Cryptid

The Mothman Trail

A half-day loop through Point Pleasant, West Virginia, retracing the three sites at the center of the most famous cryptid sighting wave in American folklore — from the museum downtown to the abandoned TNT Area where it began, and the Silver Bridge site forever linked to the legend.

Drive11 mi1 day3 stops
  1. 01
    Point Pleasant, WV · United States
    Mothman Museum & Research Center

    A storefront museum in downtown Point Pleasant dedicated to the red-eyed, winged figure first reported by five witnesses in November 1966 — sightings that preceded the collapse of the Silver Bridge thirteen months later.

    Start here — exhibits, witness accounts, and a 12-foot metal Mothman statue a few blocks away.

  2. 02
    Point Pleasant, WV · United States
    TNT Area

    The abandoned World War II ordnance works north of Point Pleasant where the first Mothman sightings were reported in November 1966.

    Site of the original November 1966 sightings, on the grounds of the old McClintic Wildlife Management Area.

  3. 03
    Point Pleasant, WV · United States
    Silver Bridge Site

    The site of the December 15, 1967 Silver Bridge collapse, which killed 46 people and became permanently linked in popular folklore to the Mothman sightings reported in the same area thirteen months earlier.

    The bridge collapsed thirteen months after the first sightings — John Keel's book made the link permanent in popular culture.