Haunted hotel guide · Walker, Minnesota
The Haunted Chase on the Lake, Walker: The Bowling Alley, the Staircase and the Chase Hotel Legacy
A lakeside resort on the site of a 1922 hotel that burned in 1997, where guests say the grand staircase is “super active” and a basement jukebox plays to an empty bowling alley.
Chase on the Lake stands at 502 Cleveland Boulevard West in Walker, on the shore of Walker Bay on Leech Lake in north-central Minnesota. The name goes back to L.W. “Bert” Chase and his wife Louisa, who ran hotels in Walker from 1898. Their New Hotel Chase opened by the lake in 1922 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, but a fire in 1997 closed it, and after about a decade standing empty it was torn down. The current resort, with about 70 hotel units, 46 condos, a restaurant, a bar, a spa and an indoor pool, opened in the same footprint in 2008. Walker native Israel Moe and his wife Nicole bought it in 2023.
The ghost stories survived the rebuild. Staff say guests describe the grand staircase and the basement bowling alley as “super active.” Guests and investigators tell of children playing in the corridors, unplugged phones that ring, a jukebox that starts on its own and voices from the lumberjack and Prohibition years. It is the most northerly stop on our guide to haunted hotels in Minnesota.
Chase on the Lake at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 502 Cleveland Boulevard West, Walker, MN 56484
- Opened 2008, in the footprint of the New Hotel Chase (opened 1922, National Register 1980, closed by fire in 1997, later demolished)
- Most haunted spots The basement bowling alley, the grand staircase and the corridors
- Best-known ghosts Children heard and seen in the halls, voices in the bowling alley and figures from the logging and Prohibition eras
- Booking the haunted room No room is singled out as haunted. The stories focus on shared spaces, so book any hotel room and spend your evening downstairs.
- Good to know This is a modern building in historic style. The lobby is furnished with antiques, including an old cash register, telephone and clock, and the resort is busiest in the summer lake season.
The ghosts of Chase on the Lake
The basement bowling alley
The bowling alley in the basement is said to be the most active part of the resort. The jukebox there is reported to switch on and play music by itself, and paranormal investigators say they have recorded voices, including one they describe as a stable boy and others they link to rough characters from the lumberjack and Prohibition eras.
A front desk attendant told the Forum’s Trip on a Tankful column that he has never had an experience himself, but that guests call the bowling alley “super active.” He tries not to think about it too much.
The morgue legend
The best-known explanation for the activity is a local legend that the basement served as a temporary morgue in 1898. On October 5 that year the Battle of Sugar Point was fought on Leech Lake between US troops and members of the Pillager Band of Ojibwe, an event often called the last Indian uprising in the United States. Six soldiers were killed that day, and the story says their bodies were kept in the Chase basement until they could be moved to Fort Snelling. A Leech Lake tourism article tells a softer version, in which the site held an infirmary for wounded soldiers.
There is a problem with the tale. In 1898 the Chase family’s hotel was the Pameda Hotel on Walker’s Main Street, not the lakeside building, the lakeside hotel was not built until 1922, and the present resort went up more than a century after the battle. If the morgue story is true at all, it belongs to a different basement. No record we found confirms it. Our original listing repeated the legend without that caveat.
The grand staircase
Alongside the bowling alley, the grand staircase is the place guests mention most. Staff say guests describe it as “super active,” though published accounts do not say exactly what people experience there.
Elsewhere in the building, guests report shadowy figures, thumps, cold spots and weird sounds.
Children in the corridors and ringing phones
Guests and staff have described ghostly children playing in the hallways, and unplugged phones that ring anyway. Some guest reviews go further, describing the feeling of something climbing into bed with them in the night.
The Forum’s writer, who stayed around Halloween, came away without an experience of their own and with an open mind: the building feels old, they wrote, and smells like an antique shop.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The basement bowling alley: The most active spot, according to guests. Bowl a late game and listen for the jukebox.
- The grand staircase: The other place guests describe as “super active.”
- The guest corridors: Where children are said to be heard playing when none are staying.
- The lobby: Furnished with antiques, including an old cash register, telephone and clock. A good place to start the evening.
