Eureka Springs boasts many historic hotels, two of which dominate the city skyline: the famous 1886 Crescent, “the most haunted hotel in America”; and the 1905 Basin Park, built just steps from the magic healing spring around which Eureka Springs exploded into being. Both hotels offer tours of the premises.

The Crescent offers one of the best-attended ghost tours in the United States. You will start on the top floor and wind down to the notorious Norman Baker’s morgue. On the way, experienced guides in period costume relate events from the hotel’s strange and colorful history, and tell the stories that have come down to us over decades of ghostly sightings and experiences. Few people visit Eureka Springs without taking the ghost tour at the atmospheric Crescent Hotel!

The Spirits of the Basin tour is one of newest attractions in Eureka Springs, and rapidly becoming another “must-do” activity while in town.  Guests explore the tallest building in Eureka Springs – “eight stories high and every floor a ground floor” according to Ripley’s Believe it or Not – from the primal underground cave to the specially-built safety deck on the roof, while knowledgeable storytellers evoke the years gone by.

What do we mean by “Spirits?” Firstly, this is a tour about people – the rich parade of fascinating individuals who lived and worked (and perhaps also linger) at “the people’s hotel, the beating heart and soul of Eureka Springs.”  Secondly, while nowhere can compare with the Crescent for tales of the supernatural, the Basin Park has its own stories of ghostly Spirits. And since the Basin Park functioned as a popular speakeasy during the “Chicago years” of the 1940s and ‘50s, “Spirits” also refers to contraband liquor… The tour concludes with a complimentary shot of Arkansas rye whisky for interested guests.

Come to Eureka Springs and take both tours. Meet the ghosts who have lingered for decades in the halls of the majestic Crescent Hotel, and delve into the past at the Basin Park to hear the stories of the folks who made Eureka Springs what it is today!

We recommend you book your tours in advance through www.reserveeureka.com.

PS: look for weekly articles about the tours, containing interesting tidbits of information you will not hear from the guides on our Facebook pages!

Americas Most Haunted

Spirits of the Basin Tour