5 Haunted Places and Scary Places in Baguio That You Can Visit

Where: Loakan Road, Baguio City, Benguet

Estimated travel time: From the city center, 15-20 minutes via commute, 5-10 minutes via private car

The list starts with one of the most haunted places where the infamous paranormal beings of Baguio, the white lady that is believed to reside along Loakan Road. The 6.2-kilometer stretch of these scary place in Baguio lends motorists access from the city center to sites like the Philippine Military Academy and Loakan Airport, as well as a couple of WWII cemeteries.

It isn’t as smooth of a drive at night as it is during the day, though. For one locals believed that decades ago, amidst the unlit turns of Loakan Road, a white lady lives in a pine tree that stood dead center of the road, flagging down motorists to ride with them or claiming the lives of drunken or careless drivers who couldn’t dodge the hulking tree. They claimed that the lady was raped and then grisly hung from that very tree. Today, the tree is nowhere to be seen, but stories say that during the 1990s, when the local government tried to cut it down to curb accidents, anyone who attempted the act got terribly ill, or even died gruesome deaths that make these haunted place in Baguio a lot more scarier.

Tip: Don’t drive down Loakan Road alone! Scary or not, your safety is of the utmost concern here, since the road is unlit and has moderately sharp turns that looks over steep gorges.

How to get to Loakan Road: via commute: From the city center, there is a jeepney terminal across Tiong-San Department Store along Harrison Road that has routes bound for Scout Barrio or Kias-PMA that pass by Loakan Road; via private car: From the city center, Loakan Road is accessible by taking the rotunda from Kisad Road or General Pack Road and exiting onto Kennon Road, turning left onto Military Cutoff Road, then heading towards Loakan Road, or by taking the rotunda from Upper Session Road or South Drive and exiting straight to Loakan Road.

Where: 8 South Drive, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, Benguet

Estimated travel time: From the city center, 30-40 minutes via commute, 15-20 minutes via private car

Further up Loakan Road, along South Drive, used to stand the majestic Hyatt Terraces Hotel, now reduced to ruins after the devastating earthquake that hit Baguio back in 1990.

According to those who lived to tell the tale that it was the scariest place when the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit at exactly 4:26 on July 16, the earth below the building split in half and all twelve stories of the hotel quickly collapsed. Ceilings caved in, instantly killing everyone underneath them. At least 500 people died, with many more trapped beneath the rubble and forced to wait for rescue, often to no avail.

Today, the ruins of these haunted place in Baguio stand as a gated compound enclosing the remains of the structure, either out of safety or out of nostalgia. At night, when taxi drivers pass these scary place by the pedestrian lane across the make it a point to honk their horns as a sign of respect to those who perished; those who forget to do so, claim to see a mangled person crossing the road, as if still waiting to be saved.

Tip: Bring your own flashlights or other light source. Since this haunted place is just a gated area and a decrepit fountain, it makes sense that it’s abandoned and unlit, so proceed at your own risk!

How to get to Hyatt Terraces Hotel: via commute: From the city center, there are jeepneys bound for Mines View Park or Pacdal that passes by the Pacdal rotunda. Alight at this point and walk towards Park Road, then take a right towards South Drive, the Hyatt Hotel ruins should be at your left; via private car: From the city center, you can take Session Road and drive southbound towards Upper Session Road. At the rotunda, take the South Drive exit and drive straight, the Hyatt Hotel ruins should be at your right.

Where: Leonard Wood Road, Baguio City, Benguet

Operating hours: Open daily, 7AM-6PM

Estimated travel time: From the city center, 20-30 minutes via commute; 15-20 minute via private car

Recommended budget: PhP1,600 for two persons per night

Along Leonard Wood Road stands the oldest building one of the haunted place included in this list: the Baguio Teacher’s Camp has more than a hundred years’ worth of history to justify its paranormal claims.

In January 1908, then-Benguet Governor William Pack received the clearance to build a training camp for teachers on an area that used to be called O-ring-ao. The camp opened three months later and was meant to be a training and vocation center for Filipino and American teachers. Through the years, however, it served other purposes: during the two World Wars, these haunted place served as a hill station for wounded and rehabilitating soldiers. Many of them couldn’t make it, which is why the place is believed to be riddled with restless spirits.

