Haunted Hikes

Blackbird - shiver-me-timbers! Photo by Kim Brown.

BOO!

With Halloween upon us, WTA set out to find some particularly spooky trails. It's really not that hard. Almost any forest hike on a dark and rainy fall day in Washington can give you the shivers, and not just the kind where you are cold. All of that drippy moss and old man's beard can give anyone the creeps if they are in a frightful mood.

What else makes a hike eerie? In a decidedly unscientific poll of hikers, we heard about thick dark forests, lonely lakes, abandoned roads and campgrounds, ghost towns, caves, and stories - fact & fiction - about the trail. Or how about hiking through a burned out forest? What's more spine-tingling - fresh charred bark or smooth silver stumps from some long ago wildfire?

One person's scary hike can also be another's happy place. Take Lake Janus. Guidebook author Craig Romano describes the hike as a "warm, inviting lake" within "deep, soothing wilderness." Hiker Kim Brown, on the other hand, notes that the name means "two-faced" and was spooked by the loneliness of the lake during a solo visit on a rainy day.

The Twilight books have made the Forks area a vampiralicious destination, and since the main characters are prone to walking in the woods, there are any number of haunted trails in the area.

And let's not forget about Bigfoot. Washington is rife with reported sightings of our elusive Sasquatch - the Olympics and Gifford Pinchot area in particular.

So without further ado, here are a few of our favorite haunted hikes:

Rockport State Park

Location:  North Cascades
Distance:  3 miles
Haunted qualities:  Thick, dark forest

Picnic table returns to the Earth - scary! Photo by Kim Brown in Rockport State Park.

Hike this park's 670 acres of old growth on a dark and gloomy day, and it might just scare your socks off. The tree canopy is so thick that only on the brightest of days does sunlight penetrate to the forest floor. You might consider bringing a hardhat too. The campground there, once lively, has been closed indefinitely due to falling tree branches and is showing signs of serious neglect (see the photo).

We've probably scared you off, but check out Craig Romano's guidebook entry and Kim Brown's trip reports to see why you should actually go hiking there.

Hoh River Trail

Location:  Olympic National Park
Distance:  1 to 35 miles, depending on your destination
Haunted qualities:  Bella from Twilight walks there! And maybe Sasquatch too.

Even without the Twilight books and Sasquatch sightings, the Hoh would rank high on our list of haunted hikes. Those trees are just so huge. And it rains. A lot. You can just imagine mythical creatures (fairies perhaps?) cavorting in the rainforest while you're not looking. Whether you go a mile or 35, this trail has some serious mysteries it is harboring.

Read about the Hoh River Trail in WTA's guidebook, powered by Mountaineers Books.

Iron Goat Trail

Location:  Stevens Pass - east
Distance:  5.7 mile loop
Haunted qualities:  1910 railroad disaster & spooky tunnels

Ghost train coming! Iron Goat tunnel photo by Alan Bauer.

The Iron Goat Trail marks the site of one of the worst railroad disasters in US history: an enormous 1910 avalanche on Windy Mountain that swept two trains off the track at the Wellington depot and into Tye Creek. Nearly 100 lives were lost. The old railroad grade and its tunnels were abandoned in 1929 in favor of the current Cascade tunnel, and what was left has been crafted into the Iron Goat Trail. When you're walking the trail, imagine being perched up there in a rickety old train on a snowy winter day.

Before you go, learn more about the Iron Goat Trail's history. And read about the trail in WTA's guidebook.

Monte Cristo - Gothic Basin

Location:  Mountain Loop Highway
Distance:  8 miles roundtrip
Haunted qualities:  It's a ghost town!

In the late 19th century, Monte Cristo was a bustling mining town of nearly 2000 people seeking their fortunes in gold and silver. They built homes, stores, a school and five hotels. A railway took the ore to the smelter in Everett. The town flourished only a few years before the mining industry started to collapse and floods restricted access to the area. By the 1930s, the place was abandoned, and today there are still a few structures and relics lying around to give you a sense of what this ghost town used to be.

Read trip reports from Monte Cristo, and consider a longer trip to destinations like Gothic Basin and Silver Lake.

Ape Caves

Location:  Mount St. Helen's National Monument
Distance:  2.6 miles
Haunted qualities:  Cold, dark and damp - plus, volcano

You can really pick any hike at Mount St. Helen's and view it through a haunted prism. With the volcano's history of eruptions and continued rumblings, there is certainly something otherworldly taking place underneath you. We choose the Ape Caves, because they're - well - caves! Any place where you need a flashlight to see your own feet rates high on the creep-o-meter. It's an easy hike to the caves (actually lava tubes), but make sure you bring a flashlight or lantern and a jacket to combat the 42 degree chill inside.

Read about the Ape Caves in WTA's guidebook, powered by Mountaineers Books.

Lime Kiln Trail

Location:  Mountain Loop Highway
Distance:  7 miles
Haunted qualities:  Old relics and your imagination

Imagine a grizzly old man with a red hot poker in his hand - creepy. Lime Kiln photo by Kim Brown.

We suggest you read Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Ethan Brand" before embarking on this hike to an old lime kiln and townsite. It's the haunted tale of a lime burner and is sure to set your imagination alight as you walk among the relics in this forest. Saw blades, bricks and more are all over the place, and the old stone lime kiln still stands today. Be sure to also read the historical information at the trailhead before you set off on the trail.

Read about Lime Kiln Trail in WTA's guidebook.