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One of a Kind Haunt Experience

The Haunted Trail of Balboa Park

San Diego’s favorite haunted tradition, The Haunted Trail of Balboa Park, is back with two horrifying haunted houses in one: The unpredictable 3,500 square foot Experiment Maze and the mile-long Haunted Trail winding through the gnarled oaks of historic Marston Point.

Named in CNN’s Top 5 BEST Haunted Attractions in America, and one of 2026 Top 5 best value (Scream for your buck) Halloween Destinations in the U.S. by America Haunts.

The carnage begins inside the eXperiment Maze, where a violent tear in reality has unleashed something unnatural into the park. Fight your way through the Mutant Maze, infested with armor-clad cyberpunks ruthlessly hunting anything human. Don’t get trapped inside the Asylum, where chaos bleeds through every hallway. If you can survive the disorienting madness of the Vortex, you’ll be hurled into what can only be described as a Magician’s Acid Trip, an illusion of warped colors, impossible realities, and deadly tricks gone horribly wrong. Beware the killer rabbit… unfortunately it’s far from the only evil hiding up his bloodstained sleeve. As you descend deeper, you find yourself in The Haunted Trail, where your worst nightmares begin turning against you. The Ghoul Bus is waiting to pick you up, overflowing with the twisted monsters and maniacs that have haunted your fears for years. Come face to face with a clown so Terrifying even Freddy is too afraid to fall asleep. And don’t keep the Killbilly family waiting. Meemaw and Paw have dinner on the table, and the fresh meat is already getting cold. Travel back to the Old West and you’ll find a deadly outbreak has transformed an entire town into bloodthirsty rage zombies. Don’t expect to outrun them easily, they are fast as hell! Regrettably, no soul has ever been saved within the Chainsaw Cathedral. Inside, the Sisters of the Saws paint the altar red with anyone foolish enough to enter.

Your night doesn’t stop at the saws, the DARK CARNIVAL is BACK and BIGGER. This scare zone is loaded with brand new sinister carnival games and experiences, overrun with specialty interactive creatures, riddled with themed photo ops and local food trucks, and boasts the BOOtique Gift Shop packed with new and exclusive merch.

The Haunted Trail of Balboa Park, morphing each Halloween season, reinventing fear for 27 years.

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Featured Haunts

The night begins in complete chaos. A catastrophic experiment has torn open space and time, unleashing a portal to a very dark dimension. Cyberpunk human hunters stalk the ruins of this dystopian world, relentlessly tracking anything breathing. One wrong turn leads straight into the madness of the asylum, where the distinction between reality and imagination fracture apart.

Survive the spinning terror of the Vortex and you’ll be hurled into the lair of a deranged illusionist, a place where torture is disguised as ‘tricks’. Looming beside him is his monstrous killer rabbit who towers over its victims, walking upright on massive blood-soaked legs, and driven by an insatiable hunger for violence. And if you somehow force your way through the “Crusher”, don’t expect escape.

You haven’t even begun your descent into the horrors of The Haunted Trail.

Now the demons of The Haunted Trail begin to hone in on your deepest fears. The infamous Ghoul Bus screeches to a halt as its rusted doors swing open. The seats overflow with motionless characters you recognize from your nightmares, staring silently while you desperately search for a way out through the back. Devastatingly, escape only leads to more terror. Hidden within the trail’s backwoods lies a deranged clown village where a mobile torture carriage rests in the shadows. Bloody and vomit-covered shackles and stretchers are prepared for the next victim. The neighboring Killbilly encampment offers no safety either. Meemaw and Paw insist you stay for dinner.

If you survive this far, you’ll stumble into a cursed western town where a violent plague has infected both the living and the dead. If you can outrun the rage zombies, you’ll have to face the Sisters of the Saw. These chainsaw-wielding nuns perform brutal sacrifices upon every soul foolish enough to enter their cathedral. None escape.

The Dark Carnival expansion is back for its second year! 

Bigger than ever, this immersive scare zone is loaded with twisted entertainment:

Brand new horror themed carnival games and experiences

Specialty interactive creatures

Themed photo opportunities

Local food trucks

BOOtique Gift Shop packed with new and exclusive merch found nowhere else!

No ticket needed for entry, visit after exiting the Haunt or while you are waiting for your group. 

Featured Haunts

The eXperiment Maze

The journey begins in total darkness as you step into the eXperiment Maze—a twisted realm where sensory deception and monstrous creations blur the line between fear and confusion. Even if you outrun the shifting silhouettes of the Slenderman, there’s no escape from the spinning chaos of The Vortex. When it spits you out, The Clown is waiting, grinning…terrifying. Around every corner you’re being stalked by a bizarre abomination, some familiar, others defy explanation entirely. The eXperiment Maze is only the first gauntlet, beyond lies the infamous Haunted Trail.

The Haunted Trail

Once you escape the clutches of the eXperiment Maze, the true nightmare begins along the mile-long path winding through Balboa Park’s wicked woods. This year, ancient darkness has awakened…

Step into The Portal, a disorienting gateway to another dimension. Lose yourself in its hall of mirrors, where light and vapor engulf you as cult priests slip silently through time and space towards you. Welcome aboard Freddy’s School Bus where you slide down the aisle with the dream-haunting killer leering from every seat. Creep through the Clown Slums, where depraved jesters lurk and drag you into their Torture Carriage. Infestations of insects and paranormal activity consume an unavoidable rotting mansion that will make your skin crawl. Nuke Town glows with radioactive terror, and cannibals await in the Killbilly Smokehouse—grinning beneath hanging flesh, blades ready. Your final judgment awaits in a decaying cathedral, scorched black by unholy fire where a cloister of colossal chainsaw wielding nuns release their holy rage. Is it their saws singing like a choir….or your screams? This is no walk in the park.

WARNING

WARNING: All patrons enter at their own risk. Owners & sponsors are not responsible or liable for any harm incurred on the premises. This attraction contains high impact scares and strobe lights which may not be suitable for people with heart conditions or prone to seizures. Attraction may include the use of fog juice as well as spraying water. Sorry, NO pregnant women, infants, or children being carried will be allowed entry. Not recommended for children under 10.

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