Halloween Train Rides Near Louisiana (2026)
For years, Louisiana parents searching for a Halloween train landed on the Audubon Zoo's Ghost Train in New Orleans, but nothing Audubon has published for 2026 mentions one, so we could not confirm a family Halloween train anywhere in Louisiana this year. That is the honest answer. Boo at the Zoo itself is still on, and the rides below are the closest real Halloween trains across the state line. For the rest of the country, use our Halloween train guide, sorted by state.
Where you live decides where you drive. New Orleans and the Northshore are about an hour and a quarter from TrainTastic's Tricks, Treats & Trains in Gulfport, Mississippi, on Oct 23 and 24, and Wales West in Silverhill, Alabama runs a pumpkin train most nights through Oct 30. Shreveport is closer to Oklahoma and Texas, and southwest Louisiana can head west on I-10 toward a caboose hayride in Galveston. This page also lists Halloween events for kids in Louisiana that need no train, from Ghosts in the Oaks in City Park to tank or treating at the Shreveport Aquarium.
Look inside the book
A dark tunnel, a brave corgi. Bring Rally along.
In Rally Takes the Train, a corgi rides into a dark tunnel, gets a little scared, and comes out to a big bright light and happy cheers. It takes about five minutes to read, a good fit for the long drive from Louisiana to a pumpkin train.
Rally Takes the Train
Eight pages from the book
Turn the page
That's 8 of 25 pages
See who’s waiting at the station
Grandmommy and Papa are at the last stop. Get the full hand-painted book, $13.99 on Amazon.
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Like it so far? See the full book
25 hand-painted pages, paperback, $13.99 with fast shipping from Amazon.
Every page is real watercolor on paper, painted by hand by Leslie Dunn. Nothing in this book was made with AI.
No Train Needed: Halloween Events for Kids in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Shreveport
These are family Halloween events in Louisiana that we confirmed on the organizers' own sites. None of them is a train ride; they are the in-state picks if a drive to Gulfport or Grapevine is too much this year.
New Orleans: Ghosts in the Oaks
City Park Conservancy (New Orleans City Park) · Festival
City Park's Ghosts in the Oaks goes intergalactic this year, with unlimited rides at Carousel Gardens, Storyland open, and 10 trick-or-treat stations along one treat route. Every child gets a reusable treat bag, and the park promises the costumed characters will not be frightening. Tickets are advance only, and City Park says they usually sell out weeks ahead, so check availability now.
New Orleans: Boo at the Zoo
Audubon Zoo (Audubon Nature Institute) · Zoo
Audubon's Boo at the Zoo runs trick-or-treat stations for kids 12 and under, a haunted house and Halloween fun across the zoo. Li'l Boo Friday is the pick for preschoolers, with activities for younger children until 5 PM and an outdoor movie after. Audubon does not mention a Ghost Train this year, and the zoo train costs extra.
Baton Rouge: Boo at the Zoo
BREC's Baton Rouge Zoo · Zoo
BREC's Baton Rouge Zoo brings back trick-or-treat stations for two weekends, plus character meet-and-greets from The Petite Princess Company and a show by The Dinosaur Experience. It costs only regular zoo admission, and it runs rain or shine. Enter through Greenwood Park on Highway 19, not the old Thomas Road gate, and check hours before you go.
Lafayette: Trick-or-Treat at the Boo-seum
Lafayette Science Museum (University of Louisiana at Lafayette) · Museum
The Lafayette Science Museum turns its galleries into a not-so-spooky trick-or-treat path with science experiments and STEM activities on one Saturday afternoon. Costume judging runs from noon to 1:30 PM, and the winners are announced at 2 PM, so arrive early if your kid wants a shot. The museum has not posted a price for the event.
Broussard: Boo at the Zoo
Zoosiana · Zoo
Zoosiana, just outside Lafayette, runs Boo at the Zoo every day in October for the price of regular admission. A friendly ghost named Boux and his friends hide around the zoo, kids hunt for 7 of the 10 ghosts on the map, and children 12 and under get a treat bag on the way out. Halloween morning adds a costume dance party at 11 AM.
Shreveport: Halloween Under the Sea: Tank or Treat Weekends
Shreveport Aquarium · Other
The Shreveport Aquarium swaps houses for tanks on three days, with treat stations along the route for kids in costume. A bubble dance party starts at 10:30 AM, and at 1 PM divers carve pumpkins underwater. The page lists the dates without a year, so confirm on the organizer's site before you go.
