America's Best Towns For Trick-Or-Treating

We all love Halloween, and we celebrate just as happily and with as much enthusiasm now as we did when we were kids. But what makes this annual holiday so special are the nostalgic memories that it always brings up — of carefully selecting our costume for the year, dreaming of all the candy we were going to eat, carving our jack-o-lanterns, and traipsing around the neighborhood, proudly showing off our outfits, begging all the neighbors and local businesses for sweet treats.

Lake Mary is a safe and welcoming place for kids to trick-or-treat, and it is also host to a chillingly fun Halloween event. Every October, tour guides from the Lake Mary Museum lead ghost walks through the historic town, recounting the eerie stories and myths of Lake Mary to spook and amuse all the participants.

The quaint town of Apex is another city which celebrates Halloween with a haunted train ride. The New Hope Valley Railway hosts its annual Track or Treat event the last two Saturdays of October. Here, costumed kids board the Ghost Train for an interactive ride through a decorated pine forest which features singing pumpkins, flying witches, and the new Count Cluckula kids' game.

Halloween in Geneva is fun and family-friendly. The weekend before Halloween, families head to the Fall Festival for a spectacular afternoon of rides and refreshments. The Thursday before Halloween, and on Halloween itself, local businesses and residents open their doors to costumed trick or treaters during the generous designated hours.

Every year, residents of West Linn can partake in a Halloween scavenger hunt, a kid-friendly enchanted trail, and a haunted maze (which isn't suitable for the little ones). Kids are encouraged to come to the park dressed in costume for an enchanting or terrifying night (depending on which route you choose).

Halloween is a big deal in Rogers, and it's impossible to avoid getting in the spirit of things if you live there. On the day, hundreds of kids come together in this small town, dressed in their best costumes, and trick-or-treat at all the enthusiastically decorated houses. If the weather takes a turn for worse, there's a back-up option of driving to the Mall of America for a fabulous indoor trick-or-treat spectacular.

Halloween begins early in Cranberry Township, with the popular Great Pumpkin Festival on October 21st. At this event, kids pick their perfect pumpkin, enjoy Halloween treats, and participate in holiday-themed games and crafts. On Halloween itself, kids are encouraged to trick-or-treat from 6pm to 8pm, when the locals know to be ready for them, and the whole town is focused on this fun family activity.

The centerpiece of this town's Halloween celebrations, which take place in front of a stunning fall foliage back drop, is undoubtedly the corn mazes. These puzzling mazes are set out over seven acres, and stay open on Halloween night, for an extra spooky, but kid-friendly activity. During the day make sure you head to the pumpkin patch for some family fun!

Families with small children follow the typical Bella Vista Halloween tradition of gathering at the Halloween Spooktacular. Kids dressed up in costume will gather at the town library for an afternoon filled with games, crafts, candy, storytelling, and, of course, a costume parade.

This California city has several safe, small neighborhoods that make trick-or-treating the ultimate activity for kids for all ages. Palo Alto residents go all out with their home decorations, so even out-of-towners come to trick-or-treat in this fantastically spooky city. Halloween festivities kick off the weekend before Halloween, when families visit Gamble Garden for a costume contest and treasure hunt.

In Chester, Halloween is celebrated for an entire month. Alstede Farms' Family Fun Days and Harvest Moon Hayrides are held every weekend throughout October. At these family-friendly events you'll find pony rides, a moon bounce, campfires, and a corn maze. Visitors can also pick their own pumpkins, toast s'mores on the campfire, and spend the evening listening to country music and drinking hot apple cider under the stars. This is the perfect Halloween event for everyone who wants more fun than fright. 

For trick-or-treaters who want to have fun rather than be spooked, the Detroit Zoo hosts "Zoo Boo" every weekend in October. These events allows kids to trick-or-treat along a decorated trail which runs through the zoo, and enjoy entertainment and games at the same time. The day before Halloween, costumed kids and pets attend the Downtown Royal Oak "Spooktacular" for some sweet trick-or-treating at over 50 businesses in the town.

Colorado Springs is always packed full of fun and frightening activities on Halloween. For the bravest Halloween-lovers amongst you, you can visit the Haunted Mines Haunted House, which blends historical scenes with Halloween horror, where you can expect to be crawling through mine shifts and sprinting away from chasing zombies. If you're looking for some slightly less terrifying fun, then there is a whole range of activities to take part in ranging from Boo at the Zoo to the Mall-O-Ween costume competition.

To help the kids get excited for Halloween (and to help parents save money on the annual Halloween costume shop), trick-or-treaters start the Halloween celebrations with a costume swap. On Halloween itself, a parade of several hundred trick-or-treaters goes through the town, making it a night of scary, spooky, and sweet fun!

Saline is a popular trick-or-treating town, where kids are allowed to roam the town from 6 to 8 p.m. It's likely you'll be suffering a sugar hangover the next day, but Saline has the perfect remedy: Every year there's a "Great Pumpkin Roll", where families race their old pumpkins down a hill. The event is free, hot cider and doughnuts are handed out, and everyone is in the happiest, least-spooky mood!

Halloween is celebrated all weekend in this small California city. On the night of Halloween, families can get lost in the Haunted Maze, trick-or-treat, or attend the "Mostly Ghostly" party to partake inthe costume competition. The next day, the fun continues with food and music at the "After Halloween Lot Party".

The Halloween parade in Canton's Collinsville neighborhood begins at the Canton "Hysterical" Museum's porch, as it has done for over 20 years. This parade is led by the town's resident ghost, Boosolini, and is filled with ghoulish entertainment, dance performances, cannons shooting the ghosts, and lots of sweet treats. Everybody goes dressed in costume, and at the end of the night, prizes are awarded for the best outfit.

Families in New Boston always begin Halloween at the Trunk-or-Treat costume party. This super popular event involves local residents and business owners parking their decorated cars in the town hall lot, dressing up in costume, and handing out candy and prizes to the trick-or-treaters. Kids can also trick or treat during the evening at the Old Engine House, before counteracting all that sugar with a salty hot dog at the Creepy Café.

Halloween is a wonderfully important annual event for everybody in Cedarburg, where trick-or-treating is taken seriously indeed. On Halloween, all the Cedarburg folk carry their carved pumpkins up to the city's main street where they line them up for a wonderfully spooky, beautifully lit Pumpkin Walk. The towns' businesses welcome costumed trick-or-treaters to visit and explore from 5 to 9 p.m. on Halloween itself.

Halloween in this Hudson Valley town always includes the Corn House of Horrors on the trick or treating route. The house's spooky legend recounts that Thaddeus Corn, a notorious smuggler, returns to Cornwall every Halloween, to take revenge upon those who wronged him many years ago. Only the bravest of trick-or-treaters dare to enter this terrifying, haunted house 

Situated just 20 minutes outside Las Vegas, Boulder City has a Halloween party that will thrill all the kids. The weekend before Halloween, everyone can board the decorated Southern Nevada Railway (it's free for kids in costume) for a moving haunted Halloween party. On Halloween itself, kids can safely trick-or-treat in this charming town where the streets are lined with wonderful decorations.