Texas Haunted Trail Ride at Barnwell Mountain

For a Halloween community event with a distinctly East Texas flavor, the Texas Haunted Trail Ride at the Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area delivers. On Friday, October 30, 2026, the outdoor recreation grounds put on a spooky trail experience with a wagon ride through the pines, jack-o-lantern lights, hay bales, and family-friendly scares. It is the kind of event that makes the most of a cool autumn night in the country.

The event

An outdoor Halloween

Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area is a sprawling outdoor recreation property in the Piney Woods, and a haunted trail there means a genuine country setting: tall pines, dirt trails, and the cool night air. Families pile onto the wagon, lanterns line the path, and the whole thing wraps up with the kind of low-key, small-town fun that Halloween in East Texas is really about. It is a little different from a trunk-or-treat on the square, and that variety is part of the appeal.

The drive from the property

County Road 1070 to the Barnwell Mountain area near Gilmer is roughly 40 minutes via US-271, an easy drive through the countryside. For anyone looking at the property as a home or weekend retreat, the range of nearby family events, from haunted trail rides to festivals and live music, makes the region feel far more connected than its quiet setting suggests.