Halloween: Family-friendly haunt at Calico Ghost Town, near Barstow

Where better to rustle up old ghosts than a ghost town. The erstwhile silver-mining destination of Calico, six miles northeast of Barstow, is hosting its annual Ghost Haunt for two weekends beginning Oct. 23.

The ghost town — which was developed in 1881, booming till 1896 and deserted by 1904 — is a year-round attraction for its 19th century mining-camp sites, some original and others reconstructed. But this bit of the Old West apparently gets even more spirited for Ghost Haunt, when the attraction is set to inspire excited spooks and shivers from Halloween aficionados of all ages.

Family-friendly features include a haunted mine and a ride in a real coffin, as well as activities like trick-or-treating, costume and coloring contests, pumpkin carving, panning for gold in “bloody” water and a reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.”

See this full schedule of events (for the first weekend; check the website later for the second).

When: The Ghost Haunt runs Oct. 23-25 and Oct. 30-Nov. 1.

Cost: $10 per adult per day and $5 per child ages 6 to 15.

Camping: For the second weekend, Oct. 30-Nov. 1, camping is still available at a campground just below the town (in a canyon), and sites go for $25 and up per night during festival days. Call the number below to reserve.

Contact: Calico Ghost Town, (800) 86-CALICO ([800] 862-2542)

– Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

Photo: A resident skeleton at this year’s Calico Ghost Haunt. Credit: Calico Ghost Town

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 16, 2009 at 2:10 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under California, Fall, Family & Kids, Festival, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.