History of Chase on the Lake
Walker grew up as a logging town on the southwest shore of Leech Lake, and its early visitors were mostly railroad workers and lumbermen. L.W. “Bert” Chase and his wife Louisa arrived with their children in 1898, probably drawn by the promise of tourism, and went into the hotel business. Their first hotel was the Pameda Hotel on Main Street, and the first hotel to carry the family name followed about three years later.
The same year the Chases arrived, the Battle of Sugar Point was fought on Leech Lake, on October 5, 1898, between soldiers of the 3rd US Infantry and members of the Pillager Band of Ojibwe. It is often called the last Indian uprising in the United States, and it is the source of the morgue legend that later attached itself to the Chase name.
In 1922 the Chases opened the New Hotel Chase on the shore of Walker Bay, near Lake May Creek. It was a four-story wood frame building with a clipped gable roof, rows of dormers and false half-timbering over stucco, built as one of the first-class resort hotels of the early automobile era in Cass County. The family kept it until 1946. It then changed hands several times, and on June 4, 1980 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Chase Hotel.
In 1997 a fire closed the hotel. The building stood empty for about ten years before it was demolished, although it still appears on the National Register list. Chase on the Lake opened in the same footprint in 2008. After a spell under the Miami investment firm Rialto Capital, Walker native Israel Moe and his wife Nicole bought the resort for $5.7 million in 2023.
Today the resort has about 70 hotel units and 46 condominium units, The 502 Restaurant and bar, the Copper Door spa, an indoor pool, a marina and Chaser’s Bowling Alley in the basement. The lobby is filled with antiques, and the ghost stories moved in with the name.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Book a game in the basement bowling alley late in the evening, then stay to see if the jukebox joins in.
- Walk the grand staircase after dark, when the public areas are quiet.
- Leech Lake is a summer resort and a winter ice-fishing destination, so check what is open in the season you plan to visit.
- Bring a recorder if you want to try for the voices investigators say they have captured in the basement.
- For organized investigations, see the nearest Haunted Rooms event below or all Minnesota ghost hunts.
Want to investigate, not just sleep?
Sleeping in a haunted hotel is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through the building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and lets you explore on your own during free roam.
- Ringling House Ghost Hunt and Sleepover, Baraboo, WI: Our nearest overnight ghost hunt with dates on sale, in Wisconsin.
More haunted hotels nearby
- The Palmer House Hotel, Sauk Centre: about two hours south, one of Minnesota’s most famous haunted hotels
- St. James Hotel, Red Wing: an 1875 river hotel with Clara’s Room 310
- The Kahler Grand Hotel, Rochester: the Mayo Clinic hotel with the vanished heiress
- Haunted hotels in Minnesota
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is Chase on the Lake in Walker haunted?
Guests and staff say so. The basement bowling alley and the grand staircase are described as the most active spots, with reports of a jukebox that plays by itself, children heard in the corridors, unplugged phones ringing, cold spots and thumps.
Was Chase on the Lake a morgue?
Local legend says the basement held soldiers killed at the Battle of Sugar Point in October 1898. But in 1898 the Chase family’s hotel stood on Main Street, the lakeside hotel was built in 1922 and today’s resort opened in 2008, so the story cannot apply to the present building. No record confirms it.
Is the original Chase Hotel still standing?
No. The New Hotel Chase opened in 1922 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, but a fire closed it in 1997 and it was demolished about ten years later. Chase on the Lake opened in the same footprint in 2008.
Where is the haunted bowling alley in Walker?
It is in the basement of Chase on the Lake, on Leech Lake in Walker. Guests and staff describe it as the most active part of the resort.
Who were the Chases of Walker?
L.W. “Bert” Chase and his wife Louisa arrived in Walker with their children in 1898. They ran the Pameda Hotel on Main Street and then the first Hotel Chase, opened the New Hotel Chase by the lake in 1922 and kept it until 1946.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- Forum (Inforum): Trip on a Tankful, chasing ghost stories at Chase on the Lake
- National Park Service: National Register nomination, New Hotel Chase (80001994)
- Wikipedia: National Register of Historic Places listings in Cass County, Minnesota
- Star Tribune: Historic Leech Lake resort gets new owners
- Wikipedia: Battle of Sugar Point
- Leech Lake Tourism: Chase on the Lake
- Chase on the Lake: official site
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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