Visiting occupants report hearing footsteps or heavy breathing from empty rooms of these haunted place, relentless crying at 3AM, and the sound of chains being dragged across the wooden floor, as well as seeing white figures with bloodied faces. They are often told to just shrug it off, which is obviously easier said than done

Tip: Pray. Beyond just (hopefully) driving away the supernatural sounds in these haunted place in Baguio, praying also means paying respects to these spirits of soldiers who once lived there and served the country.

How to get to Teacher’s Camp: via commute: From the city center, there is a jeepney terminal located along Lower Mabini Street that you can reach by turning right from BPI-Harrison Road or left from Jollibee on Session Road. These jeepneys going to Mines View Park, Pacdal, or Beckel pass by Teacher’s Camp; via private car: From the city center, you can reach Teacher’s Camp by driving southbound through either Session Road or General Luna Road, and then turning left towards Leonard Wood Road, or by taking the rotunda from Kisad Road and exiting towards T.M. Kalaw Street, turning left onto Upper Session Road, right onto North Drive, and left towards Leonard Wood Road.

Where: Upper Session Road, Baguio City, Benguet

Operating hours: Open 24 hours

Estimated travel time: From the city center, 5-10 minutes via commute or private car

Recommended budget: Approximately PhP4,000 for two persons per night

The oldest structure and haunted place in this list is also one of the oldest landmarks in the city: Casa Vallejo has stood since 1909, which means it’s been the topic of a fair number of frightening tales. In 1917, it was transformed into a detention center for German prisoners of war, and was a British and Indian refugee center in the 1940s, many of whom weren’t able to survive their wounds from war.

Today, there isn’t any hint of its wartime functions in this haunted place anymore. Instead, it portrays majestic architecture and houses many known establishments like the Hill Station restaurant, the Baguio Cinematheque, and the North Haven Spa.

However, the horrors of the past remain without rest: hotel guests reported hearing distinct moans and sharp sobs from adjacent rooms or seeing apparitions through mirrors or hazy figures descending the regal staircase while staying in the hotel. Many that stayed in these scary place would also feel like they were being watched from afar. It seems Casa Vallejo’s history keeps catching up to it.

Tip: You can visit the well-known Mt. Cloud Bookshop here as well, which features publications exclusively about its haunted place, including its ghastly past.

How to get to Casa Vallejo: via commute: From the city center, Casa Vallejo is easily walkable via Session Road going southbound towards Upper Session Road, or you may ride jeepneys and ask to be dropped off at Upper Session Road; via private car: Drive southbound from Session Road and onto Upper Session Road upon reaching the junction, Casa Vallejo should be at your left.

Where: Dominican Hill, Diplomat Road, Baguio City, Benguet

Operating hours: Open daily, 8AM-5PM

Estimated travel time: From the city center, 30-40 minutes via commute; 15-20 minutes via private car

The list of haunted places saved the best for last: before being famous as the Diplomat Hotel, the 17-hectare area was the lot of the Dominican Hill Retreat House, built in 1913.

During the Second World War, the Japanese secret police force Kempeitai raided the retreat house which served as a refugee camp at the time. They brutally raped, massacred, and even beheaded most of the refugees and the tending priests and nuns.

When it was reacquired by businessman and known faith healer Tony Agpaoa in 1973, he turned it into the Diplomat Hotel, a 33-bedroom accommodation for recuperating patients. However, it was closed down in 1987 after the businessman had a heart attack inside the hotel and eventually died.

The records also show that a fire broke out in the hotel, killing trapped guests and caretakers. One of them was also reported to have committed suicide by jumping off the rooftop.

Those who dared to walk these haunted place ruins report seeing headless priests, dark apparitions, the old fountain flowing with blood, or hearing agonizing screams, doors, and windows banging, and maniacal laughter. Good luck surviving this one.

Tip: The surrounding area of these haunted place is now transformed into a heritage park that closes at 5PM, so it is advised that you schedule your ghost-hunting visit ahead.

How to get to Diplomat Hotel: via commute: From the city center, walk towards the jeepney terminal by taking a right from Harrison Road at the intersection of Abanao Square towards Zandueta Street. Turn left towards Kayang Street, there should be a terminal of jeepneys that directly go to Lourdes/Dominican Hill; via private car: From the city center, head towards Bauang-Baguio Road then left towards Naguilian Road, then left towards Dominican Hill Road. Follow the road towards the end, as it will take you straight to Diplomat Hotel in Baguio.

Visit Yoorekka for the best places to go and things to do this Halloween in Baguio!