Halloween Camping Ideas: Decorations, Events & Campgrounds
When you go Halloween camping, your trip should be filled with the spirit of the holiday. With simple and quick Halloween camping ideas and decorations … your campsite, tent or RV will be turned into a fun and slightly spooky, kid-friendly Halloween camping trip the adults will love too!
Psst we’re compensated…see our disclosures.
10 Fun Camper Halloween Decorations
Plan your own Halloween camping decorations and activities using these simple tips.
1. Make Big Scary Statements
Cover your RV door
RVers have the unique ability to add Halloween decorations to RV doors by wrapping them in a Halloween themed cover like this Witch’s Brew Door Cover.
- It creates a big festive splash but is still easy and quick to do; it’s also lightweight and requires minimal space during transportation to and from your campsite. It’s almost as “difficult” to use as pushing a button to roll out an electric RV awning! LOL
Halloween season balloons
Another great option to make a big statement is to use Halloween-themed balloons. They are small and lightweight so packing and traveling with them is easy. After you blow them up, they provide a big punch of color in and outside of tents, RVs and all around campsites.
The Dollar Store is a great place to pick up cheap decorations like plastic tombstones, ghost garland, googly eyes and grim reaper decorations with a Halloween feel. These are good options for decorating around your campsite. Hang them from a tent canopy or nearby tree, or, place them around the fire pit, in your drink cooler, on your tables and camp chairs.
2. Don’t Forget The Candy
For the kids
Halloween Candy In Decorative Pumpkin Bowl
Make sure you bring candy for the kids so they don’t miss out on the trick or treat fun of Halloween. If you get candy that is in a cute container, it doubles as a decoration at your campsite!
For the pets
Halloween Dog Trick or Treat Bag
And don’t forget treats for the pets. Be careful, this is the time of year they can easily get into the candy bowl when nobody is watching and they can get very sick from eating real candy. So, it’s a good idea to have special holiday treats just for your furry friends.
I want "5 Secrets To Successful Camping Trips" plus weekly camping tips & recipes.
3. Spice Up Your Linens
Halloween Kitchen Dishtowel Set
Using cute Halloween themed kitchen towels are fun and super easy decorating ideas that do triple duty!
- First, they are cute and bring in the holiday theme to your Halloween camping experience.
- Second, it is a functional decoration that you will actually use.
- Third, it may even get you a little extra help in the camp kitchen with all of those fun Halloween camping food ideas you are bringing to life!
4. Decorate Your Drinks
Halloween Paper Straws Pumpkin Bat Spider Web Patterns
Straws are a fun way to add to your holiday decoration theme at the campsite. You can find paper or plastic straws with Halloween colors.
5. Frighten Up Your Table
Using a bright fun Halloween themed tablecover is one of those easy ways to create a big impact really quickly.
- Mini pumpkins and glow sticks are great additions to place on the picnic table. It is so much fun to decorate the pumpkins with a permanent black marker and let the soft light of the glow sticks illuminate them after the sun goes down.
6. Play With Your Plates And Utensils
Paper plates
Frightfully Fancy Round Halloween Paper Plates
Spooky themed disposable plates are great for easily adding practical decorations to your campsite.
Disposable napkins
Frightfully Fancy Halloween Lunch Napkins
I love using cute napkins to add a fun, spooky element to my table. I just swap out regular white napkins for holiday-themed napkins. You can get dinner and cocktail sized napkins with different festive patterns. There are plenty of options of designs that include witch hats, spider webs, black cats and more.
7. Boo Up Your Bar
Have Some Boos! Halloween Stainless Steel Flask
Bar accessories add a slightly spooky touch to your camping decorations on Halloween weekends. This Have Some Boos! Halloween Stainless Steel Flask is a cute container for your holiday cheer.
8. Spook Up Your Lights
Swap out your typical camping string lights for a set of spooky string lights with plastic skeletons, giant eyeballs, paper lanterns or some with a seasonal autumn feel. I like using battery-operated lights for this purpose but you can also use solar lights. Check out some Halloween camper lights we really LOVE!
9. Decorate Your Food
You know we eat with our eyes before we even bring forks to our mouths! That’s why you need to add edible decorations to your list of campsite decor ideas. Add some fun holiday-themed tones to your food, these Halloween camping food ideas are sure to be a hit!
Halloween camping usually means colder weather camping conditions, making warm comfort food a MUST when it comes to meals! Try these winter camping recipes that will keep you cooking by the campfire for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert!
- One of the most popular cool-weather meals is this Dutch oven chili recipe!
10. Get Crafty With Pumpkins And More
Do some crafts and fun Halloween camping activities and you’ll get cute decorations out of it too! Draw your own designs or use a pumpkin carving kit with stencils. Practice good camping safety tips to make sure everyone has a fun-filled camping adventure!
Organized Halloween Celebrations
Some campgrounds and RV parks have special events planned, but if you are looking for “Halloween camping near me” and can’t find anything … don’t despair, we’ve got ideas for you too!
Many campgrounds and RV parks have fun activities to entertain Halloween campers. Because the holiday does not always land on a weekend, you will often find consecutive Halloween-themed weekends during the entire month of October.
Friday Night Events
You’ll typically find planned events that begin on Fridays. You might find experiences that include haunted hayrides, campfire ghost stories, haunted graveyard mazes, scary movies and haunted walks.
Daytime Saturday Events
Saturdays normally include a day of Halloween fun the whole family can enjoy together. You might find experiences that include spooky scavenger hunts, pumpkin picking in magic pumpkin patches followed by pumpkin carving contests, costume parades, holiday-themed crafts like making paper ghosts as well as seasonal themed activities like fall harvest farmers markets, horseback riding and wagon rides.
