Haunted Vancouver: The Hitchhiker at UBC University Boulevard

Our latest in the Haunted Vancouver series takes us to the endowment lands of UBC. This story is widely known by students, however, many outside the UBC circle may not know about the ghost hitchhiker of UBC.

The urban legend has it that in the 1960s a couple got into an argument while driving along University Boulevard on their way to the main UBC library. It was your typical dark, dreary, rain-filled Vancouver evening. The argument got heated and the young girl got out of the car and began walking in the rain. While walking, she was struck by another car and killed instantly.

To this day it’s said that her spirit still haunts University Boulevard. Numerous reports by male students claim that they picked up a woman who handed them them a piece of paper with the library’s address on it. She’ll jump in the rear seat, and then quickly disappear. This has happened on more than one occasion.

There’s also been reported sightings of the apparition of an older woman at the UBC library.

Here’s a short film that dramatizes the story of UBC’s phantom hitchhiker:

[youtube id=”SB1GyW23vjw”]

The “vanishing hitchhiker” theme is a year-round staple ghost story, but the blogger at Ghosts of Vancouver says this one is all legend: “It makes for a good yarn at Halloween but there’s no truth to it.” Still, this tale has been going strong in Vancouver for decades now, and you could end up being the next driver to give this ghostly gal a lift to the library…