The closest Halloween trains to Louisiana
Gulfport, Mississippi: Tricks, Treats & Trains
Pumpkin and costume ride TrainTastic Interactive Model Railroad Museum
The easiest Halloween train for New Orleans and Northshore families: outdoor train rides, trick-or-treating, a costume contest and a Haunted Depot at a model railroad museum on Pass Road. Ride between 5:30 and 6:30 PM with little ones; the museum says the later ride gets spookier and recommends it, and the depot, for ages 8 and up.
Broken Bow, Oklahoma: Nighttime Halloween Train of Terror
Haunted ride Beavers Bend Train Depot & Trail Rides
The closest Halloween train to Shreveport, a night ride through the pines of Beavers Bend State Park. It is billed as a Train of Terror, so it suits big kids and teens who want a fright, not a preschooler.
Silverhill, Alabama: Pumpkin Patch Express
Pumpkin and costume ride Wales West Light Railway
If Gulfport's two nights do not fit, this light railway in Baldwin County has kiddie-friendly trains every half hour from 4:20 to 6:50 PM, and one ticket covers the rides, a hayless hayride, playgrounds and a bounce house. The scarier trains start at 7:20 PM, so leave before then with small kids.
Galveston, Texas: CabooseFest: Hootenanny & Hayrides
Pumpkin and costume ride Galveston Railroad Museum
Not a Halloween train, to be clear: it is a new fall festival where the Harborside Express Caboose pulls hayrides every 40 minutes, with a pumpkin patch and live music. For southwest Louisiana families who want a daytime ride on real rails, it is the nearest one.
Grapevine, Texas: Trick 'R Treat Trains
Pumpkin and costume ride Grapevine Vintage Railroad
The gentle choice for northwest Louisiana: a 90-minute ride in vintage coaches with a story acted out on board and a candy bag for every rider at the end. The railroad calls it Halloween fun for all ages, and costumes are encouraged.
Train rides in Louisiana this fall
Audubon's Boo at the Zoo in New Orleans is still worth a day: Friday, Oct 16 is the Li'l Boo day, 10:00 AM to 6:30 PM, and Saturday and Sunday run 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with general tickets at $32 on Friday and $38 on the weekend. Kids 12 and under trick-or-treat, and there is a haunted house and animal activities. The zoo's train is running again too, as the Audubon Wonders of Nature Express, for a separate fee, but Audubon does not bill it as a Halloween ride, so think of it as a regular zoo train on a Halloween weekend.
Rally’s Spooky Train Ride: Halloween shirts
The tunnel page from the book, Rally on his red seat in the dark, is printed on black shirts in sizes for the whole family, from baby to 5XL. Skip the costume hassle: no masks to fog up, no capes caught in the train door, just a shirt that already says Halloween and layers under a coat on a cold platform. A matching set makes for easy pumpkin train photos. See everything in the Rally shop.
Adult tee
Sizes XS to 5XL, black, printed with the tunnel page from the book.
Kids tee
Sizes S to XL, black, printed with the tunnel page from the book.
Toddler tee
Sizes 2T to 5T, black, printed with the tunnel page from the book.
Baby bodysuit
Sizes 3 to 18 months, black, printed with the tunnel page from the book.
Shorts in New Orleans, a Jacket for the Oklahoma Pines
Mid to late October in New Orleans usually runs upper 70s to low 80s by day, so the Gulfport and Silverhill trips are short sleeves with a light layer for after dark. Coast evenings in Mississippi tend to stay in the 60s and humid, and Alabama's Gulf side stays warmer than inland.
Shreveport families heading north should pack differently. North Louisiana evenings are already a little cooler, and Oklahoma's late October nights drop into the 40s and 50s, damp in the Broken Bow woods, so the Train of Terror calls for real jackets. Galveston is humid with highs around 80 and possible afternoon showers, which can make an open caboose hayride warm or wet.
Matching a Louisiana Kid to the Right Out-of-State Ride
Two of these rides have a spooky side you can control by the clock. TrainTastic says its train ride is family-friendly from 5:30 to 6:30 PM and gets spookier after that, with the Haunted Depot recommended for ages 8 and up; Wales West runs kiddie trains until 6:50 PM and scary ones from 7:20 PM. Arrive early and leave before the switch.
Beavers Bend is the one to skip with preschoolers, since the railroad calls it a Train of Terror and it runs in the dark. Grapevine's story train and the Galveston caboose hayride are both daytime rides with nothing billed as scary. For a nervous four-year-old, tell them exactly how long the drive is, what the train looks like and when the candy comes.
Rally's trip in our book starts before sunrise, when he spots the suitcase and packs his turtle toy, his green bone and his yellow ball. A two-hour drive from Baton Rouge to Gulfport deserves the same ritual: let your child pick three favorite things for the car and the ride home. Tuck in a few Rally coloring sheets for the I-10 stretch.
