Camping for Halloween is a wonderful event and is very popular in the camping community. Everyone at the campground is there to make this spooky holiday even more fun for the kids, creative campsite decorations is a big part of the weekend event and there are so many great ideas out there. There is no limit to the creativity! Here are some ideas we have done for our Halloween camping trips and some great ideas we have seen during our visits.
We have been lucky to get a campsite at the wonderful Indiana Dunes State Park for the last two Halloween weekend events. Indiana Dunes is known for it’s beautiful beaches along Lake Michigan which attracts huge crowds during the warm summer months. Fall camping at the Dunes is wonderful with the fall colors of the trees and hiking the numerous trails such as the 3 Dunes Challenge. The campground is nestled in the woods and just a short walk to the beach on a boardwalk trail. There is an interactive Nature Center to check out, a camp store, the historic Beach House with a cafe, and the campsite pads are paved which is a huge bonus.
Many of the state parks have Halloween weekend events each year and if you are quick enough on the reservations to snag one you will surely enjoy it. You can reserve 6 months ahead for Indiana parks. There are fun activities for everyone with Trick-or-treating around the campground being the highlight of the event. This is a great atmosphere for families to get out together and trick-or-treat and see all of the fun decorations and costumes.
No matter if you just have a little decor or go all out, there are really no rules to how you decorate as long as it is family friendly. It can be cute, spooky, funny, scary – it all makes for a fun mix at the campground.
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- Pumpkins, mums, and haybales are a good place to start. The dollar store or even resale shops are great places to get some Halloween items on the cheap.
- String lights and lanterns give a nice glow at nighttime
- Skeletons are an easy item to incorporate into any Halloween decor, there are tons of cute ideas for scenes and poses
- Inflatable decorations are an easy addition – just make sure to bring along an extra extension cord
- Spooky music or a fog machine add special effects
- Costumes, Costumes, Costumes!!! Dress up as scary or silly as you want, no judgement here!
Some of the added activities at many campgrounds include nature pumpkin decorating, night hikes, hayrides, and campground decorating contest. Be sure to check out these added events to make the Halloween even more memorable.
Here are some fun campsite decorating decorating ideas we have see the past couple of years for some inspiration from Friend of the Indiana Dunes.
Here are a couple themes that we did for past events, Camp Crystal Lake from Friday the 13th and The Pirates of Lake Michigan (a spin off from Pirates of the Caribbean). We had such fun putting the whole scene together and mostly used home-made props and decorations we already had. With a little paint and creativity it turned out great!
Camp Crystal Lake
I made the sign from a piece of plywood and painted it to look like the movie prop, made Jason from some old work clothes and a garden stake, made a bloody knife for him from thick poster board, foil, and paint, and added all the Halloween props I had. Even put in a boat on a blue tarp lake!
Pirates of Lake Michigan
We set up the pirate ship on the front of our camper, just painted a couple of pallets, made a mast out of canvas material and an inexpensive pirate flag, added our pirate skeleton and all his pirate treasure!
I hope these ideas can give you some inspiration for your Halloween camping adventure! For more camping, recipe, and kids crafts check out some of my other posts on Pinterest. Happy Halloween!
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