A Journey to Ghost Road

Last week, Jason, Nathan and I investigated the tale of Ghost Road, a classic GTA ghost story. The legend originates in Port Perry, a small town located along the coast of Lake Scugog. The story is intriguing because it combines a reasonable factual background with a ghostly phenomenon that’s not easily explainable. Of course, we had to investigate it.

According to the legend, a man was driving his motorcycle south on The Mississauga’s Trail, a desolate dirt road near Port Perry, in the 1950s. Unfortunately, he lost control of his bike, crashed into a barbed wire fence, and was decapitated. (The details vary quite a bit depending on the source, but the basic story is consistent). Due to his violent and untimely demise, the man’s ghost allegedly haunts the road today. After dark, a mysterious white “ghost light” slowly creeps down the road. Some have claimed that the white light dissipates as it approaches observers; others claim that it turns into a red tail light, and accelerates into the distance. Some travelers reported that they felt that they were being watched by an unknown force. That’s a promising story, one worth examining on a lazy spring day.

We drive to Port Perry in the late afternoon, passing through several small villages along the way. The scenery is pleasant, though fairly typical for rural southern Ontario. Port Perry is small enough that we almost pass through the heart of town (the corner of Simcoe & Scugog) without realizing it. Although we don’t have time to explore the community, we stop for dinner at Crabby Joe’s (which, incidentally, does not serve crab). We talk to two waitresses about Ghost Road. The first says that she’s heard of the legend, but has never been there herself. The other told us she’s been there a few times, but never saw the ghost light. She also mentions that she got into a car accident the last time she headed there, and has never gone back. Slightly disappointed that the waitresses don’t have any interesting ghost stories to share, we drive to Ghost Road.

After dinner, we head towards Scugog Island (actually a peninsula), around 10 km from downtown Port Perry. We’re surprised by how quickly the scenery changes. The southwest coast of the peninsula features a beautiful view of sunset over Lake Scugog; a number of cottages are located along the paved, well-lit Island Road. However, we quickly find ourselves driving through a thick forest as we head deep into the backroads of the peninsula.

The Mississauga’s Trail is a barren country lane located deep inside Scugog Island. We arrive approximately a half hour before sunset. The short, narrow dirt road is surrounded by marshland and an untamed forest. There are no houses or street lights; the stop signs at each end of the road are the only sign of civilization. There’s a small, shallow stream running down each side of the trail. A massive swarm of flies circle around us but don’t follow as we slowly head south. We’re disappointed; nothing seems particularly “ghostly” about the road. To help pass the time, we sing Iron Maiden lyrics; it seems appropriate.

Within an hour, the sun sets and road is completely dark. Nathan and I explore the middle section of the road, which is a bit dangerous because I’m unable to see anything beyond a few steps ahead of me. This section has a few interesting features. We find two fences—one is smooth and metallic, the other is jagged and wooden. Conceivably, either of these could have decapitated the motorcyclist fifty-odd years ago. The other side of the road features a large, barren field; we can see the outline of trees far in the distance but, otherwise, it appears to be abandoned. Although it’s not fenced off, we decide not to enter because it’s too dangerous to proceed without any light. Although we can’t see any wildlife, we can certainly hear it; a number of creepy animal sounds emanate from the forest.

We continue south along Ghost Road and find another large, wooden fence at the intersection with Pine Point. At the northeast corner of the intersection, we find the Ghost Road rock—a massive stone that’s been spray painted heavily. I wonder how long ago the rock was vandalized. I cringe at the misspelling but I’m glad to know that there are other people who (apparently) have found the legend as interesting as I did—at least, they found it interesting enough to spend a night out here. At the southern edge of the road, past the forest, we see some faint light emanating from Port Perry; otherwise the sky is dark and clear; we can see dozens of stars and a few constellations.

Unfortunately, we did not see the famous ghost lights during the night. There were a few bright flashes of light from roads perpendicular to The Mississauga’s Trail, but they were clearly the head- and taillights of passing cars. I’m a bit disappointed—it would have been interesting to look for a scientific cause for the ghost lights. (Indeed, the only genuinely frightening moment was caused by a few other “ghost hunters”, who appeared to be slowly following us down the road. Given that it was already late, we sped away and headed home).

With that said, I can understand why the legend of Ghost Road persists. The dirt path is on the frontier between nature and civilization—the road is completely dark, nearly abandoned, and features a thick, ominous forest. It’s an inherently dangerous place where the slightest sound or flash of light instinctively causes you to look around to ensure that there's no danger. At the same time, there are just enough reminders of civilization (ie the fence and the street signs) that prove that people have, in the past, lived and died here.