Haunted places guide · Arlington, Texas

Haunted River Legacy Park, Arlington: Screaming Bridge and Hell's Gate

A green, peaceful nature park on the Trinity River, full of joggers, cyclists and families by day. After dark, Arlington’s teenagers have been daring each other to find the Screaming Bridge for decades.

By The Haunted Rooms Team · Updated November 2026 · How we rate places

2.5/5Haunted Rooms Score

1,300 acresPark size

1961The real bridge crash

Our nearest ghost hunt: Hotel Metropolitan Meet the ghosts

River Legacy Park follows the curves of the Trinity River through north Arlington, a few minutes from Six Flags and the stadiums. It is a forest floodplain of bottomland woods, wetlands and prairie, with paved hike and bike trails, mountain bike loops, river overlooks and a playground with a life-size T. rex skeleton. The city calls it the crown jewel of its parks.

It is also where two of Arlington’s most retold legends are set: the Screaming Bridge, where the cries of girls killed in a crash are said to echo, and Hell’s Gate, a pair of old posts in the woods said to mark a place of execution. One of them grew out of a real tragedy. Here is what is known, what is told and how to explore the park yourself.

River Legacy Park at a glance

2.5/5
Haunted Rooms Score

Haunted reputation3

History2

Ghost hunter access2

Open to the public

Address 701 NW Green Oaks Blvd, Arlington, TX 76006 (second entrance at 3020 N Collins St)
Opened 1990, on land donated from 1976 onward
Size About 1,300 acres along the Trinity River
Most haunted spots The Screaming Bridge footbridge and the Hell’s Gate trail
The legends Girls killed in a 1961 bridge crash; executions at Hell’s Gate
Good to know Free; open daily 5 AM to 10 PM

Our nearest ghost hunt: Hotel Metropolitan Visit / tours

History of River Legacy Park

The park began with a gift. In 1976 descendants of Arlington pioneer James Gibbins, Berta Rose Brown and Margaret Rose May, donated 204 acres of river bottomland to the city. In 1985 Ryan Companies, Perry R. Bass and Texas Industries added another 171 acres, and in 1988 the River Legacy Foundation was set up as a public and private partnership with the City of Arlington.

The first 375 acres of River Legacy Parks opened to the public in June 1990. River Legacy Parks East followed in 1992, and further donations brought the total to about 1,300 acres by 2002. The River Legacy Living Science Center, a 12,000 square foot nature center with live animal exhibits, opened beside the main entrance on July 2, 1996, funded mainly by private donations.

Before it was a park, this stretch of the Trinity was a lonely floodplain of woods, country roads and narrow bridges at the edge of town. That is the setting of the real accident that became the Screaming Bridge legend.

The legends of River Legacy Park

The Screaming Bridge

The legend is told in many versions. In one, a carload of teenagers coming home from a football game collides head-on with another car on a narrow bridge over the Trinity and everyone dies. In another, girls driving home from a movie plunge off a bridge that boys had set on fire as a prank. Visitors say that if you stand on the bridge at night you hear girls screaming or crying for help, see a heavy fog roll in, and watch two sets of headlights approach from either end. Some say the victims’ names glow in the water below.

There is a real story underneath. In 1961, according to an Arlington Daily News Texan report of February 6 that year, a group of young women driving on country roads near Arlington went off a burned-out wooden bridge into a ravine, and some of them died; accounts give two or three deaths. Josh Hamilton, who runs Ghosts of Arlington tours, told WFAA that the girls were victims of a crime, and that the legend has distorted what happened to them.

The bridge you can visit is not the one

The graffitied footbridge that people find on the trails in River Legacy Park is not the bridge from the 1961 crash. The original stood less than a mile away at the end of an old road and no longer exists. The park bridge has simply inherited the name, along with years of late-night visits.

Hell's Gate

Deep in the woods, a trail lined with swampy ground and tall trees is said to end at two old wooden posts that once held a gate. Legend says this was the last thing captured Union spies, or captured soldiers, saw before they were hanged during the Civil War. People who find it describe voices on the wind, sobbing or praying, a sudden chill, and a red-haired man in uniform standing guard.

We have found no record of executions on this land during the Civil War, and the stories are passed on by word of mouth. Treat Hell’s Gate as a campfire legend, and stay on marked trails.

