Shhhhhhhhhh! Did you hear that? Maybe it was your imagination? Or maybe it was the house just settling? It could have been the wind, right? A wild animal, perhaps? Or could it possibly be something more? Something scary, terrifying, deadly? What if it’s that thing from your worst nightmares going bump in the night while you’re home, alone, and vulnerable?
Boo! Are you scared? Because you should be. Or, at least, you should be if you’re a resident of Wenatchee, for in this quaint, otherwise peaceful town, there are nights when the city comes alive with more than just the sounds of nature. From whispered sightings of ghostly apparitions to overwhelming and unsettling feelings of being watched from the city’s shadows, the region is home to a plethora of spooky stories, eerie encounters, and haunted haunts that are sure to have you questioning exactly what, or maybe even who, you just heard. Here are three terrifying tales of Wenatchee’s haunted history.
Ivywild Inn
410 N Miller Street, Wenatchee
Formerly the Old Cherub Bed & Breakfast Inn, Ivywild Inn on Miller Street has long been a place of intrigue and spooky speculation. According to local legend, the harrowing tale that is said to have taken place inside the historic Tudor home was one of love and, ultimately, betrayal. The story goes that a man once found his wife being unfaithful in one of the inn’s rooms back in the day. In a fit of rage, a crime of passion was said to be committed as he killed his wife’s lover on the stairs. Now, it’s believed that “til death do us part” takes a literal meaning in the form of some rather ghostly activity. It is said that you can still hear phantom footsteps on those very stairs, and some visitors have even claimed to have seen blood stains sporadically appear on the staircase.
Iron Goat Trail
Leavenworth, WA
In the early morning hours of March 1, 1910, an unthinkable tragedy would stun the small, unincorporated railroad community of Wellington into snowy silence. Prior to this, nine days at the end of February, the area experienced a severe blizzard where it snowed every hour on the hour up to a foot of snow. In the midst of the weathering onslaught, two trains, a passenger train and a mail train, both bound from Spokane to Seattle, were trapped at the depot. By February 28, the snow had stopped and was replaced with wind and rain until the storm showed its full force. Lighting struck just after 1 a.m., and a slab of snow broke loose from the side of Windy Mountain during the storm. A ten-foot high mass of snow began its relentless descent towards the town, hitting the railroad depot where most of the passengers and crew were asleep aboard their trains. The impact threw the trains 150 downhill and into the Tye River valley. The Wellington avalanche would make a name for itself as the deadliest avalanche in the history of the United States and one of the biggest disasters in U.S. railroad history, with 96 people losing their lives on this fateful night.
Eventually, Wellington, after being quietly renamed “Tye” in the wake of the tragedy, became a ghost town, and depending on who you ask, the dead have literally taken over. Old tracks and snow sheds still remain, and one can access remnants of the wreckage by following along the Iron Goat Trail that leads to the abandoned, old Cascade Tunnel that collapsed during the avalanche.
Now deemed as a “haunted hike,” traversing the Iron Goat Trail is no easy feat as visitors to the site see firsthand the wreckage that remains 100 years after this natural disaster on the landscape. Old pieces of twisted metal can still be found in the ravine that the two trains fell into, and if it’s not enough that the debris from the wreckage remains, it seems that the spirits of those who lost their lives have yet to depart themselves. While walking along the trail, numerous people have reportedly experienced hands grabbing at them as they walk or have caught glimpses of figures lurking about in the shadows, while others have reported hearing disembodied whispers and even screams while exploring the trail and tunnel.
Hamilton Family Cemetery
10th Street NE, East Wenatchee
Just above the wheat fields of Douglas County sits a historic cemetery that marks the final resting place of some of East Wenatchee’s early pioneer settlers. While much of the early history of the Hamilton Family Cemetery remains largely unknown, county records note Steve H. Hamilton as the owner in 1915, with the earliest burials at the cemetery belonging to two infants who died in 1910.
After settling in East Wenatchee in 1906, the Hamilton Family would become important early players in the development of the community, with the cemetery marking only a fraction of their legacy in the valley. Eventually, this one-acre burial ground was added to the Washington Heritage Registry of Historic Places in 2014. Today, access to the cemetery requires permission, possibly due to a grave-robbing incident that was said to have taken place in the 1980s when some teenagers allegedly dug up a body. Still, the Hamilton Cemetery Loop Trailhead offers a spine-chilling walk against a hauntingly beautiful setting for those brave enough to make the trip. It is said that at dusk, shadows of people dressed in white appear on the northern hill of the cemetery and on the west side, there have been reports of a dark figure that wanders just outside the orchards.
As the sun dips below the horizon, casting long shadows across the valley, Wenatchee reveals a side that few dare to explore. Beyond its charming façade and idyllic landscapes lies a world of whispered tales, eerie encounters, and haunted haunts. From the ghostly whispers of the Ivywild Inn to the chilling remnants of the Iron Goat Trail tragedy and the enigmatic allure of the Hamilton Family Cemetery, Wenatchee’s haunted history is a reminder that even in the most picturesque of settings, the supernatural can lurk just beneath the surface. So, the next time you find yourself wandering the streets of this enchanting town, keep your eyes peeled and your ears open, for you might just catch a glimpse of something truly extraordinary.
Do you know of any haunted locations in Wenatchee that we missed? Send us your answers and share your stories with us at submit@wenatcheetalk.com. Your horrifying tales of paranormal encounters in the Apple Capital of the World might just be featured on WenatcheeTalk.com. And if you want to learn more about our region’s mysterious monsters and paranormal activity, uncover even more eerie details about Wenatchee in Fact or Fiction: Exploring Wenatchee’s Spine-Tingling Folklore and Unsettling Urban Legends.
