FEEDING HILLS – With the familiar sound of crisp leaves rustling in the cool breeze, pumpkin patches overflowing with children in search of the perfect pumpkin and tree branches weighed down by apples that are fresh and ready to be picked, fall has quickly crept up this year. This is the first week of October, and in honor of the spooky season, the Reminder Publishing staff decided to start a new series for the entirety of the month: traveling to and writing about the spooky locations in our circulation area.

While there are some locations in Western Mass that are known for being spooky, for example, Hampden’s Rock–A–Dundee Rd., which we will be traveling to later in the month, we had to dig in online forums and Google locations for others. Kicking off the launch of our new Agawam/West Springfield edition of The Reminder, it felt only right that we begin our search for a haunted location in one of the two towns.

Agawam residents: rest easy. It was a challenge to find anything spooky in your town. However, upon a lengthy Google search, one location in Feeding Hills was reported as haunted.

Though commonly used for hiking, mountain biking and recreational sporting events, Robinson State Park is rumored to be haunted. According to theshadowlands.net, there have been reports of playful laughing and dancing of children with no children in sight. Additionally, there have been sightings of a beautiful woman standing on a bridge at night.

In an attempt to find more information and sightings at the park, Assistant Editor Jordan Houston, Staff Writer Stephanie Trombley and I poured over our computers for a few hours with no luck. We would just have to conduct our own investigation.

In the name of journalism, on Sept. 29 the three of us set out to Robinson State Park in the late afternoon to take photos of the grounds. None of us had been to the park before, and after finding a gated entrance off North St., we began our trek into the heavily wooded forest.

As we chatted and walked, we laughed that we were on a ghost hunt. Leaves crunched beneath our feet and we waved hello to passersby who were spending their afternoons hiking with their dogs. This park was way too peaceful to be haunted.

We noticed a sign in the distance and were hoping for a trail map so we could find our way around the park. While the sign didn’t have a map, it read “Gates Close 4 p.m.” in an eerie, hand–written lettering. Next to the closing sign there was a white, laminated paper that stated, “Attention: Several bears have been spotted recently, including a mother with cubs. Use caution while hiking trails and roadways.”

Well. We were no longer scared of ghosts. We were simply scared of bears.

As we walked a bit deeper on the paved trails we noticed a stream flowing, and off in the distance, a bridge. Was this the bridge that a woman–like figure was spotted?

We paused on our walk and took a few photos of the bridge, examining our surroundings. Aside from a little graffiti that had been painted on the lower cement section of it, the bridge seemed peaceful with the stream flowing beneath it.

Knowing we were going to have more walking to do later in the evening, we decided to walk back to our cars and buy dinner at Agawam’s E.B’s to bide time for nightfall. Over wings, we debated bailing on our evening return to Robinson State Park. Were we really going to walk around in the dark with ghosts? Or worse–bears?

Around 7 p.m. we ventured back to the park. We parked our vehicles, checked that our iPhones were fully charged (shoutout to Apple for installing flashlights on iPhones,) grabbed our car keys and locked our doors behind us.

Meandering down the trail once more felt slightly different this go around. I looked over my shoulder more than once to be sure we weren’t being followed, and I noticed there was a certain level of tension in the air. The chattiness we had displayed earlier in the day on our walk was gone, and was replaced with our quiet whispers that peeped out occasionally as we made our ways through the dense woodsy forest. When we were walking in the daylight, Jordan had commented that I walk at a fast pace. In the evening, however, she didn’t ask for me to slow down, and instead was keeping right up to speed.

As we approached the same bridge we had stood at just a few hours before, it appeared a bit more intimidating. Gone was the bright sunshine that illuminated the water and walkway, and in its place, was a dimly lit bridge with creaky wooden boards that eked a screeching sound with each step as we crossed. A chill ran through my spine as we crossed the bridge without a spirit in sight.

Earlier in the day, Stephanie had told us that she packed sage spray as a sort of “spiritual protectant.” We paused next to the bridge so she could pull it out of her backpack, and as unbelievable as it sounds, the spray was mysteriously gone. As I’m writing this days later, Stephanie still has not found the spray.

Sufficiently scared, we decided that 45 minutes in the woods was enough time for us. We turned on our heels and started our walk back, noticeably at a faster clip than before, though none of us spoke of it out loud. With every step our ears were alert. Cracks of branches being broken in the distance, most likely by animals, rang through our ears. In record time we could see our cars parked in the distance. We each mumbled our goodbyes as we sank into the seats of our respective vehicles. Immediately I locked my cars doors and began my drive home.

Robinson State Park truly was a beautiful hiking, mountain biking, walking and relaxing place to travel through. I enjoyed my afternoon at the park, though I wouldn’t recommend spending time there after hours. To learn more about the park, go to https://www.mass.gov/locations/robinson-state-park.