Taking The Challenge To Hunt Down Amarillo’s 7 Gates Of Hell

The 7 Gates of Hell come up every year around Halloween. People debate on the location of the gates, what you're supposed to do when you get there, and what happens to you once you finally do.

I took the challenge to hunt down Amarillo's 7 Gates of Hell. Here is what I found.

Get our free mobile app

What Are The Seven Gates of Hell?

The legend of 7 gates leading to Hell is one that is shared in many places. A Google search will bring up similar stories all over the country, and they all end the same. Go through the gates, and you'll meet the Devil himself.

Amarillo is no exception. We've got our own portal to the underworld to deal with.

Where Are Amarillo's 7 Gates of Hell?

This is where things start getting murky. I decided to check around and ask some people who have been here longer than I have for the location.

The most popular version involves following Western north looking for train tracks. Another, very adamant individual, stated that you could find it at 24th and Grand.

Gates of Hell at 24th and Grand

Let's take a look at 24th and Grand. If there are gates there, it's a little scary thinking that they're in town. Deciding to do a bit of research before I set out, I went to Google Maps to see if there was anything that looked suspicious.

Doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary there. Maybe that's the wrong spot.

Nothing there either. Seems like a pretty normal intersection.

Again, nothing out of the ordinary. Unless there's a tunnel entrance, manhole cover, or giant gaping hole in the ground that is somehow really good at disguising itself as a gas station or a bank, this is a bust.

Now, let's tackle the train track theory.

The Train Tracks On Western

This is the most popular theory when it comes to the 7 Gates of Hell in Amarillo. According to legend, you follow Western until you come to an intersection next to some train tracks.

Those tracks are the location of the 7 Gates of Hell.

Going to Google Maps, I followed Western north (the road to the left) until I came upon an intersection that...guess what...was right next to some train tracks.

Jackpot. It exists. Just like in the story I was told.

Now, I just had to figure out how to get there.

Just Follow Western North, They Said

I don't know if you've ever jumped on Western and driven as far north as you could, but it's an interesting trip. That is, except for the "No Trespassing" signs I encountered.

You can't see the gate very well in that satellite photo, but it's there. I didn't stop to take a photo because of the attention I had already drawn to myself.

Not to be deterred, I decided to go the back way. That intersection had a road coming from the east, so I thought I'd give that a try.

Changing my route in Google Maps, I headed back towards Dumas Drive and then onto the highway. I was excited as I eventually came up to the left turn toward what would be the start of a great adventure. Then, this happened.

See that gate? Want to know what else was posted near there?

"No Trespassing."

What is interesting though, is that there are some old train tracks way off in the distance. Could those be the train tracks?

I doubt it.

7 Gates of Hell In Amarillo?

At this point, I'm not convinced. I didn't find a way to get anywhere near what was described to me, without doing a hefty amount of trespassing. And I'm not talking about just hopping a fence. I'm talking about hopping a fence and then hiking for miles.

I'm not about to catch a charge all so I can go walk backwards around a train track hoping to meet the devil.