Get ‘Creeped Out’ This Halloween at the Wolf Creek Inn near Medford

A rocking chair in the corner of a hotel bedroom is a chilling reminder of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, an image promoted at the Wolf Creek Inn that is transformed into ‘Creepsville’ during Halloween.

Isolated Location and Eerie Crops Add to the Ambience

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the inn is situated on three acres of isolated land 20 miles north of Grants Pass on the Applegate Trail and dates to the 1800s. Every October, its rooms are filled with skeletons, scarecrows, and pumpkins as the 141-year-old hotel waits to greet its latest crop of Halloween scare freaks.

The Wolf Creek Inn is situated on a heritage site near Medford and is the oldest continuously operated hostelry in the Pacific Northwest.

Site for the filming of an episode of the televised Ghost Adventures, the hotel is owned by the Oregon Parks Department and is managed by husband-and-wife, Nancy Davis and Jeremy Schainen, since 2021, during which time they have amassed an impressive collection of Halloween props.

On the exterior of the building, guests are greeted by a 12-foot skeleton out front, a 12-foot ‘Inferno Pumpkin Skeleton’ out back, and a carriage with a headless horseman in the garden.

Inside, guests must stay alert for the many skeletons lurking in the hallways and rooms.

Schainen says Wolf Creek Inn guests take dozens of photographs during their stay. ‘…they love what we’re doing…it brings them in,’ he says with a knowing smile.

A merchant farmer, Henry Smith built Wolf Creek Inn in 1883 as an upscale hostelry with separate parlors for men and ladies.

Initially, it operated as a stagecoach traveler stop and later for rail passengers when the link between Oregon and California Railroad was completed in 1887. By 1914, the Pacific Highway traversed the area, and the inn became a popular stop for motorists.

Interstate 5 Was the Hostelry’s Demise

But the advent of Interstate 5 in the 1960s radically changed the inn, suddenly bypassed by a quarter-of-a-mile. No longer visible to passing motorists, Wolf Creek Inn fell on hard times.

In 1973, it was purchased by a commune group that ran it as a commune residence, restaurant, and bar until selling the property to the Oregon Department of Transportation for $50,000 which undertook extensive renovations before reopening in 1979.

Famous People Have Stayed at the Inn

Wolf Creek Inn has provided a stop-off haven for several famous names. Heartthrob actor Clark Gable stayed at the inn while on a fishing trip to the Rogue River, while his wife Carole Lombard, and film director Orson Welles, also signed the guest register.

Another famous name associated with the inn is that of author Jack London who is said to have written the final chapter of his novel, Valley of the Moon, while staying at the inn.

Today, the inn offers nine guest rooms and while there may not be any television sets in the building, Wolf Creek does offer its guests modern amenities such as Wi-Fi and private bathrooms.

There is a small ballroom and grounds that can be rented for private functions. Wolf Creek also has a small museum, a restaurant, and a bar.