Haunted Hike Brings Big Crowd

BLENHEIM — This past week on October 25th at 5:30pm, Minekill State Park had its first-ever haunted hike event on the park's winding trails. The event was held in the mid-level-overlook pavilion, which was decorated for the Halloween season and stocked with desserts to welcome visitors. Guests signed in to the free event, and from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm could walk the trail without the fear of scarers, which would be present at 6:30 pm when night fell. After the family-friendly hour of hiking was over, the haunted hike began, and was alleged to be so scary that it was not suitable for children under 10! 

The haunted hike was a twenty-minute walk through a heavily decorated and creepy trail in the dark of night. Volunteer scarers from Minekill State Park and beyond were the dark denizens who leapt out to frighten visitors. These scarers were in costume, dressed as Jason Vorhees, a killer surgeon, a screaming nurse, a wolfman, and an ogre. The hike certainly had fright in it, and there were even some brave children who marched in with their parents. 

Light rain fell as the event came to a close around 8:00 pm. The last family returned from the final haunted hike around 8:30 pm. The mid-level parking lot, which had been filled to its 80 car capacity, emptied as visitors left. 

For a first-time event, Minekill State Park's haunted hike was a smash hit with over 250 signing into the event in person. “For our first year, I am pleasantly surprised by the turnout we had, which was over 250 persons,” said Katrina Vance, the Park Supervisor at Minekill State Park. Because of the overwhelmingly positive feedback regarding the haunted hike, Minekill has decided that the event will occur again next year, taking all the feedback received to improve what was already great. With this news in mind, the haunted hike may become a new yearly Minekill State Park tradition. With how popular the event was there's no surprise that people will want to return next year for another night of spooks and frights.