Dow Hill, Kurseong: Schools, Forest and Ghost Stories

The hill above Kurseong

Dow Hill rises behind Kurseong bazaar to about 1,900 m, some 400 m above the station. A road climbs from town past the post office and through a forest of tall conifers and broadleaf trees to a ridge where two old boarding schools stand a short distance apart. Beyond them the road continues through more forest to Chimney and Bagora, following roughly the line of the old road to Darjeeling that predates the Hill Cart Road.

For most of the year it is simply a beautiful walk: quiet, cool and often wrapped in mist by early afternoon. But Dow Hill has another reputation. Newspapers, television programmes and travel lists have called it one of the most haunted places in India, and every driver in Kurseong has a story to tell. This guide gives you both: the real history of the hill and the folklore, clearly marked as folklore.

The schools and the forest

In 1879 Sir Ashley Eden, then Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, wanted a hill school for the children of government servants of modest income, the clerks and railway staff of the province, who could not afford the expensive schools of Darjeeling. The result was Victoria School on Dow Hill, now Victoria Boys' School, built in stone in the cool forest above Kurseong. A girls' school followed on the same ridge in the late nineteenth century and grew into Dow Hill School. Both are still working boarding schools, and their chapels and long stone buildings set the tone of the hill.

The forest around them is managed by the forest department, and Dow Hill has long had a forestry presence, including forest offices and a small forest museum on the ridge. The museum, when open, displays timber samples, preserved animals and exhibits on the hill forests; opening hours have varied, so check current status before you travel. The schools do not admit visitors without permission, but the public road passes their gates, and in term time you will hear assemblies and games from the road.

The ghost stories, told as lore

What follows is the local story, told by drivers, shopkeepers and former pupils, not anything found in a record. The best known is the headless boy: a young figure said to be seen walking along the forest road and then vanishing into the trees. Some woodcutters and walkers, the story goes, have followed him a few steps before he disappeared. A second tale is of a woman in grey seen on the road near the girls' school, and a third of footsteps and voices in the corridors of Victoria Boys' School during the long winter holidays, when the buildings stand empty from December to February.

The stretch of road between Dow Hill Road and the forest office is called the 'death road' by some local people, and stories attach to it of travellers feeling watched or followed. You will hear different versions from each teller, and details change as the stories pass from one person to the next. We have found no historical event behind any of them. What is real is the setting: dense, dark conifer forest, a winding road with few houses, thick afternoon mist and, in winter, schools that fall completely silent. Those are reason enough for stories to grow.

Walking Dow Hill and on to Chimney

The classic walk starts in Kurseong bazaar. Walk up past the post office towards Dow Hill Road; it is about 3–5 km and 1–1.5 hours uphill to the schools, on a road with light traffic. From the schools, the forest road continues to Chimney, roughly 2,200 m, where a lone brick chimney of about 7 m is all that is left of a dak bungalow that local accounts date to about 1839. The full walk from Kurseong to Chimney takes about 3–3.5 hours and climbs roughly 700 m.

Many walkers go up on foot and come down by taxi or local jeep. A Kurseong taxi costs about ₹400–600 one way to Dow Hill, or ₹1,200–1,800 for a half-day loop to Dow Hill, Chimney and back. A few local jeeps run between Kurseong and Bagora via Dow Hill and Chimney, mainly in the morning and late afternoon, for small fares; ask at the Kurseong stand the day before. For a quieter night in the same forest, stay in one of Chimney's family homestays at about ₹1,200–1,800 per person with meals.

When to go and what to expect

October to December gives clear mornings and dry paths, and on good days the snow peaks show through gaps in the forest. March and April bring new leaf and birdsong. The mist that gives Dow Hill its mood comes most afternoons from April to September, and in the monsoon the road can be wet, the forest full of leeches and visibility down to a few metres. In December and January the ridge is 3–5 °C colder than Kurseong, close to freezing at Chimney at night.

The best time of day for the walk is morning, starting by 8 or 9 am, so you are back in town or at Chimney before the mist and the dark. Carry water, a light jacket and a torch. There are only one or two tea stalls along the way, selling tea and biscuits for ₹30–60. Phone signal is patchy in the deepest stretches of forest, so tell someone in your hotel which way you are going.

Visiting with respect

Dow Hill is a place where children live and study, and the stories should not get in the way of that. A few simple rules make a visit easy for everyone.

• Do not enter the school campuses or photograph pupils without permission
• Do not wander the forest at night looking for ghosts; roads are unlit and the forest is home to wild animals
• Keep to the road and marked paths; side trails are steep and easy to lose in mist
• Keep noise low near the schools during term time
• Take your rubbish back to town
• Treat the stories as stories, and ask locals for theirs over tea rather than pushing for drama

Combining Dow Hill with the rest of Kurseong

Dow Hill fits into a full day in Kurseong. Start early with the walk up, continue to Chimney if you have the legs, and come back by taxi for lunch in the bazaar. In the afternoon, take a car or a long walk to the Netaji museum at Giddapahar, a few kilometres below town, or go down the Pankhabari road to Makaibari tea estate. Finish at Eagle's Crag above the station for the evening view down the Hill Cart Road.

If you have two days, split them: Dow Hill and Chimney with a night in a Chimney homestay, then a morning walk down through the forest and an afternoon at Makaibari. It is one of the best short walking trips in the Darjeeling hills, and it costs very little beyond your bed and meals.