That suitcase scene came from my mom, who imagined Rally's whole journey; here is how it became a book.
Road-Trip Notes for Louisiana Families Chasing a Halloween Train
- Book Gulfport ahead. TrainTastic strongly recommends advance tickets, the first 200 guests each night get a treat bag, and the museum's own events list wrongly shows Oct 24 and 25; its event page and booking system say Oct 23 and 24.
- Wales West sells a limited number of walk-up tickets every day at its gift shop and adds a second train if the timed tickets sell out, so a last-minute Silverhill trip is not hopeless.
- Wales West is closed on Halloween, and Galveston's CabooseFest is Oct 17 only. Grapevine runs just one Saturday train and two on Sunday.
- For a 6:00 PM start at Beavers Bend, Shreveport families are driving home after 10:00 PM, so plan pajamas in the car or a night nearby.
- Pack water and sunscreen for daytime rides even in late October; the Gulf Coast routinely reaches 80 degrees.
A train book for the ride
For a full-size train day with no costumes involved, read our guides to the City of New Orleans with kids, the Sunset Limited west toward Lafayette and Lake Charles and the Crescent out of New Orleans.
Free for train families
Print the Rally coloring pages before the drive
Watercolor coloring pages from the book, free to print. They fit in a folder with a few crayons for the line at the depot or the drive home.
Get the free coloring pages for the drive
A train story for the ride homeRally Takes the Train is a five-minute rhyming picture book about a corgi's first train trip to see his grand-paw-rents, including one dark tunnel he is brave enough to ride through. Hand-painted in real watercolor. $13.99 on Amazon, for ages 0 to 8.
Buy on AmazonMore for train families
- Halloween train rides in every state: pumpkin trains and haunted rides by state
- Every Amtrak route with kids: find a train by city or station
- Halloween books for toddlers for the drive
Louisiana Parents' Questions About the Closest Halloween Trains
Is there a Halloween train in Louisiana this year?
We could not confirm one for 2026. The Audubon Zoo's Ghost Train used to be the answer, but Audubon's 2026 Boo at the Zoo materials do not mention it, and no Louisiana heritage railroad lists a Halloween ride. The closest family option is TrainTastic's Tricks, Treats & Trains in Gulfport, Mississippi, about 1 hour 15 minutes from New Orleans, on Oct 23 and 24.
What Halloween events for kids are there in New Orleans, Louisiana?
City Park's Ghosts in the Oaks runs October 15 to 18 with unlimited rides, Storyland and trick-or-treating, $30 to $35, advance tickets only. Audubon's Boo at the Zoo runs October 16 to 18 with trick-or-treating for kids 12 and under and a haunted house, $32 to $38. Neither includes a Halloween train; Gulfport's Tricks, Treats & Trains is about 1 hour 15 minutes away.
Are there any Halloween train rides near Baton Rouge, Louisiana?
Not in Baton Rouge, but BREC's Baton Rouge Zoo holds Boo at the Zoo on October 17, 18, 24 and 25, with trick-or-treat stations, character meet-and-greets, a dinosaur show and a costume contest for regular admission ($7 kids, $10 adults, plus tax). The closest Halloween train is TrainTastic's Tricks, Treats & Trains in Gulfport, about 2 hours 15 minutes away, on October 23 and 24.
Where is the closest Halloween train to Shreveport, Louisiana?
There is none in Shreveport, but the Shreveport Aquarium runs Tank or Treat weekends on October 24, 25 and 31, with treat stations for kids in costume and divers carving pumpkins underwater at 1 PM. The nearest train is the Beavers Bend Train of Terror in Oklahoma, about 2 hours 30 minutes away and billed as scary; Grapevine's gentler Trick 'R Treat Trains is about 3 hours away.
What can families do for Halloween in Lafayette, Louisiana if they want a train?
In town, the Lafayette Science Museum's Trick-or-Treat at the Boo-seum is Saturday, October 24 from noon to 3 PM, and Zoosiana in Broussard runs Boo at the Zoo daily through October 31 for regular admission. For a train, the Galveston caboose hayrides on October 17 and TrainTastic's Tricks, Treats & Trains in Gulfport on October 23 and 24 are each about three hours away.
Is Zoosiana's Boo at the Zoo in Broussard worth a visit with little kids?
For a low-key Halloween outing, yes. Zoosiana runs Boo at the Zoo every day in October with no special ticket, just regular admission. Kids hunt for ghost friends of Boux the Ghost on a map, children 12 and under get a treat bag on the way out, and October 31 adds a costume dance party at 11 AM. Check the zoo's site for hours and prices.
