1912 Asylum Grounds Now Open as a Trail System and Ghost Town
25588 Helmick Rd, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public recreation area operated by Skagit County Parks and Recreation.
Access
Limited Access
Mix of paved lanes and soft surface trails through open pasture and forested areas
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1912 · National Register of Historic Places · Psychiatric History · Olmsted Brothers Landscape Design · Spanish Colonial Revival Architecture
Northern State Hospital was established in 1909 in response to severe overcrowding at Western State Hospital in Steilacoom. The facility opened on its Skagit River site in 1912, with buildings designed by the Seattle firm of Saunders and Lawton in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The grounds themselves were designed by the Olmsted Brothers — the same landscape architecture firm responsible for New York's Central Park and dozens of other landmark American public spaces.
At its peak in the 1950s, the institution housed more than 2,100 patients and employed hundreds of staff. It operated as a self-sustaining farm community, with patients working in the dairy, cannery, and agricultural operations that are still partially visible on the grounds today. The hospital practiced treatments common to mid-century psychiatry: electroconvulsive therapy, insulin-induced coma therapy, and for the most severely ill, lobotomy.
More than 1,400 patients who died at the facility were buried in a 1.5-acre cemetery on the grounds. The hospital closed in 1973 when the state legislature cut off funding. The Cascade Job Corps center occupied renovated wards from 1977 onward. In July 2018, the Port of Skagit took ownership of the property.
Northern State Hospital is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The publicly accessible portions of the site now operate as Northern State Recreation Area under Skagit County Parks management. As of September 2025, new trail construction is underway including the Winfield Trail and Quarry Trail. Active buildings at the center of the property remain off-limits.
Sources
The paranormal reports associated with Northern State Hospital distribute across multiple structures on the property. The superintendent's mansion has drawn attention for a bright light observed on its second floor by multiple visitors — a light with no electrical supply to explain it. The old dormitory buildings, even on the warmest summer days, are reported to maintain a persistent and unexplained cold.
In the nurses' dormitory, investigators have described faint voices at the threshold of audibility — not words, but the rhythm and cadence of conversation without content. The gymnasium, which saw heavy patient use across the facility's decades of operation, has produced reports of paranormal activity since the 1950s.
The most frequently described apparition is a young girl with a red ball. A second male figure — described as searching — has been reported in connection with her. A third recurring figure is a nurse pushing a patient in a wheelchair, observed primarily near the former ward buildings.
The combination of the facility's documented history of involuntary institutionalization, experimental treatments, and the unmarked deaths of over 1,400 patients has made the site a significant location in Pacific Northwest paranormal culture. The active buildings remain closed to the public, and trespassing will result in arrest.
A 4.9-mile loop trail through the former hospital grounds, passing still-standing barns, a milking shed, the old cannery, and other agricultural structures from the hospital's self-sustaining farm operation. The trail winds through open pastures and forested lanes. Dog-friendly with leash required. Active buildings remain off-limits.
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The Athens Lunatic Asylum opened on January 9, 1874, on more than 1,000 acres above the Hocking River in southeastern Ohio. Designed by Levi T. Scofield following the Kirkbride plan, the facility expanded from an original capacity of 200 patients to a peak population of approximately 2,000 by the early 20th century before closing in 1993. Most of the campus is now owned by Ohio University.
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Western State Hospital began as the Fort Steilacoom Asylum in 1871, established in former U.S. Army buildings in what is now Lakewood, Washington. The original structure was demolished in 1886 and replaced by a larger John G. Proctor-designed building completed in 1887. The hospital was renamed Western State Hospital in 1915 and remains an active 806-bed psychiatric facility today.
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