Hitchhikers Told Us Their Wildest Stories From The Road, And Reading Them Is An Emotional Rollercoaster

I feel like there is such lore around hitchhiking.

Some people talk about it with nostalgia, recounting a moment when they were helped out due to the kindness of strangers. Others talk about the extraordinary dangers and tragedy that can befall a person when they get into a stranger's car (or let a stranger into their car).

So, I decided to ask the BuzzFeed Community for their wildest hitchhiking stories . And boy, oh boy, did y'all not disappoint.

Many of the following stories left me shaken, not stirred. So, if you like adventure or, at the very least, enjoy reading about other people's adventures from the comfort of a big cozy chair (cough, me), check out these 17 jaw-dropping tales from the road.

And, warning: some stories discuss attempted violence and attempted murder.

1. "I used to hitchhike from my home in the Santa Cruz mountains to my high school in Los Gatos. A long-haired hippie type picked me up and started talking about all the missing girls from the area, how they were probably killed, and their bodies thrown into the mountain's gorges to never be found. I started freaking out, thinking this is it; I’m the next missing girl."

"Then he said, 'It could be me, but you're lucky I'm an undercover cop investigating this crime.' I never hitchhiked again."

—Tracy, California

2. "After picking me up, the driver diverted from the highway onto an exit towards a dark, forested country road. When I protested, he told me, 'I'm gonna take you into these here woods and have fun with you!' I attempted to jump out, but when I tried the door handle, it spun around, not engaging in opening the latch. He laughed and said, 'You ain't going nowhere.' I was terrified and sick to my stomach. I cried and pleaded for him to let me go; I wouldn't tell anyone. He ignored my cries and kept driving. He said, '...looking for a good spot,' when I felt a warm surge in my jeans. I thought I'd wet myself, but I had instantaneously begun to menstruate in a heavy gush."

"As a last-ditch effort, I showed that monster what was happening, and he was instantly turned off. He slowed down and let me out, threatening to harm me if I reported it.

I ran into the woods, thinking he would shoot me. I crouched behind a tree and watched him drive off. I was picked up by a bread truck delivery driver. He took me to the police station, and I made a report.

Six years later, I was watching HBO's Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer . There he was, on the screen, from an interview in a prison recounting his rape and murder conquests. I have forgotten his name, but will never forget the horror of his face and voice.

Later, I learned that women will spontaneously menstruate in times of acute stress. That is what saved me."

—Emma, Pennsylvania

3. "In the early 2000s, I picked up a hitchhiker. He looked like a typical tree planter, and they’re usually chill, so I let him in. He asked me for some spare change, and I gave him a $5 bill. He said it was too much, but I told him not to worry. In the end, he left me with his 6-inch hunting knife as a thank-you. It definitely weirded me out."

— jungumper

4. "I haven’t picked up anyone personally. But years ago, my college professor told me a story about a man in Florida who picked up a hitchhiker. The man described the hitchhiker as looking disheveled, ragged, and weary. The man managed to drop the hitchhiker off at his requested destination."

"Once he got home, the next morning on the news, he saw that they were looking for this man who killed his parents. Unbeknownst to him, it was the hitchhiker that he picked up."

—Anonymous

5. "I was a 19-year-old girl traveling solo and staying at a hostel on the North Shore in Oahu. Waiting at a bus stop, I saw a small guy being chased by about eight huge Samoan dudes, some armed with baseball bats. About 10 yards from me, they caught him and started beating him. Just then, a white guy in a sedan pulled up and jumped out. He was encouraging the group that was beating on the little guy. Just as soon as it started, it stopped, and the guy was lying on the ground, bloody and unconscious."

"The group walked past me, and the leader, baseball bat in hand, apologized that I had to watch what they did.

As they left, the guy in the sedan got on his radio and called for backup. He was a cop. As I was standing there trying to figure out what to do (I didn’t want to give a statement to what looked like a crooked cop), a middle-aged man in a van pulled over and asked if I needed a ride.

Given the options, I figured I’d rather take my chances hitching a ride with a stranger. He turned out to be a Mormon father and husband stationed at the military base. A super nice guy."

—Candice, 41, New Mexico, when traveling in Oahu, Hawaii

6. So, I've only ever picked up hitchhikers alone once in my whole life. I was a 22-year-old woman, and I was moving home before I went into the army. I was on I-40 headed home from Little Rock, and I saw a large sedan broken down on the side of the interstate. I get about 100 feet past the car, and there are 3 little elderly ladies all bunched up together on the shoulder, walking slowly to the next exit. I pulled over in my 1977 Buick LeSabre, full of my stuff."

"They came up to the car so slowly, terrified, peeked in, and saw who I was. The smiles on their little faces were heartbreaking. They were sweet.

I took them to the next exit and dropped them off. That was 1986. Never saw them again. Hope they got home alright."

— luneursa1

7. "I was picked up by a Department of Public Safety trooper. I thought I was getting arrested, but he just gave me a ride to work. I asked him to drop me off at the corner, but of course, he insisted on driving me all the way up to the store. My fellow employees saw me getting out of the Department of Public Safety cruiser."

—Chris, Texas, while hitchhiking on their way to work at a supermarket in Austin

8. "It was about 10 p.m. on South Lamar. A car with two men and a woman in the front seat stopped to pick me up. They were coming from a bar, and all three were drunk. They needed me to drive. Neither of the men wanted to get in the backseat and leave the woman with the other man. So, I drove to my apartment with all four of us in the front seat."

