Williams, Arizona -
Haunted Caboose - Canyon Motel

Haunted Caboose - Canyon Motel

The Canyon Motel & RV Park provides the most unusual rooms I've ever seen. There are two train cabooses from 1929 and a rail car from the 1950s. Each of these train cars are now either a room or a suite.

To make it even more interesting, one of the caboose suites is certified haunted by a team of "ghost hunters" that were checking out the Williams area. Between the pros and past guests, there are some interesting stories. [Tina Sutherland, 02/05/2011]

Haunted Caboose - Canyon Motel

We stayed in one of the triplex cabins after spending the night in a wigwam in San Bernardino. The room was clean and the gift shop well stocked. We didn't see any ghosts. [Clare Pimental, 05/11/2010]

Haunted Caboose - Canyon Motel

The Canyon Motel is a sleep-in-a-caboose attraction, with two cabooses and a Grand Canyon Pullman rail car, along with more traditional motel rooms. In spooky Caboose #2, lights go on and off without explanation, and a spectral conductor has supposedly been seen swinging his lantern. A housekeeper has heard voices and whisperings of the unseen.

At least that's what the motel's official website claims. We haven't been here yet, but we've noticed more and more hotels -- caboose-themed or not -- touting their ghost inhabitants. It apparently attracts more customers than it repels. And ghostly residents are probably a great hedge against the occasional complaint for any roadside lodge.

Imagine this exchange with the front desk:

"Hey, last night it was freezing cold in my room, the TV remote didn't work, and there was a big stain on my pillow!"

"A thousand apologies, sir. Were you, perchance, staying in the HAUNTED CABOOSE?"

"Oh, yea, I guess. That explains it. Sweet!"

Note: The above scenario is not intended to suggest you will find any of these flaws at this particular motel, nor that their ghosts would engage in similar mischief. [Roadsideamerica.com Team, 12/30/2007]

Sleep in a Red Caboose - Canyon Motel

Nestled in a good old Route 66 town that serves as the gateway to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, the Canyon Motel offers folks an opportunity to sleep in one of two Sante Fe Cabooses (as well as several more conventional looking motel rooms). We stayed in Caboose #2 on our Route 66 trip (after sleeping in a Teepee in Holbrook the night before). Some fun railroad decor, like sign on the wall that announced "No Humping." [Kim Newell, 05/14/2005]