Halloween in Poway: How to Spend October From Old Poway Park to Lake Poway

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. Poway's biggest Halloween night comes a week before that. The Headless Horseman rides through Old Poway Park on Saturday, Oct. 24. That same afternoon, families with a campsite at Lake Poway head out on a ranger-led night hike. The city's Haunted House shuts its doors after Friday, Oct. 30.

So in Poway the season peaks on Oct. 24 and tapers off toward the 31st. If you plan October around that date, you get the most out of the month. Here's how the weeks fit together, starting with the day everything else leads up to.

Saturday, Oct. 24 is the main event

The City of Poway's own announcement says Poway "is known for celebrating Halloween in a distinctly different way." The heart of it is Once Upon a Hallowe'en at Old Poway Park, 14134 Midland Road. The event is free. You pay small fees for train rides, the Haunted House, carnival games and treats.

The afternoon has a set order, and arriving early makes a difference:

• 3:30 p.m. Check-in opens for the Halloween costume parade. To take part, call the park office at 858-668-4576.
• 3:45 p.m. The parade starts, led through the park by the Headless Horseman, courtesy of the Poway Rodeo.
• 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. The main festival runs, with the Haunted House, haunted carnival games, train rides and a pumpkin decorating contest.

There are two changes this year. The Nightmare Before Christmas area in the boxcar lot is getting bigger, with a DJ, Jack and Sally, and Oogie Boogie. The Poway Chamber of Commerce is also co-hosting a Trunk or Treat, with local businesses handing out candy from decorated trunks along Midland Road.

The trains are run by the Poway-Midland Railroad, a nonprofit staffed by volunteers. Its October calendar has a Halloween-in-the-Park locomotive running Oct. 24 from 3:30 to 8:30 p.m. The railroad's homepage lists the evening as ending at 8:15 p.m., so plan your last ride with time to spare. Standard locomotive fares are $5 for ages 13 and up, $2 for children 2 to 12, and free under age 2.

The Oct. 24 choice: Midland Road or Lake Poway

The same Saturday, the city runs a second Halloween program at the lake. The Halloween Campout at Lake Poway, 14644 Lake Poway Road, runs from 1 p.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday. Activities start at 3 p.m., with a ranger-led spooky night hike, a costume contest, trick-or-treating and a craft.

That 3 p.m. start falls half an hour before parade check-in at Old Poway Park. Most families will end up choosing one or the other. Cost is the clearest difference. Old Poway Park is free to walk in, and a family of four with two young children pays $14 for a round of train rides at standard fares. The campout costs $67 per car for Poway residents and $80 per car for nonresidents. You're paying for the overnight stay and the after-dark hike, which only happens out at the lake.

Your fallback is Sunday. On Oct. 25 the Haunted House reopens at Old Poway Park from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. for $1 a guest. It isn't recommended for children under 5. The same evening there's a free showing of Hocus Pocus 2 on the park lawn, starting about 15 minutes after sunset. Campers packing up Sunday morning can still get to the Midland Road part of the weekend that night.

The weekends leading up to it

The first part of October works as a warm-up. Several dates overlap, so here they are in order.

Saturday, Oct. 10 is packed. The Poway Fire Open House runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 12335 Crosthwaite Circle. Admission is free, and there are demonstrations, food and a bounce house. That evening, Al Jardine & The Pet Sounds Band play the Poway Center for the Performing Arts at 15498 Espola Road at 7:30 p.m. Adult seats are $98, $88 or $78. The night before, Lake Poway holds its first Fall Camping night, Oct. 9 to 10. It costs $32 per car and includes a 6:30 p.m. screening of Night at the Museum.

Saturday, Oct. 17 brings the season's other after-dark outing. Hoot, Howl and Prowl runs from 5:30 to 7:15 p.m. at Blue Sky Ecological Reserve, 16275 Espola Road. Registration is required, and the city lists the cost as $5 per person. The second Lake Poway Fall Camping night is Oct. 16 to 17, again $32 per car, with Monsters, Inc. at 6:30 p.m. If the Oct. 24 campout feels like a big commitment for first-time campers, the $32 nights let you try it out first.

If you want something sooner, the PHS Choir Fall Concert is tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and military, and $5 for students with valid ID and children.

For pumpkins, there's the Rancho Bernardo Pumpkin Farm at 13421 Highland Valley Road in Escondido. It's open daily through Oct. 31, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Oct. 8 and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Oct. 9 on. The hayrides and maze close at 6 p.m. either way. Walking the patch is free and pumpkins are priced one by one. The corn maze, hay-wagon ride and petting zoo are $5 per person each, and the train is $5 per child. If you visit before Oct. 24, your carved pumpkin can make the trip to Old Poway Park for the decorating contest.

A season that mostly costs $5 or less

Put the dates side by side and the pattern shows. Most of Poway's Halloween season is run by the city, a nonprofit railroad or local clubs, and most of it costs a few dollars at the door.

The Halloween Campout is the one real splurge on the list. Almost everything else costs less than a coffee on Poway Road.

The final week, and Halloween itself

After the Sunday movie, the Haunted House stays open every evening through Friday, Oct. 30, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. That gives families who couldn't make it on the 24th six more nights to catch it.

Friday, Oct. 30 also brings a Trunk or Treat from the Poway Cruisers Car Club at Lowe's, 13750 Poway Road, from 5 to 7 p.m. The club is inviting people who want to hand out candy to register ahead of time.

On Saturday, Oct. 31, none of the city's Halloween programs are running. The pumpkin farm on Highland Valley Road has its last day of the season. In Rancho Santa Fe, Helen Woodward Animal Center holds the final morning of its Howl-O-Ween Harvest Family Festival, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 6447 Helen Woodward Way. Admission is listed at $10 to $19, and the festival also runs Oct. 10, 17 and 24.

Into November on Espola Road

Once the costumes are put away, the Poway Center for the Performing Arts picks up the calendar. The Poway Symphony Orchestra presents "Holiday Celebration with The Romeros" on Nov. 15. Jake Shimabukuro plays Saturday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. Adult seats are $109, $99 or $84, and youth 12 and under are $59, $54 or $47.

Before you lock in plans, check times with each organizer, since schedules can change. The Old Poway Park office at 858-668-4576 is the best number for anything happening on Midland Road.

The best Poway Octobers are the ones you plan a little ahead, and a home works the same way. If you're starting to wonder what your Poway house could become, or what it might be worth after a few thoughtful updates, I'd be glad to talk it through over coffee once the Haunted House closes for the year. Lorelei Nielsen is always happy to hear from neighbors. Let's Connect.