Saturday Night Events
The big bashes are usually set for Saturday nights. This is the night most facilities put on a wide range of activities geared toward different age groups. You might find experiences for older kids that include activities like zombie apocalypse games, haunted trail walks with live characters, scary stories and movies like the Blair Witch Project.
Common events for younger children include activities like a friendly monster mash dance party, decorative painted face coverings and temporary tattoos, Halloween party treats, costume contests and fall hayride jaunts around the decorated campground.
The entire family can participate in contests to decorate their campsite (get ideas from tv shows before your trip and bring the necessary supplies with you) and attend family dance parties.
Sunday Morning Events
Sunday mornings ordinarily close the weekend of family fun on the quieter side. You might find experiences that include the announcement of camp site decorating winners and a pancake breakfast with hot cakes shaped like ghosts.
DIY Camping Halloween Events
Some campgrounds and RV parks have special events planned, but if you are looking for “Halloween camping near me” and can’t find anything … don’t despair! Become Halloween experts by creating a list of fun Halloween activity events for your group. Here are some ideas:
- Spooky Charades: Play the classic game but use Halloween-themed words. A heavily-wooded forest is the perfect place to camp with scenic views during the day and a slightly scary feel at night.
- Pumpkin Roll Relay Races: Break up into teams and see who can roll their pumpkin across the finish line the fastest.
- Campfire Spooky Story Hour: Gather around the campfire and create a story. Let one person start the story and go around the campfire so each camper can add their own twist to the story. This is a great activity for all campers to participate without needing any particular level of physical abilities.
- Haunted House Attraction: If you are camping near a Halloween attraction that is within a short drive, you can go to the experience and return to camp. Nearby special events are great ways to experience a fun weekend without having to do any of the work to make it happen. There are a few Creekside Manor Haunted House attractions in the country. Try one of those if you are camped nearby … just make sure you are not too scared to go back to camp!
- Witching Hour: Getting in the Halloween spirit can take a lot out of young kids so announce the “witching hour” at the beginning of the trip. It is the time of evening that all youngsters must be snuggled into their sleeping bags to get a good night’s rest for good times that are planned for the next day.
- Halloween Treats: Enjoy a cup of hot apple cider around the campfire, toast pumpkin seeds and sprinkle with a little salt and make homemade caramel apples.
Popular Places To Camp For Halloween
You can find Jellystone Parks across the United States. These kid-friendly RV resorts have a camping spot for everyone including RV sites and tent sites. The Hill Country Camp Resort is located in Canyon Lake, Texas and it is known for fun Halloween camping activities. If you’re in the area, you should check out Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park during the month of October. Because Jellystone parks are located across American, you’re bound to find their frightfully fun Halloween activity events somewhere near you. The great thing about Jellystone Halloween activities is that many are geared to little kids that are “light on fright” so your tiny goblins don’t go into hibernation! They can plant a seed the Magic Pumpkin Patch and see what grows, enjoy pumpkin painting, do Halloween crafts and compete for prizes.
The Inn Town Campground in Nevada City, California sits in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It made the Top 10 of Budget Travel’s Coolest Small Towns in America AND one of Outside Magazine’s Best River Towns in America. This campground doesn’t miss out on the spooky fun … don’t miss the haunted pathway during the month of October.
With a name like Lake Rudolph Campground and a location of Santa Claus, Indiana, you might expect this place would be all about Christmas. Well, that is true … but it happens after their Halloween holiday weekends that begin in mid-September and run through the end of October.
At the Gettysburg Campground in Gettysburg Pennsylvania you’ll find Halloween-themed activities throughout the weekends of October. They love celebrating so much, they actually host seasonal theme events throughout the entire year! Beginning in September you can find harvest festivals that include hay rides, movies, harvest weekends, witches brews, candy jar guesses and more.
At Virginia campgrounds you’ll find excellent activities in tons of VA campgrounds. Pumpkin hunts, face painting, crafts, costume contests, haunted houses, Halloween carnivals, kid’s Halloween bashes, candy hunts, mummy bingo, golf cart parades with contests for the best decorated cart, as well as site decorating contests and wagon rides.
The Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company is always trying to make celebrations special! The Hershey Park Camping Resort in Hummelstown, PA features a fun-filled Hersheypark Halloween Camping Package but if you want a little extra excitement the Dark Nights immersive experience includes 4 spine-tingling houses and 3 scare zones.
The Midway Campground Resort in Statesville, North Carolina is one of the biggest Halloween camping destinations you’ll find. They started Midway Wicked Woods over 25 years ago to entertain campers staying at the campground. Halloween weekend quickly became their busiest weekend of the fall season. Now it is the spookiest haunted woods walk and includes a spinning tunnel of terror, 3D clown room and more.
Michigan’s state park campgrounds have super fun Harvests and Haunts events your little ghouls will enjoy! Depending on the park you visit, you might enjoy a variety of non-spooky activities like hay rides, pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, costume contests, haunted trails, nature programs and horse-drawn carriage rides. You can make camping reservations on the website or by calling 1-800-44PARKS.
Fall Camping Trips
Campsite trick-or-treat fun is just the beginning of the season for fall camping. Make sure you check out all of our great ideas to make your autumn trips exciting and memorable. And, be prepared for cooler temperatures too!
FREE Camping Trip Planner
Get tips on how to use our FREE printable trip planner and the link to download your copy immediately so you can plan your entire trip with our Camping Trip Planner Template: FREE & Printable.
More Food Ideas For Camping Trips
Get creative with all of your camping meals!
If you’re looking for awesome ideas for yummy camping food, you’re in the right place! Here’s our entire camping recipes list.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment, question or suggestion below. I’d love to hear from you so let’s chat.