Who is running Halloween in Lake Forest this Saturday? There are two answers, and they have different hours, different prices and different locations.
On Saturday, Oct. 24, the City of Lake Forest hosts its Spooktacular at Lake Forest Sports Park from 2 to 6 p.m. That same evening, OC Parks, which is a county agency, opens Heritage Hill Historical Park on Serrano Road for Fall-O-Ween from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. The city event costs money. The county event is free. Neither agency planned around the other, but the times line up well. The Sports Park event runs through the afternoon, the Heritage Hill event takes over in the evening, and the two overlap for an hour and a half.
This weekend is also Fall-O-Ween's last. The first round ran Oct. 16 to 18, so Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the only dates left before Halloween night.
The Saturday schedule
| Spooktacular | Fall-O-Ween | |
|---|---|---|
| Organizer | City of Lake Forest | OC Parks |
| Where | Lake Forest Sports Park, 28000 Rancho Parkway | Heritage Hill Historical Park, 25151 Serrano Road |
| Dates | Saturday, Oct. 24 only | Oct. 23, 24 and 25 |
| Hours | 2 to 6 p.m. | 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. |
| Cost | $10 wristbands; parents and kids under 3 free | Free event, free parking |
| What's there | Food trucks, trunk-or-treat, games, crafts, music | Decorated historic grounds, straw maze, scavenger hunt, photo spots |
The overlap from 4:30 to 6 p.m. is what makes doing both possible. A family that arrives at the Sports Park when it opens has a few hours of games and trunk-or-treat, and Heritage Hill is already open by the time they leave. A family with older kids or a later start can skip the afternoon and spend the evening on Serrano Road. Heritage Hill stays open until 8:30, which gives them most of the evening after dark.
The afternoon shift at the Sports Park
The Spooktacular is the City's own event, and the City has run it before. Lake Forest Patch calls it an "annual favorite" with games, food trucks and entertainment. A follow-up Patch report from Oct. 10 adds trunk-or-treats, crafts and music to the list.
Admission works through wristbands. According to Patch, wristbands went on sale at the Sports Park on Sept. 1 for $10 each, and they're also sold onsite. Parents and children under 3 get in free. That means a household with two parents and two school-age kids pays $20, and the parents don't need wristbands of their own.
The City's online calendar spells it "Spooktakular - Halloween Event" and lists it at 2 p.m. on the 24th. That listing is a quick way to check for last-minute changes before you leave the house. The Sports Park sits at 28000 Rancho Parkway.
The Sports Park event is a big, open afternoon with trucks, games and candy. The evening event across town is smaller and slower, and the setting is the main attraction.
The evening shift at Heritage Hill
Heritage Hill Historical Park is a 4.1-acre county park with four restored, furnished buildings. OC Parks says together they cover three periods: the Mexican Rancho era, the founding of El Toro, and the citrus farming of the early 20th century. Fall-O-Ween decorates those grounds and opens them during special evening hours. That means the trick-or-treat photo spots and the scavenger hunt are set up among these four buildings:
- Serrano Adobe, built around 1863
- El Toro Grammar School, built in 1890
- St. George's Episcopal Mission, built in 1891
- Harvey Bennett Ranch House, built in 1908
That's 45 years of construction in one walkable park. When kids work through the straw maze in the evening, they're doing it a short walk from an adobe that went up around 1863.
The OC Parks flyer lists everything you need to know before you go:
- Cost: The event and parking are both free.
- Activities: A straw maze and a scavenger hunt "for ghoulish goodies." Scavenger hunt prizes are available while supplies last.
- Food: Light refreshments are for sale on site.
- Costumes: Encouraged.
- Pets: Welcome on leashes no longer than 6 feet.
Two of those points affect how you plan. The prize limit means families who care about the scavenger hunt should arrive closer to 4:30 than 8. That's harder for anyone coming straight from the Sports Park, which runs until 6. The pet policy means the dog can come along to Heritage Hill in a costume. Questions go to Heritage Hill at (949) 923-2230 or [email protected].
If Saturday is already full, Friday the 23rd and Sunday the 25th have the same 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. hours at Heritage Hill. Families who want to go to both events without rushing can go to the Sports Park on Saturday afternoon and save Heritage Hill for Sunday evening.
Feeding everyone between the two
Heritage Hill sells only light refreshments. The Spooktacular has food trucks, but the City hasn't said which ones. For a family planning a real meal between the two events, or picking up food for Sunday, the newest option in town opened just nine days ago.
Fresh Choice Marketplace opened Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 22631 Lake Forest Drive, Lake Forest Patch reported. It's an international grocery with groceries from around the world, breads and desserts baked in-house, a large produce section and fresh halal meals. Its in-house restaurant is the Sababa Falafel Shop.
The bakery also solves a separate problem. Anyone bringing something sweet to a neighborhood gathering on Halloween night can now get breads and desserts baked on site, right on Lake Forest Drive.
What's already passed, and what's left on the 31st
Several of this month's Lake Forest Halloween events are over by the time this weekend arrives:
- The Monster Mash Special Needs Halloween Dance was held Oct. 10 at the Lake Forest Clubhouse. It's a free annual event that featured DJ Noah's dance floor, a costume photo booth, a reptile petting booth and free pizza.
- Night of the Living Shred took over Etnies Skatepark on Oct. 17 with a free evening of Halloween skating, a ghoul-filled obstacle course and a costume contest.
- Fall-O-Ween's first weekend ran Oct. 16 to 18.
That leaves the Oct. 24 Spooktacular and Fall-O-Ween's closing night on Sunday, Oct. 25, as the last organized Halloween dates in town. The City's October 2026 calendar lists the Spooktakular on the 24th and has nothing on Saturday the 31st. Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and the City hasn't scheduled anything that night. So this coming weekend is the last time this season when someone else handles the decorations, the candy and the maze. A week later, Halloween happens on residents' own streets.
Want to know what your block's Halloween-night street appeal is worth in today's market? Alexander Gagnon tracks Lake Forest home values street by street, from the Rancho Parkway neighborhoods near the Sports Park to the streets around Serrano Road. Get Your Home Valuation, and enjoy both shifts on Saturday.
