Hike through Minnesota’s Hair-Raising Haunted Forest if You Dare

There are haunted hotels, haunted abandoned places, haunted forests... the list goes on! And they can all be found in places throughout Minnesota. Later on, you can take a look at a bunch of the haunted places in our state but specifically, I wanted to talk about this haunted forest I recently discovered.

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Haunted Trails in Minnesota

I've learned about a handful of haunted trails across Minnesota. Some of them include Dead Man's Trail in Thief River Falls, Quarry Hill in Rochester, and Milford Mine in Crosby. At the bottom of this post, you can take a look at a list of haunted trails in Minnesota and the stories behind them.

The one I didn't know about until recently, though, is just north of the Twin Cities by about 40 minutes.

It appears the trail is used quite a bit by mountain bikers, but people are welcome to hike it as well.

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There are three different trail options: 1.5 miles for the easy trail, 3.5 miles for the medium trail, and 6 miles if you're up for a challenge and want to go through the whole thing.

This place literally has the words 'haunted forest' in the name. It's the Bethel Haunted Forest.

The Story of the Bethel Haunted Forest

The Bethel Haunted Forest is in Bethel, MN. It's just a short drive away off of 65. When you arrive, you'll find a wooden sign that says 'Bethel Haunted Forest'. I believe it's on the other side of this green space in the picture.

So what's the story of this place? Did someone get lost here and was never found? Is there a more sinister side to the story of this forest?

Actually, the story of this place is pretty lighthearted believe it or not! The website MTB Project has a page about the forest for mountain bikers and in the overview of the place they say that it started "as a haunted forest attraction run by the Bethel Fire Department every fall for a fundraiser."

It looks like they either are still putting on the event at this trail or they recently stopped doing it because on the fire department's Facebook page I found a post about the 2022 fundraiser.

When the fundraiser isn't happening some of the props get left behind and people can check them out while out hiking or biking at other times of the year.