—Chris, Texas, while hitchhiking home from work at a supermarket in Austin

9. "In 2000, when I was around 14, two friends and I (all girls around the same age) decided to hitchhike to a town a few hours away to meet some guys we wanted to hang out with. We got a couple of short rides heading out of our town, and then a little further, we got picked up by an older guy in a cowboy-style hat. He was chatty enough, but we all had a creeped-out, uneasy feeling. He turned down a dirt road to the middle of nowhere; no one was saying a word; we then turned and said he could murder all of us right then and there, and no one would ever know or find our bodies."

"Then he tells us he won’t because he has a daughter, drives us back to the main road, then to the next town, and drops us off at a McDonald’s and gave us $10 so we could eat something and told us to be careful who we get in a car with. It was one of the most terrifying experiences.

I wish I could say I learned from it back then, but unfortunately, that same year, I had a few terrifying incidents that involved men and cars. It terrifies me now, knowing how bad that could have turned out."

—Anonymous, near Sudbury, Ontario

10. "I was hitchhiking home from school when a car stopped. I jumped in the car, and the driver asked where I was going. That is when I looked at him, and there was no steering wheel on the car. He had a huge adjustable wrench on the steering column nut; I asked him to let me out right where we were."

11. "Back in the 80s, I needed to get from Columbus, OH, to South Bound Brook, NJ. I hitched to the nearest truck stop on the interstate to find a ride. Not only did I meet a wonderful gentleman trucker who could take me only part of the way, but he called ahead to the last truck stop he would pass to find me another ride. The next guy did the same. They all treated me like their daughter. I arrived safe and sound."

—Anonymous

12. "The last time I hitchhiked was in college. I got picked up by a soon-to-be Academy Award-winning animator. He drove about 20 miles out of his way to get me home. Thankfully, I have never had a bad experience."

— laughingcaptain56

(Okay, but who was the Academy Award-winning animator?!?!?)

13. "I used to hitchhike a lot. Probably have several thousand miles logged that way. Twice, I’ve had handguns brandished in my face. Once, it was by three late teen types who also had a Wisconsin State Patrol uniform hanging in the back seat. They said it was all for their class play."

"Given that they were also drinking beer (the driver took the bottle cap off with his teeth and spit it out the window), I wasn’t buying it. I got out at the next turn."

— minichicken778

14. "One afternoon in the late 80's, I picked up a guy on my way home. I was having a bad day, and helping another person out usually helped boost my mood. While we were on a two-lane state highway, he pulled a knife and demanded I take him 50 miles out of my way."

"That didn't sit well, so I dropped the passenger side wheel off the road.

He freaked a little and told me to get back on the road. I told him to toss the knife, or we were going to hit the bridge that was coming up. Like I said, I was having a bad day. He said I wouldn't, so I pressed the accelerator down.

He said I was nuts and tossed the knife. I pulled back on the road and stopped, and he couldn't get out of the truck fast enough."

—Anonymous, Park Hills, Missouri

15. "Hitchhiked on Maui all the time in 2016! One time a mom picked up my brother and I on her way back from Costco with the biggest hot pizza I’d ever seen. She said, 'Oh, just hold that pizza box on your lap; that’s for my kids at home. You can grab a slice if you want!'"

16. "When I was a kid in the early 1980s, our car ran out of gas late at night on SR18, somewhere near the Tiger Mountain area in Washington State. It was just my mom, her female friend, her friend's daughter, my brother, and me. It was dark, densely wooded, and desolate, and we waited forever for a car to come by. When one finally did, we stuck out our thumbs."

"The truck pulled up, and a man with squinty eyes, brown hair, and a mustache offered to ride us to a gas station a few miles ahead. Just as my mom’s friend and I were getting ready to climb into his truck, a state trooper came rushing up, almost as if out of nowhere. The mustache guy took off, and the officer helped us get fuel.

Many years later, when the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway, was arrested, I instantly recognized the guy and called my mom. She had recognized him, too. It was Gary Ridgway who stopped to offer us a ride that night."

—Anonymous

17. "In 1973, I worked in Yellowstone Park, and at the end of the summer, I hitchhiked from Yellowstone to Minneapolis with a young lady with whom I had become friends who was also working at the park. It was the last day of August, and it was snowing in Yellowstone. No one was picking us up as most tourists were gone for the season."

"We finally caught a ride that took us to Gillette, Wyoming, but it was quite late by the time we got there. We found someone who directed us to a church that we were told would be unlocked, and we could go in and sleep there for the night.

We did that, and the next morning, we headed to the highway and stuck our thumbs out. We were picked up by a 30-ish guy in a pickup truck who promptly popped a beer at 8 a.m. We just sort of glanced at each other, like, oh boy, this could go either way . But we made it to Minneapolis, and I spent a few days there with my friend.

After several days, I hit the road again, and we both went on to live our busy lives without any further contact.

Until about a month ago, when this dear friend found me on the internet, and we started communicating again. 51 years later, she is still the most beautiful soul on the planet."

—Anonymous

I don't know about any of you, but despite some beautiful moments of kindness, the terrifying stories are enough to deter me from hitchhiking ever again ( unless extenuating circumstances make it necessary, "never say never," and all).

How about you? Would you ever hitchhike? Have you? Any wild adventures of your own? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and your responses could be featured in a BuzzFeed Community post. Or, if you would prefer to stay anonymous, you can submit your story via Google Form .

Some entries may have been edited for length/clarity.