeing a girl, hearing screams, and seeing vehicles in the area that disappear upon approach.

Realistically, there is probably an explanation for many of the frightening occurrences that take place at Third Bridge. Yet, reason can’t write off the feeling of being on the bridge alone seeing lights that vanish in the blink of an eye or hearing screams, muffled voices, and beating drums coming from all around. If you’re daring enough to seek out creepy places on Halloween, Third Bridge ought to be at the top of your list.