9 Haunted Forests That Are Home To Ghosts, Cryptids, And UFOs

By Kaleena Fraga | Edited By John Kuroski

Published October 30, 2024

Inside Cobb Estate, The Haunted Forest In Altadena, California

Wrought iron gates mark the former entrance to Cobb Estate, now the location of one of the most haunted forests in the United States.

The Marx brothers are known for their comedy. But the land they briefly owned in California, the Cobb Estate, is best known for the strange, paranormal things that have purportedly happened there.

Originally owned by lumber magnate Charles Cobb, then briefly owned by the Marx brothers as a real estate investment, the Cobb Estate in Altadena, California is now part of public land overseen by the U.S. Forest Service. And it’s allegedly the site of one of the most haunted forests in the United States.

Hikers who flock to the former estate have reported a number of strange sightings, including eerie blue lights in the sky, the inexplicable wails of disembodied screaming, and the uncanny feeling of being followed. Some have allegedly seen a “ghost in chains,” and an investigation by Los Angeles’s Most Haunted documented alarming spikes on an electromagnetic field (EMF) detector.

Altadena Historical SocietyA view of Cobb Estate before it became public land.

So what exactly is haunting the Cobb Estate?

Unlike haunted houses, which often have detailed backstories, no one is entirely sure what caused Cobb Estate to develop its spooky reputation. One rumor speaks of a nun who was raped and murdered in the woods; another describes a deadly location known as “gravity hill” that has been responsible for multiple fatal accidents after causing cars to stall.

These may just be stories, but there have been some unsettling discoveries at Cobb Estate in recent years. In both 2010 and 2019, for instance, dead bodies were discovered along the estate’s sprawling, popular hiking trails.

author

A senior staff writer for All That's Interesting since 2021 and co-host of the History Uncovered Podcast, Kaleena Fraga graduated with a dual degree in American History and French Language and Literature from Oberlin College. She previously ran the presidential history blog History First, and has had work published in The Washington Post, Gastro Obscura, and elsewhere. She has published more than 1,200 pieces on topics including history and archaeology. She is based in Brooklyn, New York.

editor

Based in Brooklyn, New York, John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of expertise include modern American history and the ancient Near East. In an editing career spanning 17 years, he previously served as managing editor of Elmore Magazine in New York City for seven years.

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Fraga, Kaleena. "The 9 Most Haunted Forests Around The World, From Transylvania To New Jersey." AllThatsInteresting.com, October 30, 2024, https://allthatsinteresting.com/haunted-forests. Accessed July 30, 2025.