The Niles Canyon ghost is a popular story that belongs to a group of tales called the vanishing hitchhiker. This story is about the ghost of a girl who died in a car accident. The accident is said to have happened on February 28, but the year is not always the same. The ghost is believed to appear on that day every year, walking along the road and looking for someone to give her a ride to San Francisco.

One version of the story says the girl died in a car crash on Niles Canyon Road, which is part of California State Route 84, near the 680 freeway in Sunol, California. She was on her way back from a dance when the accident happened. Some people say she can be seen waiting at the corner where she died at midnight. Drivers who travel alone on the road are said to stop and offer her a ride. She accepts and tells the driver to take her to an address across a bridge, either the Dumbarton or Bay Bridge, depending on the story. When the driver reaches the start of the bridge, the girl disappears. In some versions of the story, someone who visits the address the girl gave is told by her mother that the girl died many years ago.

Another version of the story describes the ghost as a White Lady who died in a carriage accident 100 years earlier.