The Haunted Cobb Estate

Posted: 10.22.2024 | Updated: 02.05.2025

The woods can be scary, especially at night when total darkness prevails. It’s filled with unseen nocturnal creatures and the fear of people up to no good. Maybe that’s why forests have been discussed ever since ghost stories were first told around campfires.

The Cobb Estate and Haunted Forest provide another kind of fear altogether. The spirits of its former inhabitants haunt the crumbling ruins of this once-stately mansion. Then, there’s the dark and foreboding forest filled with mysterious sights, sounds, and an overwhelming otherworldly presence. 

Why Is The Cobb Estate Haunted?

Many believe the woods surrounding The Cobb Estate are a portal for the damned. That energy has created a spectral smorgasbord of activity. From Freemasons to vacationing nuns to the Marx Brothers, people have lived, loved, and died on the estate. Now, their souls are tethered to this spot. However, ghosts are far from the only entities roaming this haunted Los Angeles forest.

If you want to see what all the ghostly fuss is about, book a ghost tour with LA Ghosts to learn about Los Angeles’ darkest secrets. 

Over One Hundred Years of Ghostly Tales to Rely On

Cobb Estate’s history makes for quite a story. It’s a place filled with tragic and mysterious deaths, ghostly entities, and perhaps even extraterrestrials. 

In 1918, a wealthy lumber baron, Charles Cobb, built the mansion and estate. The two-story mansion overlooked the Pacific Ocean in Altadena, California, just a few miles north of Pasadena. The estate covered over 107 acres.

The mansion was eventually demolished in 1959 when the Marx Brothers tried to have the land rezoned as a cemetery. Nearby residents blocked the project because “the only thing worse for property values than a haunted forest is a haunted forest with a cemetery inside it.”

The property was eventually saved from developers by a group of students and became public land. Today, it is owned by the U.S. Forest Service. All that remains are decrepit ruins and crumbling reminders of a bygone era. Abandoned stairways and lumps of concrete now serve as the foundation for the frighteningly real stories of the estate’s macabre reputation.  

Out In The Woods, The Deep Dark Woods

The “Haunted Forest” is known for more than great hiking. It’s also one of the most haunted places in Los Angeles.

The woods, located on the fringes of the estate, are a prime spot for a mind-bending array of unexplained and unnatural activities. Some are merely sensations, but others are much more tangible; blood-curdling screams, strange lights, and shimmering apparitions have all been experienced in its shadowy embrace. 

Yet the forest’s picturesque hiking trails remain a favorite among hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. But more experienced adventurers know to take heed of the stories and warnings before they begin their trek.

The Real Scoop On The Cobb Estate And Haunted Forest

More than a century after the Cobb Estate was built, rumors about the land being haunted still abound. Eye witness accounts, police reports, and actual readings from spirit detection devices unequivocally reveal spirited accounts that can’t be brushed off. 

Hikers have reported seeing strange blue lights in the middle of the night, hearing screeches and screams, and feeling that they’re being followed or watched. Ghostly apparitions are also seen, especially near the mansion ruins. 

Ghosts of The Cobb Estate

A plaque at the entrance to Cobb Estate reads, “A quiet refuge for people and wildlife forever.” But forever has two very different meanings at the estate. Even those who don’t believe in ghosts or UFOs have to admit there’s something strange happening around the property.

People have experienced strange encounters while visiting Cobb Estate at night. Some have told of seeing a transparent figure of a little girl, sometimes accompanied by a ghostly man. Others have heard eerie screams and screeches. 

Witnesses have also claimed to have seen Mr. Cobb’s apparition standing atop the stairs that once led into the house but now lead nowhere. It’s said Mr. Cobb doesn’t like people standing on his steps, which may be why he’s keeping a close watch on those trying to enter his ghostly abode. 

This haunted Los Angeles forest’s deep, dark woods often deliver a night visitors won’t soon forget.

Numerous hikers have described how sometimes the forest suddenly goes silent, and they have the disturbing sensation they are being watched. There have even been reports of a ghost rattling chains as he attempts to feed off visitors’ life force. 

One theory on the flurry of paranormal activity concerns a rumor that one of the Catholic nuns from the 1950s was sexually abused and hung in the forest, just outside of the entrance to the estate. The ensuing Satanic rituals are thought to be responsible for the forest being damned.

Weird Blue Lights and Other Unexplainable Events 

Visitors to Cobb Estate frequently report seeing weird blue lights in the woods after dark. This has led to speculation that UFOs and extraterrestrial entities regularly visit the forest.

Others liken the blue lights to will-o’-the-wisps, the phantom lights of folklore. According to legends, will-o’-the-wisps were blue lights that entranced people and led them off the trail to their doom.

EMF Detectors often light up like Christmas trees when taken into the forest. In one instance, an investigator asked the spirits if they needed help and if there was demonic activity in the forest. The answer was an unequivocal  “yes.”

There’s a hill on the outskirts of the haunted forest where gravity seems to run backward. There are several stories regarding “Gravity Hill’s” ghostly origins. One story claims a bus full of schoolchildren stalled out while driving up the hill. The bus driver got out to inspect the vehicle, and the children wandered out into the street out of boredom. No one saw the car speeding around the curve before it plowed through the group, killing them all.

Another story suggests a teenage girl stole her parents’ car and took her friends out on a joyride. The car broke down, and the teenagers were on the side of the road when a drunk driver ran them down.

Regardless of which story is the truth, believers of either say that if you stop your car on the hill, it will appear to continue rolling forward. It is also claimed that if you put powder on the vehicle’s rear, fingerprints will appear as the ghostly children push it.

Haunted Los Angeles

The Cobb Estate is considered one of the most haunted places in L.A. It’s the kind of place where you’d better look over your shoulder at all times. But the City of Angels is full of other haunted locations, just like it. 

Book a ghost tour with LA Ghosts to learn more about haunted Los Angeles. Keep reading our blog for more real California haunts. Follow us on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram for more spooky content. 

Sources:

• https://www.weekendsherpa.com/stories/cobb-estate-ruins/ https://www.weekendsherpa.com/stories/hiking-the-cobb-estate-s-haunted-forest/
• https://historyenhanced.com/the-haunted-history-of-californias-cobb-estate
• https://laghosttour.com/ https://allthatsinteresting.com/cobb-estate
• https://www.marx-brothers.org/ https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=243445
• https://hauntedlosangeles.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-haunted-forest-pasadena.html
• https://www.pbs.org/video/will-o-the-wisp-monstrous-flame-or-scientific-phenomenon-dsugln
• https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cobb-estate