Steamboat Springs — The Western heritage of Steamboat Springs’ history isn’t complete without ghastly tales of mysterious events and hauntings.

Candice Bannister, Tread of Pioneers Museum executive director, said the organization is offering haunted tours Thursday for the second year in a row; however, the program has been moved from the museum to the historic Crawford House, which Bannister said would serve as the perfect backdrop for haunting and historical tales.

A school program will tour the house at 4:30 p.m., and the 5:30 p.m. public tour is full. A limited number of spots are available for the 6:30 p.m. tour. Bannister said the program is free and appropriate for children ages 8 and older.

During the tour, costumed figures and storytellers will share local and regional ghost tales that intertwine with West­ern history.

“What we found just through time here at the museum is that a lot of our oral history is recollections of other people,” Bannister said. “Legends and ghost stories fall within that oral history. It was something that was perceived by someone, and it becomes their story that they pass on.”

Bannister said the event would be an eerie but educational twist on local lore, including hauntings that have been reported at the Tread of Pioneers museum, as well as the Crawford house itself, where Steamboat founder James H. Crawford and his wife, Maggie, died.

Bannister warned that there might be a visit by the spirit of Maggie Crawford herself.

“It’s set up to be scary for Halloween, at the same time the ghost stories that have been collected from Steamboat and Colorado,” she said. “It adds a folklore element.”

In another family-friendly event Thursday, the Colorado Mountain College Residence Hall Association is hosting its 13th annual Enchanted Castle event. From 6 to 8 p.m., children and their families are invited to a safe, indoor trick-or-treat at Hill Hall on CMC’s Alpine Campus.

There will be games, prizes and treats at the free event.

Trick-or-treaters and their families are asked to bring a nonperishable food item to support the RHA’s Thanksgiving Basket project.

Haunted Forest open

For those in the hunt for extra thrills, Powder Room owner Scott Agnew has set up a haunted forest in the woods behind Safeway geared toward an older crowd.

A walk through the eerie forest complete with zombie scares and wandering ghouls costs $10 today and Thursday and $13 Friday through Sunday.

“It is a pretty creepy little spot just in the middle of the afternoon,” Agnew said. “I thought, ‘This would be an awesome place to have a haunted forest.’ So I ordered a bunch of creepy stuff to fill the woods with and got people to scare.”

He said the forest would be “pretty scary” and would entertain those with an appetite for the terrifying.

“I have no idea why people like to be scared,” he said. “I just think it’s just a great part of Halloween: the haunted house and the ghost stories and general creepiness.”

— To reach Nicole Inglis, call 871-4204 or e-mail ninglis@steamboatpilot.com