Scary Trails: RVing to All Our Favourite Halloween Destinations

When most people think about Halloween, they rarely think of travelling. The extent of their journeys include a trip to the grocery store to purchase large bags of candy, and then later canvassing their neighbourhood streets to see (and participate in) all the trick-or-treating efforts. Rarely if ever does Halloween conjure up a desire to travel beyond the boundaries of your neighbourhood. But travelling experts argue that if you are hoping to qualify for perpetual Halloween bragging rights, you’ll need to travel. The reason for this is because there are many exciting (and obviously scary) destinations that you are missing out by limiting your Halloween experiences to high-end costumes, parties ’til dawn, eating yourself sick on candy corn. Instead, by rallying up a few travelling buddies in an RV for a tour can put you on a journey to find a number of spooky, spine-tingling and downright raucous destinations. You will be so shook by the great places to explore that you will want to make this a regular occurrence on many Halloween holidays to follow.

So, what are some great Halloween Destinations?

Vegas, Nevada

If you prefer not to party, there are definitely other Halloween options that do not include partying but allow you to explore and enjoy in the sinful pleasures of Halloween. You might consider checking out Vegas’ Haunted Vegas Tours which allows participants to hunt for the ghosts of Liberace, Bugsy Siegel and Elvis among others. Alternatively, why not check out the Vegoose music and arts festival held annually on the grounds of Sam Boyd Stadium. This festival gives you an excuse to rock out and get your ghoulish groove on at a bumping Halloween scene that has previously included plenty of big name headliners. Some of the memorable performers at this eclectic event that has housed genres as diverse as hip-hop, indie rock and jam bands include everyone from Tom Petty to Rage Against the Machine. Aside from music, this event also has a costume contest, bizarro burlesque show and giant spinning jack-o-lantern in the middle of the crowd.

Savannah, Georgia

Interestingly enough, another Halloween travel stop on your RV travels is the historic downtown area of Savannah in Georgia. According to legend, plenty of the downtown areas are actually constructed atop of cemeteries – which is a perfect landscape for all things spooky. So it is no surprise that Savannah sets the supernatural stage for a perfect Halloween travel itinerary. Visitors of this town can find plenty of places to sip spirits on Halloween night to the sounds of local bands, or engage in the notorious pub crawls while dressed in costume.

Experts suggest a few Savannah Halloween favourites to make the most of your stay. First, before heading out, you may consider dinning out at the Olde Pink House restaurant and delving deeper into the city’s afterlife. After dinner, why not participate in Savannah’s ubiquitous ghost tour or visit the Mercer Williams House which was the historical site of the murder in the true crime novel, Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil. Other visitors have taken a scary stroll to check out the moss-draped oaks and gravestones of the creepy Bonaventure Cemetery, or to see the 17-Hundred-90 Inn where lovelorn Anna Powers committed suicide by leaping to her death from the third-floor balcony. According to myth, her ghost awaits visitor’s in the inn’s room 208.

West Hollywood, California

Another popular Halloween travel destination is in West Hollywood. Plenty of Halloween aficionados enjoy taking in tinseltown’s West Hollywood Costume Carnaval which draws in approximately half a million party people to one of the country’s biggest Halloween street festivals. The party was initially considered a primarily gay and lesbian event, though it now attracts a variety of attendees, many of whom travel from Southern California. After the street festival, many attendees venture over to Santa Monica Boulevard (which closes off traffic for the evening) where crowds cut loose and dance the night away along the one-mile stretch of what was once Route 66. You can expect to hear plenty of live music, and witness costume contests that eventually lead up to the crowning of the honorary “Queen of the Carnaval.”

Tombstone, Arizona

Fans of the Halloween season also take their travels to the dry state of Arizona where the Earps took on the Clantons in an Old West gun battle of mythic proportions in 1881. The town of Tombstone is notorious for a supposedly healthy ghost population that famously haunts “The Town Too Tough to Die.” If you’re lucky enough to spend some time in this place during Halloween, you will be able to bear witness to daily re-enactment of the infamous gunfight, complete with costumed Clantons shot dead by Earp impersonators before cheering crowds. You might also consider visiting the real burial site where the bodies of this conflict lay – Boothill Cemetery. Experts warn that if you find yourself in this Arizona hot spot for ghosts, be aware that you may bump into plenty of Wild West specters including cowboy ghosts who are often seen roaming the dusty streets and back alleys after dark.

Wherever you decide to plan your Halloween in the west, south, or east side of the United States, there are plenty of spooky opportunities. So what are you waiting for – jump in your RV and discover the scary scenarios waiting for you on the road!