Pea Patch Island, sitting in the middle of the Delaware River, holds one of America's eeriest historic sites. Fort Delaware, a granite and brick fortress completed in 1859 and once the largest fort in the country, was built to stop enemy ships reaching Wilmington and Philadelphia. Its most notorious chapter came during the Civil War, when it became a Union prison holding more than 33,000 Confederate soldiers over the course of the conflict — at times over 12,000 at once. Conditions were brutal: roughly 2,500 prisoners died from disease and extremes of heat and cold, and the fort's commander, Brigadier General Albin F. Schoepf, earned the nickname General Terror. That history has made it a fixture of paranormal TV, with appearances on Ghost Hunters and Most Haunted.
Today it's a state park, reachable only by a short ferry from Delaware City, Delaware or from the New Jersey side. Standard adult tickets cost $15 and cover both entry and the boat ride. A tram crosses the island's marshland to the fort itself, where costumed interpreters bring the restored barracks and soldiers' quarters to life. You can climb the ramparts for cannon demonstrations, then wind down with a walk on the Prison Camp Trail.
Come October, the fort leans into its reputation. On selected evenings, Diamond State Ghost Investigators run three-hour paranormal tours through areas where visitors have reported activity, priced at $40. For dedicated ghost hunters there's a five-hour investigation on Halloween itself at $100. Both are limited-capacity and must be booked ahead, and participants need to be 13 or older.
There's more to the 248-acre island than spooks. Woods of red maple, sweetgum, sassafras and quaking aspen put on solid autumn colour, and the surrounding wetlands host one of the East Coast's major bird nesting sites. A protected heronry can't be entered, but an overlook gives views of herons, egrets and glossy ibis — the island is Delaware's only known breeding ground for cattle egrets and little blue herons. Pack a picnic, as there's no café on the island.
For a full day, cross to the New Jersey side. Fort Mott State Park, open year-round and free, sits opposite, and the ferry connects you to Finn's Point Cemetery, where an 85-foot monument carries the names of 2,436 soldiers who died at Fort Delaware. Next door, Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge offers forest and marsh trails that are especially good for fall foliage and frog-and-birdsong spotting. Back on the Delaware shore, Fort DuPont — the third fort in the river's defensive chain — is also a state park, and Lums Pond adds more outdoor options nearby.
This one suits history buffs, birders and anyone after a Halloween-adjacent trip that isn't just a haunted house attraction. The catch: the fort itself closes at the end of September, so leaf-peeping combined with daytime visits happens in early autumn, while the ghost tours are your only route inside in October.
