Guernsey County Halloween 2026: Trick-or-Treat Times and Events

Trick-or-treating across Guernsey County begins Oct. 17, with neighborhoods and municipalities staggering their schedules over a two-week window that ends on Halloween night. The staggered approach reflects a broader Ohio practice where individual cities and villages set their own hours rather than following a statewide mandate.

Salt Fork State Park opens the season first, hosting trick-or-treating from 5 to 6 p.m. on Oct. 17 at its campgrounds. The park pairs the candy route with a Halloween party running from 1 to 9 p.m. that day, featuring hayrides, bonfires with complimentary popcorn and s’mores, crafts, guided hikes along the Storybook Trail and a magician. Salt Fork spans more than 13,000 acres between Guernsey and Belmont counties, making its campground one of the largest concentrated trick-or-treat venues in the region.

The Enclave follows on Oct. 22 from 5 to 6 p.m.

Cambridge and Barnesville both schedule their neighborhood routes for Oct. 27. Cambridge runs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., while Barnesville extends its hours slightly, operating from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Two days later, on Oct. 29, Cambridge City Park hosts a drive-through event from 5:30 to 7 p.m., with vehicles entering exclusively from McKinley Avenue. Caldwell holds its traditional door-to-door route from 6 to 7 p.m. the same evening. Drive-through trunk-or-treat formats have expanded significantly across rural Ohio since 2020, offering an alternative for families who prefer controlled traffic environments over residential sidewalks.

Halloween night, Oct. 31, carries the heaviest concentration of activity. McElroy Heritage Farm in Byesville operates from 4 to 6 p.m., concluding with a costume contest at 6 p.m. Byesville’s municipal trick-or-treat hours follow immediately after, running from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Calvary Baptist Church in Byesville also stages its annual Trunk or Treat, while the local fire department distributes candy alongside participating businesses. New Concord rounds out the county’s Halloween night schedule from 6 to 7 p.m.

Beyond candy collection, several venues are programming live entertainment and visual displays through the end of the month. A Halloween light show projects nightly from 7 to 9 p.m. through Oct. 31 on the exterior of the Guernsey County Courthouse. The courthouse, built in 1881, serves as the architectural centerpiece of downtown Cambridge.

The Cambridge Performing Arts Center is staging “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” with performances at 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays from Oct. 16 through Oct. 26. Tickets are priced at $12.

For younger children, the Guernsey County Library hosts its fourth annual fall carnival on Oct. 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring games, balloon animals and a popcorn bar.

Families selecting costumes should account for federal safety guidance regarding face coverings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises against placing masks on infants and toddlers who lack the motor skills to remove them independently or the ability to communicate breathing difficulty. Pediatric safety organizations generally recommend face paint as a safer alternative for children under age two, ensuring airways remain entirely unobstructed during evening activities.

Motorists traveling through Guernsey County between Oct. 17 and Oct. 31 should anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic beginning as early as 4 p.m. daily, particularly along McKinley Avenue in Cambridge and throughout the Byesville village center.