STATE FILE · NH
Cryptids of New Hampshire
What cryptids are in New Hampshire? The best-known are Bigfoot, Wood Devils and Derry Fairy.
New Hampshire’s high country – the White Mountains and, north of them, the thinly settled Great North Woods of Coös County – is the setting for the state’s homegrown cryptid, the wood devil. Told mostly by word of mouth rather than in newspapers, the stories describe tall, thin, gray-furred figures that stand motionless among trees and then dart away on two legs with unnerving speed. Accounts are often tied to old logging camps, and folklorists note that written records are scarce.
Cryptids reported in New Hampshire
HOMINID · 1958
Bigfoot
Pacific Northwest forests, reported across North America
North America’s most famous cryptid: a huge, hairy, upright ape-like being reported from the Pacific Northwest to Florida since the 1958 “Bigfoot” tracks.
WIDELY REPORTED HOMINID · 1920sWood Devils
Coös County, northern New Hampshire
Tall, thin, gray-furred figures said to slip between the trees of New Hampshire’s Coös County, a legend that grew out of North Country logging camps.
LOCAL LEGEND HUMANOID · 1956Derry Fairy
Woods of Derry, New Hampshire
A two-foot green creature with droopy ears and filmy eyes that a Derry, New Hampshire, man said he met while cutting Christmas trees in December 1956.
LOCAL LEGENDThe legends of New Hampshire
The Granite State also has a place in UFO history. In September 1961 Betty and Barney Hill reported that they were taken aboard a craft while driving home on U.S. Route 3 through Franconia Notch; their story, recounted under hypnosis, became the template for modern alien-abduction accounts. A state historical highway marker now stands near the Indian Head Resort in Lincoln. Four years later, the 1965 “Incident at Exeter” brought reports of glowing objects over the Seacoast town, which now holds an annual UFO festival.
Bigfoot reports in New Hampshire come chiefly from the White Mountain National Forest and the Coös County backwoods, where moose, black bears and deep winter snow can all produce confusing tracks and silhouettes. Skeptics also note that many wood-devil stories echo older lumber-camp tall tales told to unnerve newcomers.
Hotspots
Remote logging country where the wood-devil stories are set.
Rugged peaks and notches that generate most of the state’s Bigfoot reports.
Historical marker for Betty and Barney Hill’s 1961 abduction story.
Seacoast town of the 1965 UFO sightings and its yearly UFO festival.
Sightings timeline
- 1920s–1930sLogging-camp tales Wood Devils
Loggers working in the North Woods reportedly passed around stories of tall gray figures glimpsed among the trees.
- November 1948George Lavoie’s encounter Wood Devils
According to retellings, hunter George Lavoie saw a tall, horse-faced creature near his camp at sunset.
- October 1952A shot at Lake Gloriette Wood Devils
Hunter Robert Goulet reportedly fired at a tall, long-faced gray figure and apparently missed. Friends told him it matched local Wood Devil stories.
- December 15, 1956The Christmas-tree encounter Derry Fairy
A local man cutting Christmas trees said he faced a small green creature for about 20 minutes, then tried to tackle it. Its earsplitting scream sent him running.
- 1962 and 1964Letters to a UFO researcher Derry Fairy
Alfred Horne of Derry described the encounter in letters to astronomer and UFO investigator Walter H. Webb – the earliest known written record of the tale.
- November 2004Deer hunters’ sighting Wood Devils
A man hunting with his grandfather said both of them saw a tall figure with a long, pointed head that let out a high-pitched yell.
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Videos
ARCHIVE.ORG3:07
Patterson–Gimlin film (unedited)
Roger Patterson and Bob GimlinThe original 1967 Bluff Creek footage – the most famous and most debated minute in Bigfoot history. Marked public domain on archive.org.
ARCHIVE.ORG4:59
The Film That Made Bigfoot A Star
Oregon Public BroadcastingOPB’s short documentary on how the Patterson–Gimlin film turned a regional legend into a global icon – and the hoax claims around it.
▶ VIDEO
Sts’ailes Sasquatch Days in Harrison Hot Springs
Tourism Harrison River ValleyShows the festival celebrating the Sts’ailes people’s Sásq’ets, the being behind the word “Sasquatch” (no archive.org equivalent).