{"id":1593,"slug":"gerald-freeman-campground-sutton-west-virginia","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Gerald Freeman is the peeked — the 'ducked tree' that's the creature's move, the 'snapped back' that's the second look's find. The '2:30' is the hour — the 'fishing last' that's the night's plan, the 'walking heard' that's the sound's source. The 'matted grass' is the trace — the 'crossed river' that's the search's way, the 'only sign' that's the proof's lack.","The 'Braxton' is the county — the 'Flatwoods' that's the neighbor's fame, the 'cryptid rich' that's the region's make. The 'lake made' is the drowned — the 'Corps dam' that's the water's source, the 'Elk winds' that's the river's bend. Gerald Freeman is the camped — the '158 sites' that's the ground's size, the 'watching back' that's the treeline's feel.","The file keeps Gerald Freeman: the peeking creature, the fishing hour, the matted grass, and the watching treeline.","Gerald Freeman Campground is the archive's West Virginia file — the campsite where something looked back."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Gerald Freeman Campground is the archive's West Virginia file — the Bigfoot sighting in cryptid country.","A campground keeps its treeline — the file's suggestion being that Freeman's hold is the peeked: the 'ducked' that's the creature's shy, the 'matted' that's the evidence's thin, and the 'Braxton' that's the county's monster fame."]}],"name":"Gerald Freeman Campground","aliases":[],"type":"CAMPGROUND","type_label":"Campground","cats":["CRYPTID"],"groups":["institutions","unexplained"],"desc":"Sutton Lake campground associated with a 2003 reported creature encounter.","full_desc":"A campground in Sutton, West Virginia, Gerald Freeman Campground is filed here for what the record attaches to it. Sutton Lake campground associated with a 2003 reported creature encounter. The archive files it under cryptid reports. The dossier holds 1 reported claim, every one filed as account rather than fact. The site is open to visitors.","address":"1151 Kanawha Run Road","city":"Sutton","county":"Braxton County","state":"West Virginia","postal":null,"region":"South","lat":38.667772,"lon":-80.713461,"coord_kind":"CITY","status":"ACTIVE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":"https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233678","phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":null,"research_notes":"Discovery or enrichment; earliest report and independent corroboration remain under research. Confidence measures source provenance, not supernatural reality.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":59.4,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.85,"historical_confidence":0,"source_quality":1,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":808,"type":"CRYPTID_SIGHTING","description":"Visit Braxton republishes an account of a tall brown-gray figure glimpsed across the water in August 2003. Across water from fishing area is where the accounts cluster — the site's own map of where to look. Gerald Freeman Campground's file is thin on proof and long on persistence — the standard profile of American place-lore. It's a reported experience — real to the people who had it, unresolved for everyone else. 'Gerald Freeman Bigfoot' carries the account. Believers and skeptics keep the sighting alive for different reasons; both keep it.","evidence":"REPORTED_EXPERIENCE","evidence_label":"Reported experience","entity":null,"where":"Across water from fishing area","first_report":null,"approx_date":"Second week of August 2003","confidence":0.65,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Gerald Freeman Bigfoot","url":"https://braxtonwv.org/company/gerald-freeman-bigfoot/","publisher":"Visit Braxton, WV","type":"TOURISM","authority":3},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[],"legends":[],"entities":[],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"opening_hours":"Visitors 6 a.m.–10 p.m.","admission_fee":"Visitor fee $5 per vehicle; camping separately priced.","reservation_requirement":"Reservable campsites on Recreation.gov.","public_restroom":"Flush toilets and hot showers listed.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-14T10:36:20+00:00","source":{"name":"Gerald Freeman Campground, Sutton Lake","url":"https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233678","publisher":"Recreation.gov","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1}},"sources":[{"name":"Gerald Freeman Bigfoot","url":"https://braxtonwv.org/company/gerald-freeman-bigfoot/","publisher":"Visit Braxton, WV","type":"TOURISM","authority":3},{"name":"Gerald Freeman Campground, Sutton Lake","url":"https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233678","publisher":"Recreation.gov","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":1,"history":0,"legends":0,"entities":0,"sources":2}}