Arizona ghost hunter travels: Spirits of the Brookdale Lodge

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Arizona ghost hunter travels: Spirits of the Brookdale Lodge
April 4, 2009
Debe Branning
Examiner.com

Driving to the Brookdale Lodge (now known as the Brookdale Inn and Spa) was an adventure in itself. The MVD Ghostchasers paranormal team was on another one of our road trips and the Brookdale Lodge was on the agenda. The narrow highway weaved through giant redwood trees in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Maddie squeezed the car along the two lane road trying to avoid the oncoming traffic and the towering trees just inches from the road.
We rounded a corner and the Brookdale Lodge was in view. What a busy place this must have been during the 40’s and 50’s! It reminded us of the resort areas featured in the movie, “Dirty Dancing,” where families would come year after year to vacation and experience the outdoors.

The original lodge was built in 1890 by Judge J H Logan at the site of the Grover Lumber Mill. The dining room was added in the 1920’s. The Brookroom has a 70 feet long natural brook running through it. At one time it was stocked with trout so guests could do some fishing during their stay.

It is known that Hollywood celebrities vacationed here in the 1930’s and 1940’s. It was a short drive from San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. Some of the guests were Marilyn Monroe, Mae West, Tyrone Power, and Joan Crawford. It is also rumored it was the meeting place for the gangsters in the 1940’s and 1950’s. They say the Mafia bosses may have disposed several bodies on the back property in shallow graves.

We parked the car in the back of the parking lot and walked toward the main entrance. The door to the swimming pool was open, so we stepped in side. They say a young teen drowned in the pool. People report being touched by an unseen hand as they lounge near the indoor swimming area. We took several pictures with orbs in them—but it was probably moisture trapped in the enclosed area.

We entered the lodge and walked past the lounge area that was already filled with locals. We peeked into the Mermaid Room and snapped some more photos. This was a party room where guests drank and viewed the swimmers in the large kidney shaped pool from behind a large glass window. Paranormal investigators say sometimes you can hear the clinking of cocktail glasses accompanied by voices and music of the past.

We grabbed an employee and asked if he would open the Brookroom. They were preparing it for the evening dinner hour. He obliged and warned us not to rearrange any of the tables or place settings. The room is spectacular. Tables with white linen lined the babbling creek. Lush vegetation added a feeling of dining out doors in a marvelous garden. This is the room where six year old Sarah Logan’s ghost has appeared several times. Sarah was playing along the stream when she slipped and hit her head on one of the wet boulders and died. She has shoulder length blond hair and is seen in a blue and white dress. Sometimes she approaches travelers and cries for someone to help her find her mother. When the guest turns around to answer, they find the girl has vanished. Sarah has also been seen sitting near the fireplace or walking in the lobby.

A woman has been spotted walking over a bridge at the stream that is no longer there. She seems to be searching for someone. Could it be young Sarah? We still had many more miles to cover that day, so our mini investigation of the lodge was cut short. Nancy and Lisa were taking a few last shots while Maddie and I left the lodge and walked slowly toward the car.

“Yoo-hoo!” We heard a voice call out to us from just a few inches away. We both looked at each other with one of those did you hear that looks. We stopped in our tracks and noted there were no guests or employees near us. Since then I have listened to several EVP’s of Sarah recorded by various paranormal investigators, and I am certain this was the same voice we heard. Perhaps one day the ghost of Sarah will reunite with the ghost of her mother and the two spirits will be set free from the lodge and lonely waterway once and for all.


Brookdale Inn and Spa
11570 Hwy 9
Brookdale, CA 95007
831-338-1300