Halloween Fun in the Portland Area

Halloween will be a little different this year, but Portlanders are finding creative and safe ways to celebrate! Enjoy the season with some of these spooky and not-so-spooky ideas.

• Pick out the perfect pumpkin and navigate a corn maze at one of these pumpkin patches. Portland was named Best City for Pumpkin Lovers, and with good reason!

• Plan your trick-or-treat route! And don’t forget to stock your house with allergy-friendly treats.

• Take a walk around the neighborhood at dusk and pick your favorite Halloween-decor house. Or drive to neighborhoods that go all out, like Pirates of Pinehurst or Holidays on Franklin Street.

• Kids too young to stay up late? Try these daytime trick-or-treat spots instead.
  

• Visit a Spooktacular celebration! You’ve got so many options: Meet llamas and trick or treat at Gresham Station (free), Craft your own Metal Earth at DIY Steel’s festival ($30, ages 12+), don your spookiest and join the fun at Sellwood Community House’s party (free), attend a spooky concert by kindie artists ($12), join the scavenger hunt and fair fun at Fernwood Family Farm ($7), get crafty at Leka Playland’s Halloween Party (included with general admission), or get your photography game on at Beaumont Village’s Pic or Treat photo contest and spooky tunnel. Plus check out Boo in the Slough (free) and Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve’s Spooktacular ($5). See This Weekend in PDX or our Kids Calendar for more!

• Remember that pumpkin you bought? Time to carve it. Pro tip: Roast all the pumpkin seeds you dig out for a super-tasty snack. Check out our Pinterest board for pumpkin decorating and carving ideas, or visit the Boo Drive Thru (Oct 29-30) or The Pumpkin Display at West Linn for some spectacular inspiration (both FREE).

• Make a healthy Halloween-inspired treat.

• Score some free treats! Salt-n-Straw (free kid’s cone), Mike’s Drive-In (free cone) and Applebee’s (free meal) are all giving free food to costumed kids on Halloween.

• Or how about a free book? Saturday 11a-5p, stop by Maggie Mae’s and get a free BOO-K for kids in costume!

• Listen to a spooky episode of a kids’ podcast. 

• Plan a Halloween scavenger hunt. You can repurpose those plastic Easter eggs and hide candy around your home or backyard, or look for seasonal items in your neighborhood. Try a scavenger hunt by flashlight for more ambience. Our Pinterest board has some fun ideas. 

• “Boo” your neighbors and friends and spread Halloween cheer. Leave an anonymous bag of Halloween goodies — you can start a chain of boos, too. Get fun “You’ve Been Booed” printables and the details here!

• Don’t forget to decorate your own house!

• Check out a spookyish book perfect for Halloween.

• Watch one of these slightly spooky Halloween movies.
  

• Have brave tweens or teens in the house? Try Oaks Park Scaregrounds or one of these local haunted houses.
  
  
• Climb aboard the Boo Train. Flower Farmer in Canby offers a spooky evening ride on their miniature train on select dates in October.

• Build a haunted house. A gingerbread house, that is. The Food Network has a recipe, directions and inspiration for this cute and creepy creation. (Trader Joe’s also has a popular kit version.) 

• Peek at a miniature haunted house. Bunny with a Toolbelt has created a haunted dollhouse in their Window of Wonders on NE Alberta.

• Head to the zoo. Oregon Zoo’s Howloween is back! Costumed trick-or-treaters can learn about healthy habitats for wildlife in a fun scavenger hunt throughout the zoo. This year treat bags are available at the end of the hunt for an additional $3 per participant. 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 23, 24 and 28–31.

• Costumed kids get in free at the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals on Halloween, plus there will be special Halloween happenings.

• Party at the Boo Bash Festival at the Hands On Children’s Museum in Olympia, Washington. October 22-31. 
  
  
• Visit Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum after dark for a thrilling after-hours flashlight-led adventure tour!

• Make sure you check these Annual October Happenings off your bucket list before the season is over!

• Check the Kids Calendar or This Weekend in PDX for in-person and virtual events. Local organizations and businesses are always sharing new activities with us!

• Show off those costumes! Post to Instagram with the hashtag #pdx_parent. We can’t wait to see your costumes!