CRYPTID HAUNTINGS — SHOW NOTES

Episode Title:

The Screaming Bridge of Spanish Fork Canyon

Podcast:

Cryptid Hauntings

Host:

Michael Gardner

Episode Length:

Episode Description

Spanish Fork Canyon is a place most Utahns drive through without a second thought — until something makes them slow down.

In this episode of Cryptid Hauntings, we explore the legend known as the Screaming Bridge, a story tied to decades of documented accidents, fatalities, and unexplained experiences in one of Utah’s most dangerous travel corridors.

Listeners have long reported hearing screams, sobbing, or emotionally charged sounds near bridge crossings late at night. Others describe sudden chills, radios cutting out, children asking who’s crying, or an overwhelming urge to leave the area immediately — often before they even know the legend exists.

We examine the canyon’s history of wagon accidents, early bridge fatalities, railroad deaths, vehicle crashes, and modern tragedies, and discuss how repeated trauma can give rise to powerful place-based folklore.

This episode balances humor, skepticism, and historical fact while asking a simple question:

When a place remembers loss, how does that memory get passed on?

Sources & Further Reading

Historical & Geographic Sources

Utah State Historical Society — Spanish Fork Canyon History

Utah County Pioneer Journals & Early Settlement Records

Utah Historical Quarterly — Transportation & Canyon Travel Accounts

Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) — Canyon Infrastructure History

Railroad & Transportation History

Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Historical Archives

Library of Congress — Railroad Expansion in Utah

UtahRails.net — Spanish Fork Canyon Rail History

Accidents & Public Safety

Utah Highway Patrol — Historical Traffic Safety Reports

Utah County Newspaper Archives (1890s–1980s)

Deseret News Archive — Spanish Fork Canyon Accidents

Salt Lake Tribune Historical Archive

Listener Call to Action

Have you experienced something strange in Spanish Fork Canyon — or anywhere in Utah that left you unsettled?

📧 cryptidhauntings@gmail.com

📲 Instagram / TikTok / Facebook: @CryptidHauntings

The San Rafael Swell isn’t haunted by ghosts or monsters in the usual sense—and that’s what makes it unsettling. This episode explores a landscape that resists human presence: twisted geology, unreliable water, vanishing roads, and a silence that feels intentional. From Indigenous knowledge of the Swell as dangerous transitional ground, to failed settlement attempts, ranching losses, uranium camps, and recurring reports of being watched, the pattern is consistent across centuries. Nothing attacks. Nothing follows. People simply leave. This isn’t a story about a creature—it’s about a place that enforces boundaries and reminds us that not every mystery wants to be solved, and not every land welcomes visitors.

Episode Summary

Appalachia is said to be one of the most haunted places in america. Come with us and explore a Cryptid so Terrifying that it will kill you and take your place just for fun.

Join the Community

Send your own ghost story for a Listener Tale

Email: cryptidhauntings@gmail.com

Instagram: cryptidhauntings

TikTok: @cryptid.hauntings

Credits

Host: Michael, Chris, Mark, and Pam Gardner

Writer: Michael Gardner

Editor: Pam Gardner

Special Thanks: Thank you Tonya for letting us take over the basement of your home.