Worth Leaving Town For: Spooktacular Fun at Northern State Ghost Town

Editor’s note: Originally published 10-23-23.

Looking for some spooktacular fun? Look no further than the Northern State Recreational Area (NSRA)! NSRA lies about an hour’s drive north of Everett in Skagit County. It boasts over five miles of hiking trails, a full 18 holes of Disc Golf, and the remains of a Ghost Town.

Upon arriving at NRSA you’ll be greeted by a newly built Veterans Memorial and wide open fields.

Hiking

The trails begin right at the parking lot, and you have many options for where to go. There are some nice wide flat trails for families with strollers that circle the big field beginning on the south end of the parking lot. This trail has occasional signage telling you about the habitat and how it’s regrowing.

Most of the trails are just as wide and accessible to families, but on the back side of the recreational area, you can find a nice narrow trail that follows Hansen Creek. Every so often on these trails, you’ll see buildings and other artifacts from the ghost town, but you’ll also see some newer construction (probably built by the ghosts), like a freshly built bridge!

The trails are beautiful and well-maintained. Take your time and enjoy the sights!

Disc Golf

If you’ve never played disc golf, all you need to know is that it’s golf, but with frisbee discs. I went and played disc golf at NRSA recently with a friend and as we walked out to the first hole, the caretaker caught our attention and let us know that they have community discs that are available for use.

While no paper maps are provided on-site, you can grab a screen grab or print one from here or take a picture of the map when you first arrive. While many of the holes have little arrows underneath pointing you to the next tee, not all do, and not all baskets are visible from the tee, so having a map on your first outing is wise.

On the south side of the parking lot, you’ll spot a couple of practice baskets, but the real course starts right by the gazebo. If disc golf is your intro to this area, you’ll find your first abandoned structures in the middle of hole 3. Don’t throw into the buildings, though; that’ll cost you a stroke and get you visited by ghosts. These buildings were part of the onsite canning process that was done to help feed the patients.

Every so often, you’ll find a hole with some old-school baskets. Use of these is optional as a more normal Innova basket is beside it. But shooting into the old baskets can be fun as they’re directional, and if you overshoot on your approach shot, you’ll almost certainly be taking an extra throw to get back into position to make the basket.

Hole 18’s tee is in the area with the largest amount of buildings and shoots over the trees and back toward the parking lot. I’ll be honest: I haven’t played in years and decided to skip this hole as I was sure I’d be spending a good chunk of time looking for my disc. I still had a great time and shot a solid 21 over par; my friend didn't keep score and just counted it a win that he finished with all his discs still in his possession.

Let me know in the comments how badly you crushed my score.

Ghost Town

From the 1920s-1970s NSRA was a state hospital with a working farm. As you wander around you’ll find the remains of old canning facilities, barns, and more. The majority of the buildings are a short quarter-mile walk from the parking lot, with a small hill to climb at the end. Here, you’ll find around ten intact buildings.

If you follow the road further to the northeast, you’ll also find the graveyard for the hospital, which I’m sure has its own spook factor. If you decide to go out there, please be respectful as this is a real graveyard and, as part of a ghost town, will likely have twice the number of ghosts ready to haunt you.

To the west and northwest, more buildings and artifacts are scattered about, just waiting for you to hunt down these hidden treasures. Stroll through the lush vegetation and see what fun places you can find!

Presumably, to protect the privacy of any ghosts on the property, NRSA is only open during daylight hours. So plan your visit in the relative safety of the sun.

Whether you’re looking to visit a ghost town, play some disc golf, or just enjoy nature, NRSA is a wonderful place to go. I’ve been there at least a half dozen times in the last couple of years and will definitely be going again soon.

Northern State Recreation Area
NE of Sedro-Woolley
left on Helmick Rd. from HWY 20

James works for a local Everett-based company and enjoys board games, hiking, and food. You can find him playing Kubb at a local park or getting lost in the woods.