A haunted road ramble

WEYAUWEGA – There are two Marsh Roads in Waupaca County. One is supposedly haunted, the other is not. Both have sections of gravel and both run through woodlands. The un-haunted Marsh Road is a short dead-ender that crosses Walla Walla Creek and has a couple residences and some hunting retreats. It connects with Evanswood Road.
The haunted Marsh Road is on the east side of White Lake. On the north end, it connects to State Highway 54 and on the south end it connects to White Lake Road. At both of these T-intersections there are no street signs marking it as Marsh Road. It is very easy to drive past it. On the southern end, there is a metal pole that appears it once held a street sign.

The legends
• The Goatman, a supernatural gruesome creature, slaughtered two teenagers while they were making out on an abandoned couch. The “make-out couch” often is mentioned in Marsh Road folklore.
• A long time ago during Weyauwega-Fremont’s homecoming weekend, a girl hung herself wearing her evening gown. Her ghost—still wearing her dress—can sometimes be seen.

• There are reports of weird, eerie balls of lights, shadowy figures and what looks like glowing eyes—which could be any animal with light reflecting off its eyes but the eyes are seven feet off the ground. Also there are animal sounds made by no animal anyone has heard before.
• A landowner was going to develop some of the land and came upon some mysterious remains and thus, never followed through with their development plans.
• A biker gang dumped some bodies out there.
• Supposedly pranksters have dressed up in costumes, waited along the woodland edge and stepped briefly into the headlights of oncoming vehicles to terrify drivers.
• Also, local legend has it, that this was a popular spot for underage drinking and window-steaming relationships.
• The road is one-mile long according to Google’s map measurement tool but it seems longer than that. One legend is that if a driver were to measure the road by odometer going one way, the mileage does not match up when going the other way.

Road trip
Pulling off State Highway 54, Marsh Road is paved but there is no centerline or fog lines. The road is edged with thick stands of white pine intermingled with red and white oaks.
The pavement ends approximately where the marsh begins, a vast open yet claustrophobic mix of willows and tag alders and cattails. The gravel is hard-packed and the road is narrow but enough for cars to pass carefully.
There are numerous gates along the road with two-tracks leading off into the woods, presumably to hunting properties. There are many no trespassing signs posted along the road and deer-hunting blinds on platforms are scattered about. According to Waupaca County’s land records map, the entire length of Marsh Road has private property on each side.

About halfway, there is one rustic-looking private residence. It looks newly built and is well maintained and does not look haunted whatsoever.
Heading south, there is a stand of dead ash killed from the emerald ash borer. Almost eight out of 10 trees in this spot are dead. It’s a forest of skeletal decaying trees and it is both eerie and sad.
Past this spot, the landscape reverts back to a pine and oak woodscape mixed with cattail patches and floodplain forest.
At the southern end of Marsh Road there is a slight hill covered with a stand of maples with brilliant golden leaves.
Throughout the marsh area there are patches of dry ground with prairie grasses providing the kind of cover that pheasants and songbirds would seek out. It is a bird watcher’s paradise.
It may or not be haunted and there are no “make-out couches” but it is one of the best rustic and scenic roads for an autumn weekend drive in Waupaca County.