Is there a Halloween or pumpkin train near Lake Charles, LA?
Not in Lake Charles. The nearest ride on real rails is the Galveston Railroad Museum's CabooseFest on Saturday, Oct 17, about 2 hours 30 minutes away, where caboose hayrides leave every 40 minutes from 11:00 AM to 3:40 PM and there is a pumpkin patch. It is a fall festival, not a Halloween train. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for kids, plus $10 for the hayride.
Halloween train options for kids near Slidell and the Northshore?
Slidell families are the closest in Louisiana to a real Halloween train: TrainTastic in Gulfport, Mississippi is about 45 minutes away. Its Tricks, Treats & Trains runs Oct 23 and 24 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM, with outdoor train rides, trick-or-treating and a costume contest. Tickets are $10, members free, and the museum recommends buying ahead.
Does Boo at the Zoo at the Audubon Zoo have a Ghost Train in 2026?
Not that we could confirm. Audubon's 2026 Boo at the Zoo page and ticket announcement list trick-or-treating, a haunted house, animal activities and a Friday twilight movie, with no Ghost Train. The zoo train is running as the Audubon Wonders of Nature Express for a separate fee, but it is not billed as a Halloween ride. Ask the zoo directly if the train matters to your kids.
Is TrainTastic's Tricks, Treats & Trains in Gulfport worth the drive from New Orleans?
For families with young kids, yes. It is about 1 hour 15 minutes away, tickets are $10, and the evening packs outdoor train rides, trick-or-treating, a costume contest and a Haunted Depot into two hours. Arrive at 5:30 PM for the family-friendly hour; the museum recommends the later, spookier ride and the depot for ages 8 and up.
Is Wales West's Pumpkin Patch Express in Silverhill worth the drive from New Orleans?
It is a good pick if Gulfport's two nights do not work. Silverhill is about 2 hours 30 minutes from New Orleans, and the pumpkin train runs Oct 16, 17 and 18 and every night Oct 23 through 30. The $25 ticket covers all train rides, a hayless hayride, playgrounds and a bounce house. Kiddie-friendly trains leave from 4:20 to 6:50 PM; later trains are the scary ones.
Is the Beavers Bend Train of Terror worth the drive from Shreveport?
For older kids and teens who want a scare, it is the closest Halloween train to Shreveport, about 2 hours 30 minutes away. It runs Oct 16, 17 and 24 from 6:00 to 10:00 PM in Beavers Bend State Park, and it has cost about $10 a person in past years, so check the operator site. Skip it with preschoolers; the name is the warning.
Is Grapevine's Trick 'R Treat Trains worth the drive from Shreveport?
If you want a gentle Halloween train for little kids, yes. It is about 3 hours from Shreveport, runs Saturday, Oct 24 at 10:40 AM and Sunday, Oct 25 at 12:40 and 2:40 PM, and costs $22 per rider age 1 and up. The 90-minute ride has a story acted out on board, and every rider gets a candy bag at the end.
Is the Galveston caboose hayride worth the trip from southwest Louisiana?
It depends on what your kids want. The Galveston Railroad Museum's CabooseFest on Oct 17 is a fall festival with caboose hayrides, a pumpkin patch and live music, not a Halloween train. From Lake Charles it is about 2 hours 30 minutes. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for kids 12 and under, and the hayride is a separate $10 ticket.
Can Louisiana kids wear costumes on the Halloween trains in Gulfport and Grapevine?
Yes. TrainTastic in Gulfport encourages costumes, holds a costume contest and asks that they be family-friendly. Grapevine Vintage Railroad also encourages costumes on its Trick 'R Treat Trains. If you are also going to Audubon's Boo at the Zoo, the zoo encourages costumes but asks grown-ups not to wear masks. Wales West and Beavers Bend have not posted costume rules, so check those operators' sites.
Which Halloween train near Louisiana works best for a toddler?
For a toddler from New Orleans, TrainTastic's early hour in Gulfport, 5:30 to 6:30 PM on Oct 23 or 24, is the best fit, or Wales West's kiddie trains before 7:00 PM, where kids 2 and under ride free on a lap. From Shreveport, Grapevine's daytime Trick 'R Treat Trains is the gentle choice. Skip the Beavers Bend Train of Terror until they are older.
Rally’s Spooky Train RideThe no-fuss Halloween costume
Skip the costume hassle. Wear Rally.
No itchy masks, no last-minute store run, no meltdown on the platform. Pull on the tunnel tee from the book and you are dressed for the pumpkin train, warm under a jacket, and matching in every photo.
Who is riding?
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