San Diego, CA — The Haunted Trail of Balboa Park returns to Marston Point for its 27th year on select nights from September 25 through November 1, 2026. The event runs two haunts at one location, the 3,500-square-foot eXperiment Maze and the mile-long Haunted Trail through Balboa Park’s historic oak grove, alongside the free-entry Dark Carnival scare zone. Ticket details and full nightly hours will be announced ahead of the September 25 opening.
What is confirmed for 2026
- Dates: Select nights, September 25 through November 1, 2026.
- Location: Corner of Balboa Drive and Juniper Street, Marston Point, Balboa Park, San Diego.
- Attractions: The eXperiment Maze (3,500 sq ft) and the mile-long Haunted Trail. Both haunts are included with admission.
- Free scare zone: The Dark Carnival returns for its second year, expanded, with sinister carnival games, interactive characters, themed photo ops, local food trucks, and the BOOtique Gift Shop. No ticket required to enter the Dark Carnival.
- Tickets: Timed General Admission from $34.99. Fast Pass Admission from $49.99.
- Anniversary: 27th year of the event.
The eXperiment Maze
The first haunt is the 3,500-square-foot eXperiment Maze, described by the operator as beginning with a catastrophic experiment that has torn open a portal into a dystopian dimension. The maze runs through five interconnected areas:
- Mutant Maze: Cyberpunk human hunters in armor stalk the ruins of the dystopian world, tracking anything breathing.
- Asylum: The distinction between reality and imagination fractures apart.
- Vortex: A disorienting spinning-terror room.
- Magician’s Acid Trip: A deranged illusionist stages “tricks” that are torture, joined by a massive killer rabbit that walks upright on blood-soaked legs.
- The Crusher: The exit corridor, with the maze’s final threat before guests descend into the Haunted Trail proper.
The Haunted Trail
The second haunt is the mile-long Haunted Trail through Balboa Park’s Marston Point oak grove. The trail moves guests through a rotating cast of set-piece scenes:
- Ghoul Bus: A rusted school bus screeches to a halt. Its seats overflow with nightmare characters. Guests search for a way out through the back only to find more terror waiting.
- Deranged Clown Village: A trail-side backwoods encampment with a mobile torture carriage, bloody shackles, and stretchers prepared for the next victim.
- Killbilly Encampment: Meemaw and Paw are hosting dinner. Fresh meat is on the table.
- Cursed Western Town: A plague town where both the living and the dead have been infected. The rage zombies are fast.
- Chainsaw Cathedral: The Sisters of the Saws perform brutal sacrifices with chainsaws on any guest who enters their cathedral. Per the operator, no soul has ever been saved inside.
Tickets
Admission includes entry to both the eXperiment Maze and the mile-long Haunted Trail. Tickets are sold in 30-minute or one-hour entry windows depending on the tier.
- Timed General Admission: starting at $34.99. Guests enter the main line inside the gates within a 30-minute window of their specified time. A 7 p.m. ticket enters the main line between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m.
- Fast Pass Admission: starting at $49.99. Guests enter through the Fast Pass express line within a one-hour window. Fast Pass ticket holders wait substantially less overall.
Both ticket tiers include a brief regrouping stop between the eXperiment Maze exit and the entry to the mile-long Trail. The event is outdoors. If The Haunted Trail must close for rain, closures are announced on the operator’s social media.
Dark Carnival scare zone (free entry)
The Dark Carnival is the event’s free-entry scare zone, returning for its second year in 2026 and expanded from 2025. Guests can enter the Dark Carnival before or after their haunt walk-through, or while waiting for their group. The scare zone is loaded with:
- Brand-new horror-themed carnival games and experiences.
- Specialty interactive creatures.
- Themed photo opportunities.
- Local food trucks.
- The BOOtique Gift Shop with new and exclusive merchandise.
The Dark Carnival requires no ticket. Guests without a haunt admission can visit the scare zone for free.
Where The Haunted Trail fits in the Southern California Halloween market
The Haunted Trail of Balboa Park has the longest continuous run of any San Diego Halloween haunt at 27 years, and it is one of the few major California haunt events staged in a public park rather than at an amusement park or fairgrounds. The Marston Point site inside Balboa Park is the closest analog in the state to Los Angeles Haunted Hayride’s Griffith Park Old Zoo footprint, both leaning into public-park settings to create an atmosphere that theme park events cannot replicate.
The event’s positioning is distinct from the theme park events elsewhere in the region. It shares the September through early November calendar window with Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knott’s Scary Farm, Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood, and Howl-O-Scream San Diego, but at a different scale and a different price point.
Pricing comparison with Howl-O-Scream San Diego: Howl-O-Scream San Diego starts at $41.99 for a Single-Night Ticket valid Thursday, Friday, or Sunday, with the Any Night Ticket at $56.99 and an Unlimited Scream Pass at $106.99. The Haunted Trail of Balboa Park starts at $34.99 for Timed General Admission and $49.99 for Fast Pass. On base admission, The Haunted Trail undercuts Howl-O-Scream by $7 on the lowest-tier ticket and by $22 on the mid-tier ticket. Howl-O-Scream offers a fundamentally different scale (six haunted houses, five scare zones, three vile vignettes, one live show, and rides in the dark at SeaWorld San Diego) versus The Haunted Trail’s two-haunt format at Marston Point. The two events are complementary rather than direct competitors on a night-to-night basis, and can reasonably be visited on separate nights during the season.
In San Diego, Howl-O-Scream has grown into an anchor event over the past several seasons. The Haunted Trail continues to occupy the value tier of the San Diego Halloween market.
Event details
- Event: The Haunted Trail of Balboa Park 2026, 27th year
- Location: Corner of Balboa Drive and Juniper Street, Marston Point, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
- Dates: Select nights, September 25 through November 1, 2026
- Attractions: eXperiment Maze, the Haunted Trail, and the Dark Carnival scare zone (free entry)
- Information hotline: 619-696-SCARE (7227), active September through October
- Website and tickets: hauntedtrail.net
