Ghost stories around the fire are a timeless camping tradition. Every fall, state parks all over Texas play host to this activity and other spooky traditions for their own unique Halloween celebrations.

Take the core of this holiday, trick-or-treating. Many state parks send visitors on a candy quest along designated campsite loops during certain hours or as a group. Bonus: no traffic or grumpy neighbors to spoil the fun.

“This is where you want to be on Halloween,” says Junior Rodriguez, park interpreter at Tyler State Park. “It’s a safe space to trick or treat, enjoy nature and get to know your neighbors. It’s really magical.”

The Tyler park’s event includes costume and campsite decorating contests and campfire stories by a storyteller from the Tyler Public Library.

Some parks take the scary stories up a notch or two. The Lockhart High School Drama Club creates a “Trail of Terror” along the Caddy and CCC trails at Lockhart State Park. Guided groups leave from the Recreation Hall, where there are educational activities, food and merchandise sold by the club.

“Going from the hall to the pitch-black woods adds to the scare factor,” park interpreter Lauren Hartwick says. “But it’s not a fright fest or scary haunted house, it’s literally just high school kids.”

The Halloween tales at Fort Richardson State Park and Historic Site feature its hospital, added to the site in 1870. For years, the dead were kept on the second floor of the building until they could be buried.

“Out of all the buildings, if one was haunted, it would be that one,” says park interpreter Haley Richardson.

At Fort Leaton State Historic Site, candlelight tours create the perfect atmosphere for the tales of an 1860s murder there and a legend of locals sealing the devil into a nearby mountain cave.

“Kids like being scared a little, and people learn a bit about the history here,” says park interpreter Arian Velazquez-Ornelas.

Communities around Fort Leaton celebrate Day of the Dead, a blending of Aztec and European traditions, and art students from nearby Presidio High School offer traditional crafts at the fort, such as sugar skulls or calaveras, and papel picado banners. The staff also sets up an ofrenda, or altar decorated with bright flowers, candles and mementos of departed loved ones.

Jamie Ford, a regional interpretive specialist at Texas Parks and Wildlife, thinks Halloween events are so popular at parks in part because of cooler fall weather. “People want to do things outside,” she says. “A lot of our events are geared toward fun but tie in with our mission of protecting the resources.”

Government Canyon State Natural Area’s Sounds of the Night is one example. For this game-show style event, park interpreter Lisa Cole plays sounds and people vote on what animal it is. Educational stations have information and touch stations highlighting what Cole calls “unhuggable” wildlife – scorpions, bats and coyotes.

Find more Halloween events and details at tpwd.texas.gov/calendar. Some events require tickets or reservations, while others are free with park admission.