The Witch’s Castle (also known as the Stone House) sits on land that was claimed in 1850 by Danford Balch, who had ventured west on the Oregon trail with his wife and children. At the time, the land was mostly thick forest and Balch needed help clearing enough of the area to build his home. He hired a man named Mortimer Stump to assist with the task. Stump moved in with the Balch family and it didn’t take long for Balch’s eldest daughter Anna to fall in love with him.

Balch was appalled at this thought of his daughter marrying a common working man like Stump (he owned much of Portland by this time) and immediately forbade her from going through with it. If history has taught us anything, forbidding a young girl from marrying the love of her life never ends well. Ahem… Juliet.

The young couple fled to Vancouver to elope, and upon their return to Portland, Mortimer paid the price…Balch shot him in the face with his shotgun while he stood on a riverboat. Yikes. According to some accounts, Balch himself claimed his wife “bewitched” him into committing the crime, so that she would once again have her daughter by her side.

The logical conclusion is that Stump is haunting the woods he helped clear, in revenge of that brutal attack. Balch was later hanged for his crime, and his ghost is also said to guard the forests he once called his home.

GETTING THERE

The Witch’s Castle in Portland is located in Forest Park, about a 5-minute drive from downtown. There are two ways to get there. The first is a short half mile hike from the Upper Macleay Parking Lot near the Portland Audubon Society. The other is a slightly longer, 3/4 mile hike from the Lower Macleay Parking Lot located at NW 30th and Upshur. Both are beautiful hikes through the forest taking you right to the Witch’s Castle.

The trails are very easy to walk. They are wide and flat, perfect for hikers of almost any level. On the way, you will pass gorgeous streams, tiny waterfalls, and moss-covered branches.

J&G

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