Black Star Canyon

California · United States · Road

Massacres took place in this Orange County canyon. Riders are described along the ridges, and figures walking a few steps up the creek before they are.

Black Star Canyon in Orange County, California is the site of killings that go back to the Spanish period and beyond.

The best documented is an attack in 1831, when a party of American trappers tracked a Shoshone or Paiute group into the canyon and killed them. That is not folklore, and it is why the canyon has the reputation it does.

What is reported now is Native figures on horseback along the ridges, and figures walking a few steps up the creek before disappearing entirely.

Night hikers describe being watched.

The canyon is reached through a gate on a road that crosses private land, and access has been contested for years. It is genuinely remote country, and the accounts should be read as belonging to the people who died here rather than as an attraction.

FAQ

Where is Black Star Canyon located?

Black Star Canyon is in California, United States.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.

Image: Hobart56 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons