True Scary Camping & Hiking Stories

The forest holds beauty, peace… and sometimes, terror. In this episode of Uncle Josh’s True Scary Stories, we dive into chilling encounters from listeners who’ve had terrifying experiences while camping and hiking. From shadowy figures lurking just beyond the firelight, to strange voices deep in the woods, to late-night stalkers creeping through campsites—these real accounts will make you think twice before zipping up your tent.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, campfire crew, Let's get it on scumbags on camping

(00:22):
trip by Snood Drawings eighty seven point fifty. A few
years ago, me and three of my friends, all in
our thirties and female, went camping somewhere near the Washington
Oregon border. We were van camping slash ten camping at
a site we found through hip camp on private property. Basically,

(00:44):
hip camp is a site similar to Airbnb, where people
who own land can rent it out or allow people
to camp in designated areas. The site we found was
in a wooded rural area near cow pastures in a river.
We planned ahead and brought kayaks and floes and planned
to float or kayak the river. We were all experienced

(01:04):
swimmers and backpackers and it camped together frequently. The place
we were camping was near a very small town, like
one gas station, bar, church, grocery type of town. The
land we were on was private property. The house was
on a county road, and you turned into the driveway
of the house and then drove along the driveway past

(01:26):
the house and then turned into a marked private property road.
After about a half mile or so of driving on
a dirt and gravel road, we got to the designated
camping area. There were sites meant for multiple groups to camp,
but we were the only people there that weekend. We
set up camp near the river and pretty far away

(01:47):
in the distance we saw a public boat launch and
swimming area. Our site was very remote, even though we
could see the public launching area, like if you walked
out to the river from our site, you could see it,
but if you walked through the woods to our site,
you couldn't see the river because the trees and a
hilly area was blocking us. The river was very calm

(02:08):
that day, and we found it was mostly waist deep,
in some places chest deep. You could walk around in it,
and the flow was calm enough that you could float
down and kayak back up without too much resistance. Once
in the river, we stayed at least a football field
or farther away from the public area and swim area
and just floated for several hours. We'd float down the

(02:32):
river and then slowly kayak back up, and we did
that several times, staying probably within a mile radius of
where we were camping. The public area stayed empty and
we didn't see anyone all day long. Because of that,
we all felt comfortable being topless, and we all took
a very low dose of acid earlier in the day.

(02:53):
It was so peaceful and beautiful. We left our swimming
area and went back to our campsite, probably around three
for some food and water and a regroup after a
morning of sun and microdosing, and then we went back
to the swimming area after that. When we got back
to that swimming area, we noticed a group of folks
about our age and the public area, swimming and drinking beer,

(03:16):
still about a football field or more away from us
on the other side of the river. The group was
a mix of guys and girls, four or six people
and two cars. We floated away in the opposite direction
of them and remained out of their vision, and we
remained topless. After another hour or so, and when the
sun was starting to move past the tree line and

(03:38):
the temperature dropped, we decided to float back to our
area and head back to camp. We noticed that the
cars we had seen were gone, but it looked like
a cooler or a case of beer had been left
on the landing. That also looked like there was perhaps
a pile of clothes now on our side of the river,
close to where we'd been launching our kayaks. Once we

(04:01):
got back near our area, we noticed one very large
man in the water from the waist down, staring at us.
He was kind of trying to hide, or it seemed
like it, because he was behind some logs and in
a shrubby area, and as we got closer we realized
he was masturbating. He was alone. We had no choice

(04:25):
but to pass him to get out of the water,
and very quickly and quietly we did pass him. As
he stared at us, still masturbating, he stood up so
we could clearly see his penis in his hand, and
we just got out of the water, grabbed our shit,
and ran back to our campsite. Since we were on
private property on an unmarked trail through the woods, we

(04:46):
thought we were pretty safe, and although super grossed out
about that moment, we tried to laugh it off and
made a joke about country folk. We got changed and
fully dressed, and we decided to hike around a different
We got in our car and drove like fifteen minutes away,
including the driving on the property, got to a gas

(05:07):
station and picked up some snacks and beer. The store
closed at ten, and the clerk made a comment about
how we were just in time as he was about
to lock the door. We drove back to our camp
and the summer didn't really fully set until around ten pm,
so it was now getting very dark. We started a fire,

(05:27):
smoked a join, and grilled some meat, and that's when
we heard rustling in the woods around us. Knowing that
guy had been in the water alone a few hours before,
we were super freaked out. We were questioning ourselves and
talked loudly about hearing what sounded like footsteps and branches breaking.

(05:49):
Called out to whoever or whatever it was that we
had knives and we weren't afraid to use them, and
then there was a male voice calling out for help,
saying he was drowning and needed help getting out of
the water. Now we were super freaked out because we
felt it was potentially a lie to get us to

(06:10):
come into the woods and for this person to attack
us or something. We called nine one one and reported
the incident to the police, and we yelled out to
the voice to tell them that we were calling nine
one one to help him. He called back and told
us not to call nine one one, but the police
and e mts and the fire department showed up. They

(06:31):
took our report and they brought water searching stuff to
get in the water and kayak around where we told
them we had seen this guy. They didn't have enough kayaks,
so we offered ours and they actually did use one.
The police couldn't find anyone and basically told us it
was our fault for being topless and we were just
asking to be looked at by the locals. They did

(06:55):
find some wet clothes and empty beer cans, and we
said we were concerned for our safety since they didn't
find anyone and we were worried someone was still in
the woods watching us. They told us they couldn't help us,
and then they just left. We all piled in the
van and tried to sleep locked in there instead of
in our tents because we were so freaked out. In

(07:17):
the middle of the night, like four in the morning,
the police came and knocked on our van and told
us they found the guy naked walking down a highway
road and they brought him home safely. We asked about
potentially pressing charges, and they told us they wouldn't release
his identity for his safety. The next morning, as soon

(07:39):
as the sun was up, we cleaned up and left
the site. We called the local authorities again to try
to continue to press charges for sexual assault and stalking,
but they refused to help us. We did search the
local sex offender registry and found an insanely high number
of registered sex offenders for that area, considering how low

(08:01):
of a population it had. We found a photo of
a guy on the registry that we were pretty sure
was the guy we saw that day, but because the
police wouldn't give us his name or info, we couldn't
do anything. We tried to report the incident to the
owner of the property we had rented from, but they
never got back to us, and then we tried to

(08:21):
report the incident to the website of the place, but
we got no response there either. We never used hip
camp again to find a campsite and haven't returned to
that area. It was a beautiful day marked by a
really fucked up moment. Looking back, I think that guy
was trying to lure us into the woods after it

(08:42):
was totally dark. I mean, the guy was huge, we
were all small women. Luckily nothing happened to us. We
were all fucked up and freaked out about that day
for a while, so gross. Cats Skills camping story by

(09:09):
Time Bodybuilder. Two of my friends and I were camping
in an off trail campsite and the Slide Mountain wilderness
area of the Catskills. We weren't very far from the
parking lot and only had a three person tent, as
well as a few extra bags of supplies. All the
food we used we put back in the car. Right

(09:31):
before I drifted off to sleep, I'd say around eleven
or twelveish, I began to hear something moving around the
campsite and the general area we were located in. At first,
I heard it distantly, if I had to estimate, I
would say roughly thirty yards from our tent. Occasionally it
would move in closer and then get further away again.

(09:52):
Whatever it was, it ended up brushing past the tent
inches from my face at a pace that felt like
a run. I was half asleep and assumed it was
an animal that was just highly nocturnal and scampering around.
I ended up going to sleep and woke up some
time later in the night to still hear the footsteps
very close to our campsite. After about fifteen minutes of

(10:16):
lying awake listening, I heard it brush past our tent
again at a pace that was once again similar to
a run. That's when I realized that whatever it was
was one hundred percent moving on two legs. Besides the
pattern of the footsteps, they were clean and there wasn't
as much foliage movement and shuffling compared to other animals. Yeah,

(10:39):
it was definitely moving on two legs and was person like.
My other friend ended up hearing it too, and we
discussed a few possibilities that still left us really confused. Obviously,
at first we thought it was a person. Whoever it
was definitely knew we were there, and if they were
some type of serial killer, we would been dead already.

(11:02):
We considered the possibility that it was just a freak
looking to scare a bunch of kids, as well as
someone who was lost in the woods and wasn't able
to ask for help. However, there were a lot of
things that didn't add up. If it was someone looking
to freak us out, we assumed that they would be
more forward in their efforts to do so, you know,
making weird noises, spending more time around our tent, et cetera.

(11:26):
The theory that someone was lost didn't make any sense either,
because the trail that we were camping on was extremely
popular for hikers in the daytime, and your odds of
finding your way back were arguably really good. There were
other odd aspects, such as the lack of any flashlight
or headlamp being used by whoever or whatever it was.

(11:47):
The moon was out, but the woods were dark, and
any regular person would one hundred percent needed a light
source to move around as effectively as whatever was out
there was moving around, the pattern of the footsteps indicated
that whatever it was was moving faster than a regular
walking pace. And mind you, I was hearing this going
on from roughly before midnight to right before first light.

(12:12):
It was all very inhuman. If anyone has any idea
what it could have been, please let me know. Voices
in the Woods by jazz Spam. Going back a couple

(12:37):
of decades or so, I was living in London and
would make a hiking or camping trip every six or
eight weeks as a way to deal with living in
the middle of the city. One time a friend asked
to come along, so he and I went to the
New Forest in the southwest of England. The New Forest
isn't actually new at all the same way New College
of Oxford University is anything but new. It has some

(13:01):
of the few areas of ancient forests that are left
in the UK. We were walking around on all of
these well managed pathways, and when it got to mid afternoon,
we thought, let's head off the tracks, get into the
actual woodland, and then find a spot to camp. I
took a compass bearing and we turned off the path
and headed directly into the woods, making our way through

(13:24):
the trees and ferns for about a mile. I had
the most curious sensation go through me. I stopped and
turned to my buddy and said, listen. The forest had
suddenly gone completely silent. No birds song, no sound at all,
not even the leaves rustling in the breeze. I stood

(13:46):
there for a moment, my hand on my buddy's shoulder,
trying to figure out what was occurring. I eventually shrugged
and decided whatever it was would just have to be.
The sensation wasn't threatening, but more curious that feeling of curiosity.
About two or three hundred yards further we found an
ideal spot for camp. A large clearing, broadly circular in shape,

(14:10):
plenty of space to set up camp and also have
a small fire. It was spring in the UK, so
it was safe to do. So we put our tents
together and then I dug a fire pit while my
pals started gathering wood. There were even some logs we
could use for seats too, and pretty soon we had
a really comfortable set up. Night drew in and the

(14:32):
fire was going nicely. We got some dinner down us
and out came a bottle of black Label. We were
drinking and sharing stories and having completely forgotten anything about
that curious feeling we had earlier. Time went on. We
were getting tired, so we decided to call it a night.
We stomped out the fire and peed on it, and

(14:53):
then poured plenty of water on it, then threw a
load of soil on it, and kicked it around to
make sure that it was out. We said good night
and both went into our tents and laid our heads down.
I should mention it usually takes me a while to
get to sleep the first couple of days camping, and
maybe it was the whisky, but I was out like

(15:14):
a light the instant my head was down. The first
time I woke up, I could hear yelling a man's
voice from far away, far beyond the direction of my
buddy's tent. I couldn't make out any words and the
voice coming from far away, but I could tell from
the tone that it wasn't distress. I don't know why.

(15:38):
I dismissed it as just interesting and nothing to worry about. Huh,
That's what I did, and I went right back to sleep.
The second time I woke up, I could see a
ball of bright white light shining through the material of
my tent. It was slightly larger than a tennis ball,
and in my estimation, about twenty yards away on the

(15:59):
opposite side of the clearing. Then it traveled in a
perfect line, perfectly flat, in a linear direction from left
to right. It wasn't bobbing up and down like a
torch being carried. It moved in a flat line, just
gliding along. Again, that curious feeling went through me, and

(16:20):
as I knew it was there, I sensed that it
knew I was where I was. I reached for the
zipper of my tent to open it up and take
a look, when a voice in my head said, don't look.
It was kind of the same experience that you get
when you're a child, and an adult warns you don't
touch something dangerous. I mean, not angry or scary, but

(16:43):
a very clear warning to not do something. My hand froze,
fingers still on the zipper, and I was looking at
the ball of light shining through my tent lining and
that feeling of curiosity still in me. Go back to sleep,
said the voice in my head, and again not in
a scary tone, just very much an instruction. I immediately

(17:08):
put my head back down, and sleep literally pulled me in.
It wasn't me falling asleep so much as sleep reaching
for me and pulling me over. When I opened my eyes,
it was daylight. So I opened the zipper of my
tent and the campsite was just as we left it.
Nothing changed, nothing moved. Honestly, I felt like I had

(17:29):
had the best night's sleep ever, and I still do
after all these years. Absolutely Daisy fresh bright, alert fully
arrested and energized. The zipper on my buddy's tent open,
and he stuck his head out, a big grin on
his face. Morning he called out, mornin. I replied, how

(17:50):
you feeling great? He replied, a big smile in his face,
and brilliant. In fact, I had an awesome night's sleep.
Me too, man, I said, And we went through a
bottle of whiskey last night. I don't feel hung over
in the slightest same here, he said, with a big smile.
I feel perfectly fine. I think we got away with it,

(18:13):
and he laughed. We clambered out of our tents and
got some water boiling to start a morning brew, and
had some breakfast. And as we were breaking down camp,
I asked him did you see or hear anything weird
during the night. No, I slept right through the moment,
my head at the pillow. He said, Really, there was

(18:35):
something really weird going on last night, mate, I could
hear someone yelling on the woods. My buddy looked at me.
Wait now that you mention it. Yeah, I did hear
someone shouting something. It was coming from that direction, he said,
and waved in the general direction behind my tent. I

(18:56):
heard it coming from that direction, I said, and pointed
beyond his tent. Did you make out any words? He
shook his head and just carried on taking down his tent.
I thought to ask if he'd seen anything during the night,
but decided not to. I mean seeing bright lights, floating
in the woods at night and hearing voices in your
head isn't exactly sane sounding, so I just let it go.

(19:21):
We set off and basically that was that. We grabbed
lunch at a pub, then back to our car and
drove back to London. I'm in my fifties now and
I've never experienced anything like that before or since. It's
still probably the best night's rest I've ever had. When

(19:49):
a peaceful hike turned into a police call by Blue
Moon twenty two. Twenty two, my boyfriend and I decided
on a Sunday afternoon to go for a hike, since
both of our schedules were free. The day had been relaxing,
just video games and lounging around, and now we wanted
to spend the rest of it outside. I pulled out

(20:11):
my phone typed in hiking spots near me, and one
in particular caught my eye, Lone Oak trailhead in Johnson City.
Something about the name intrigued me, so we plugged it
into the GPS and headed out for our little adventure. Normally,
we packed snacks, water, and something for protection, and for

(20:34):
some reason, maybe because we were eager to get out,
into nature. We didn't that time. Another thing we tend
to do, which might not be the smartest, is not
check the length or difficulty of a trail. Our rule
is simple. If we pick it, we finish it. After
a short drive, we arrived around seven pm. The parking

(20:57):
lot was empty except for one other car. Truly reassured me.
At least there were other hikers out there. The trail
wasted no time testing us. It was straight uphill from
the start. My legs burned instantly, and for a moment
I regretted my choice, but I reassured myself it couldn't
be that bad, just a good workout. Thirty minutes later,

(21:21):
both of us were drenched in sweat and our conversations
were just complaints. I mean, how much longer do you
think till we're at the top. This is ridiculous, it's
been straight uphill the entire time, and so on. After
more grumbling, we pushed on for another twenty minutes until
we came across an elderly couple headed down. We asked

(21:43):
how much farther and the man replied, about five minutes
to the first stop, but if you want to reach
the top, it's another half hour. I thanked them and
decided we wait until the first stop and see how
we felt. When we spotted a picnic table, our pace quickened.
By now, the sun was dipping toward the horizon, painting

(22:05):
the sky in gold, and we realized that if we
kept going, we'd be hiking back in complete darkness. I
hated that idea, but we also didn't want to waste
the chance to see the sun set. Against our better judgment,
we pressed on. By eight twenty, my legs felt like noodles.

(22:25):
I told my boyfriend to go ahead and check and
see if he could find another picnic table. Alone. For
a moment, an uneasy feeling crept in my mind flashed
back to a video I had once watched with my
sister about dangerous mountain people and the Appalachians, fearal individuals
who robbed or attacked hikers. I shook off the thought

(22:48):
as paranoid until my boyfriend returned and said he hadn't
found it. We debated turning back, but decided to push forward.
Worst decision we could have made. When we finally reached
the top, the sunset was gone. Darkness had swallowed everything.

(23:09):
It was eight forty. My boyfriend sat at a picnic table,
scrolling on his phone while I wandered a short distance
away to take pictures. I was murmuring to myself about
how pretty it was when snap, a huge branch broke
directly in front of me. The sound was so sharp

(23:29):
it echoed throughout the still night air. My chest tightened instantly,
and it was the kind of sound that didn't just
break the silence, it shattered it. My eyes locked on
the spot, heart pounding so hard I could feel it
in my ears. Then more branches cracked in quick succession,
each one closer than the last. Out of the darkness,

(23:54):
a man stumbled into view, moving oddly, hunched over, pacing
clearly on some thing. Hey hello, I called, but he
didn't respond. He just kept coming toward me. My hands
shook as I backed up toward my boyfriend and flipped
the safety off my pepper spray. My boyfriend called out, hey,

(24:16):
what's up. The man stopped, sat down on the opposite
side of the picnic table, and asked, do you have anything?
Everything about the sky was off, his clothes, a turtlelike
jacket and sweatpants. On a grueling uphill hike, his lack
of gear, his jittery movements. I stepped away, pretending to

(24:40):
look for cell service while he told my boyfriend he'd
been here for hours with quote friends, Yeah, friends. My
eyes darted to the bushes around us. Then without warning,
he stood up and walked back down the trail. No flashlight,
no goodbye. I called my parents, explaining what happened, but

(25:03):
the call kept dropping. They told me to call the police,
and I tried, but the line cut out again. That's
when we heard it, heavy footsteps, snapping branches, circling us
in the darkness. The guy was back. We couldn't see him,
but he could see us. I mean, the fear was primal,

(25:28):
predator versus prey. My boyfriend gripped a rock, ready to throw,
and I finally got hold of the nine one one
dispatcher again, my voice trembling and gasping for air as
I begged her for help, desperately trying to explain what
was happening. She began telling us what we needed to do,
but before she could finish, the call died again. I

(25:52):
was clutching my legs looking at my boyfriend. We shared
a glance of pure desperation and fear, and at that moment,
the air was still. Tears started to build as my
mind spiraled. I was thinking that would be the end
of us. We were going to be murdered or kidnapped,
or end up as another case on Missing four one one.

(26:14):
I kept redialing, but my hands were shaking so badly
I almost dropped the phone. Meanwhile, my boyfriend was scanning
the tree line, shifting his stance as something crashed from
bush to bush around us, always just out of sight.
When I finally connected with the dispatcher again, she told
us to start heading down the trail immediately and that

(26:36):
officers would be waiting at the bottom. We moved fast,
our phone flashlights slicing through the black void ahead, and
the darkness felt alive, pressing in closer with every step.
When we finally got off the mountain, we were engulfed
in pitch blackness. The circle of light from our phones

(26:58):
was swallowed by the night, and my breath came out
in visible clouds. But there were no cops, just the
faint red glow of my car's tay lights in the distance.
We rushed to the car. I told my boyfriend to
wait while I checked underneath in case someone was hiding there.
And thankfully there wasn't anyone. We got in and sat

(27:20):
in silence, dazed and confused, and I finally started the
engine and the only sound was the hum of the
motor as we pulled away. We didn't speak until I
finally muttered never again. We both agreed We're not hiking
again for a very long time. Hey, gang, thanks for

(27:55):
listening to this episode. If you have a true scary
story of any nature you'd like me to narrate, email
it too, Uncle Josh True Scary Stories at gmail dot com.
I read them all. If you're catching this on YouTube
and you like what you heard and saw, why not
give it a thumbs up. If you're not subscribed, why

(28:15):
not become a subscriber and leave me a comment. I'd
love to know what you thought of the stories. If
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and the description and get yourself some Uncle Josh or
campfire Crew merchandise. A link to my tea public storefront
is down in that description too. Everyone be excellent to

(28:36):
each other, and until next time, be wary of things
that go bump in the night. It could be anything
a ghost, a monster, or the guy next door.