Ridgewood's Halloween this year includes a walk through the woods in the dark. Haunted Highland, a free outdoor haunted trail along the Ridgewood Reservoir's East Causeway in Highland Park, runs on Friday, October 30, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., and a free bilingual trick-or-treat party follows on Halloween afternoon in a Willoughby Avenue community garden.

A haunted house, outdoors

NYC Parks describes Haunted Highland as a haunted house that happens to be outside in the woods: ghosts, witches, candy, scares and surprises along the causeway trail. Guests enter in small groups, and each group gets about 10 minutes to make its way through. Costumes are welcome, and Parks asks walkers to wear comfortable shoes or sneakers for the trail.

The event is free, with registration through Eventbrite, linked from the Parks event page. It is presented with the Forest Park Trust and produced by the Oye! Group.

Truco o Trato on Halloween

On Saturday, October 31, from 2 to 6 p.m., the Sunset Community Garden at 17-98 Willoughby Avenue hosts Truco o Trato / Trick or Treat, a free afternoon with music and candy, promoted with a bilingual flyer in Spanish and English. It is one of the community-garden events NYC Parks lists for Halloween weekend in Queens.

After Halloween at the Onderdonk House

The Vander Ende-Onderdonk House at 1820 Flushing Avenue, the Dutch colonial farmhouse run by the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society, has three public events on its calendar for the rest of the year:

  • Candle Making, Sunday, November 8, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
  • Stockholm Street Walking Tour, Saturday, November 14, 1:30 to 3 p.m..
  • St. Nicholas Day, Sunday, December 6, noon to 4 p.m., one of the society's recurring annual festivals.

Construction inside the museum means every 2026 event takes place in the Onderdonk backyard, entered through the Onderdonk Avenue gate. Members of the historical society get free entry to most public events, and details and registration for each one are on the house's events page. The house can be reached at 718-456-1776.

Getting there

For Highland Park and the reservoir, the J and Z trains stop at Cypress Hills and Crescent Street along Jamaica Avenue, and the Q56 bus runs on Jamaica Avenue.

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