TLDR
A lone oak in Basking Ridge has a KKK history, a death curse, and a ring where snow won't stick. Thrillist named it NJ's most haunted place.
The Full Story
A solitary oak on Mountain Road in Basking Ridge has a ring of bare earth around its trunk in winter where snow won't stick. A boulder a few yards off runs warm to the touch in January, according to local tellers. The tree is called the Devil's Tree, and Somerset County drivers park on the far side of the road when they stop to look at it.
The core legend is KKK. In the 1920s, Klan activity in north-central New Jersey was loud and public, large rallies, cross burnings, and in one documented case the interruption of a Protestant church service. The tradition in Basking Ridge is that Klansmen used this oak for hangings and cross-burning rituals. No court record or newspaper account proves anyone was actually hanged here. A lot of people have grandparents who told them it happened.
The other legend is simpler. If you try to chop the tree, or scratch your initials into it, or mess with the boulder, you die. Usually in a car crash. Usually within a week. Usually on your way home. Weird NJ has been collecting these stories since the 90s: the guy with the chainsaw whose brake line severed, the kid who took a souvenir chip of bark and drove into a tree a mile away, the farmer who tried to burn the oak and watched his barn burn instead. None of the stories are verified. All of them are told with exactly the same structure.
Thrillist named the Devil's Tree the most haunted place in New Jersey, which is saying something in a state that has Clinton Road, the Devil's Tower, and the actual Jersey Devil.
What you see when you pull up is a gnarled old oak surrounded by scuff marks and small offerings. People leave coins at the base. Candles, sometimes. Cigarettes. Somerset County has mowed around it for decades because nobody wants to be the landscaper who takes it down.
The KKK history is older and better documented than any haunting. The curse is cheap insurance either way. Worst case, nothing happens if you touch the tree. Second-worst case, something does.
The snow ring is there every winter regardless.
Researched from 8 verified sources. How we research.