The hobo

An older Arlington tale tells of a drifter who hopped off a slow train, tried to save a woman being attacked in a parked car, and was killed for it, and who still knocks on the windows of couples parked by the river. Like Hell’s Gate, it has no record behind it.

Where to look

The Screaming Bridge footbridge: the trail bridge that has inherited the legend.
The Hell's Gate trail: a rough path into the woods said to end at two old posts.
The Trinity River overlooks: for the fog and headlights of the legend.
The Living Science Center: start here in daylight for maps and the park’s real natural history.

Visiting River Legacy Park

River Legacy Park is open every day from 5 AM to 10 PM, and the trails are free. The main entrance is at 701 NW Green Oaks Boulevard, with a second at 3020 N. Collins Street. There are more than eight miles of paved hike and bike trails, about ten miles of mountain bike trails maintained by the Dallas Off-Road Bicycle Association, pavilions, a canoe launch and the T. rex playground.

The River Legacy Living Science Center beside the main entrance is open Monday to Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM. Its nature trails are free, and its Discovery Room and exhibits charge admission.

There are no organized ghost tours or ghost hunts in the park, and it closes at 10 PM, so do not plan a midnight visit. The woods are dense and the river banks are steep and muddy after rain: stay on the trails, take a flashlight if you are out at dusk and leave before closing.

Haunted Rooms does not run events here. See our Texas ghost hunts page for upcoming dates in the state.

Visiting Free public park
Hours and season Daily 5 AM to 10 PM; nature center Monday to Saturday 9 AM to 5 PM
Tickets Trails free; nature center exhibits charge admission
Ghost hunting No organized ghost hunts; the park closes at 10 PM

Tips for your visit

Visit in the hour before sunset for the best light on the river and time to get out before closing.
Stay on marked trails: the floodplain woods are easy to get lost in.
Bring insect repellent in summer and watch for snakes near the water.
Pick up a trail map at the Living Science Center.
Pair it with Six Flags Over Texas a few minutes south, which has its own ghost story.

Go ghost hunting nearby

Visiting a haunted place by day is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through a historic building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and vigils, and gives you time to explore on your own. These are the nearest ones we run.

Hotel Metropolitan Ghost Hunt and Sleepover, Paducah, Kentucky: investigate Paducah’s historic Hotel Metropolitan, then stay the night.
Old Moore County Jail and Old Lynchburg Funeral Home Ghost Hunt, Lynchburg, Tennessee: investigate an old county jail and a former funeral home in the small Tennessee town of Lynchburg.
Haunted Thomas House Hotel Ghost Hunt and Sleepover, Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee: investigate a historic spa town hotel in Red Boiling Springs after dark, then sleep in one of its rooms.

See all Texas ghost hunts

More haunted places nearby

Six Flags Over Texas: the theme park with Annie’s ghost, a few minutes south
The Adolphus, Dallas: a grand haunted hotel in downtown Dallas
Haunted hotels in Dallas Fort Worth: haunted places to stay nearby
Haunted places in Texas
Haunted places in Dallas Fort Worth

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We collect first-hand accounts from visitors and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your visit. We read every story before it’s published.

Frequently asked questions

Is River Legacy Park haunted?

It is the setting for two well-known Arlington legends, the Screaming Bridge and Hell’s Gate. Visitors report screams, phantom headlights, voices and a chill in the woods. They are legends passed on by word of mouth, not documented hauntings.

Where is the Screaming Bridge in Arlington?

The footbridge in River Legacy Park is the one people visit, but it is not the original. The bridge from the 1961 crash stood less than a mile away and no longer exists.

Is the Screaming Bridge story true?

Partly. In 1961 a car carrying young women went off a burned-out bridge near Arlington and some of them were killed. The details of the legend, like the head-on collision and glowing names, were added later.

What is Hell's Gate in River Legacy Park?

Two old posts at the end of a woodland trail, said to mark a Civil War execution site. We have found no record of executions there.

What are River Legacy Park's hours?

The park is open daily from 5 AM to 10 PM. The Living Science Center is open Monday to Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM.

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.

About the authors

The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every place in our guides using official sites, historic registers, local archives and news coverage, and we report ghost stories as the stories they are. We review each guide regularly so you are not sent to a place that has closed, changed hands or banned visitors. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.