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.
