Favorite Places In Omaha #9

Going up there were 363, going down there's 17.  Weird.

If my top 10 list consisted of places that I actually like to go to and visit, then Hummel Park would not be on the list.  Although I love the woodsy scenery and being up in the hills, the place just kind of creeps me out.

But I love the idea of Hummel Park.  The idea that there is some place in Omaha that is haunted or possessed by some kind of evil spirit is just kind of a cool thought- as long as you're not caught there after dark I guess.  Besides Ray, Egon, Peter, and Winston, who doesn't like ghosts?

Maybe take him with you next time you visit?

Now I personally doubt that Hummel is really haunted or some kind of inherently evil place of course- it's your own fault if you can't count those stairs the same way each time, and the reason it seems to be a great place to dump bodies is because it's reclusive.  And the trees don't hang down because so many Black people were hung from them by racist mobs, but because they're on a slanted hillside (don't get me wrong, Omaha certainly had it's share of lynchings, sadly, but none of them were likely at Hummel).  As far as an albino colony, it's a fun story but come on.  I am a little disappointed that we don't have any Sasquatch sightings or Chupacabra rumors- or maybe I'm not looking hard enough.  But some stories say it's located on an old Native American burial ground, so it's got that going for it.  Which is nice.

Devil's Slide is another notable feature of the park.  Supposedly a bunch of suicides have taken place there, but I can't find any real evidence of it (those tend to be kind of hush-hush anyway, and often difficult to find much information about).  The Slide is probably the closest we can get to mountain climbing in Omaha (unless you count Dick's Sporting Goods at Westroads) and you'll usually see a few idiots clambering up it when you drive by (yep, I've done it).

Albinos from Hummel?  Or extras from underrated Charlton Heston sci-fi epic The Omega Man?

Joking aside, evil acts have taken place there, and a number of bodies have been found at Hummel unfortunately.  Hard to tell if the stories about people encountering Satanists are true, but I'm sure many different elements congregate there so it's not too far-fetched.  Can't say I'm really sure what constitutes a "Satanist" anyway but I hope my daughter doesn't bring one home to meet her parents in 20 or 30 years when I let her start dating.
 

Last known photo of my missing turtle.

All that said, the place does give me kind of an eerie vibe- it's probably just all in my head, but still, it does feel like something is amiss.  I also have a vague memory of my dad taking our pet turtle and leaving it somewhere at a creek in the park, which would be the first of a few pet abandonment incidents that my parents traumatized me with.

So while Hummel Park isn't exactly a place that I want to spend a night in, it's a great park to have and adds a bit of color to our city.  It's also part of my favorite general area of town, as this top 10 list will reveal gradually as we move on. 

If ghost investigations are your thing, here's a link to one on Hummel.  I have a real hard time buying into the orbs thing myself, and don't know if a ghost that doesn't reveal himself to the naked eye but shows up in pictures is really worth a darn as a ghost.  And here's a link that pretty well summarizes the more outlandish stories, while this one sums up the history of the place pretty well.