Ridgefield's two ghost walks both finish before Halloween. Keeler Tavern Museum's Ghosts of Ridgefield runs October 23 through 25. Paranormal Park, the live-actor walk through the woods at Richardson Park, has its last night on Saturday, October 24. On October 31 itself, the town's listed events start at 10 a.m. on Main Street and end by 8:30 p.m. at Lounsbury House. Most of them are aimed at younger trick-or-treaters.
So the October 23 weekend is when Ridgefield does its after-dark Halloween, and Keeler's tours that weekend do sell out. Halloween Day is when it hands out candy. Plan October around those two dates and the rest of the calendar is easy to fit in.
Keeler Tavern Takes the Tour Inside This Year
Ghosts of Ridgefield is an annual event at 152 Main St. In past years it was a walk around Keeler Tavern's four-acre campus, with guides and "ghosts" at stops along the way. In its October 2025 announcement, the museum told visitors the tours were "exclusively outdoors, rain or shine," and to dress for the weather.
The 2026 version changes that. According to the Keeler Tavern Museum event page, ticket-holders this year get "new, exclusive, after-dark access to our historic museum, where shadows lurk, mysterious creaks abound, and 'ghosts' linger to tell their stories." The museum also promises "new stories, familiar faces, and a few surprises."
The museum hasn't said which stories or characters are on this year's route. Last year's tour opened with the "ghost" of a local merchant who supplied the site in the early 20th century. Later stops featured men, women and, according to the museum, a teddy bear. The 2026 cast is being kept as a surprise.
The basics:
- Dates: Friday, October 23 through Sunday, October 25, 5 to 7 p.m. each day
- Tickets: $30 for adults, $15 for kids, with advance registration through the museum
- Ages: recommended for 7 and up, described as "slightly spooky but not graphic"
- Weather: tours go out rain or shine
The museum calls the event one of its most popular and says tours do sell out. With only three evenings, two hours each, there isn't much room to decide at the last minute.
Richardson Park Runs a Different Kind of Night
On Friday and Saturday of the same weekend, a second ghost walk runs across town. It's built for older kids and adults. Paranormal Park is set in the woods at Richardson Park, 729 N. Salem Road. Visitors follow a trail after dark past six attractions with live actors.
Its inRidgefield listing says plainly who it's for. It's recommended for ages 10 and up and warns of "live actors, loud noises, and potentially disturbing images." Anyone 13 and under must stay with an adult the whole way. The walk takes 15 to 20 minutes over uneven ground with some slight inclines, so the organizers say to dress for a hike. Actors and props don't touch visitors, and visitors don't touch them.
The rain policy works differently from Keeler's. Paranormal Park goes on unless it's truly pouring. If a night is called off, tickets can be used on another night this year. If the canceled night was the last one of the season, tickets carry over to next year. Tickets are sold through the Paranormal Park website. The town listing gives a general 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. window and no price.
Choosing Between Them on October 23 and 24
The two walks overlap on two nights, and they suit different groups. A family with a 7-year-old and a group of teenagers who want a real scare probably shouldn't book the same one.
| Ghosts of Ridgefield | Paranormal Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Keeler Tavern Museum, 152 Main St. | Richardson Park, 729 N. Salem Rd. |
| Nights | Oct. 23, 24, 25 | Oct. 16, 17, 23, 24 |
| Hours | 5 to 7 p.m. | 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. window |
| Recommended ages | 7 and up | 10 and up; 13 and under with an adult |
| Tone | "Slightly spooky but not graphic" | Loud noises, potentially disturbing images |
| Setting | Four-acre campus plus the museum after dark | Wooded trail, uneven ground |
| Price | $30 adults, $15 kids | Not listed by the town |
The hours suggest one more option. Keeler's tours start at 5 p.m. and Paranormal Park's window opens at 6:30 p.m., so a household with kids of different ages could try to fit both into one evening. That depends on Paranormal Park's actual entry times, which the town listing doesn't give, so confirm with the organizers at [email protected] before planning around it. Paranormal Park also runs the weekend before, October 16 and 17. Those nights don't overlap with Keeler at all.
The Week Leading Up to It
The days before the ghost walks are fuller than usual, and most of the events are free.
- Saturday, October 17. The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum holds its free Community Day from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 258 Main St., with exhibition and sculpture-garden tours, art activities, music and an artist performance. That afternoon, Ridgefield Library hosts Blue Moon Raptors from 1 to 2 p.m., where families meet four bird ambassadors. Registration is required. Middle and high school students can sign up to paint Halloween scenes on downtown storefront windows the same day, with water-based paint provided. The library's Mini Pumpkin Decorating Contest also opens in the Lodewick Children's Library and runs through October 31.
- October 17 and 18. Weir Farm National Historical Park, at 735 Nod Hill Road just over the Wilton line, runs free guided Fall Hike Weekend walks from 9:30 to 11 a.m. both days. No registration is needed.
- Sunday, October 18. The Ridgefield Historical Society leaves Scott House, 4 Sunset Lane, for a Battle of Ridgefield bus tour from 10 to 11:30 a.m., led by battlefield historian and archaeologist Dr. David Naumec. Tickets are $65 to $75.
- Tuesday, October 20. Town Historian Jack Sanders compares historic and current views of Ridgefield in the free program "Ridgefield Then and Now Part II" at Scott House.
- Thursday, October 22. A.C.T. of Connecticut opens Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at 36 Old Quarry Road. It runs through November 22.
Sunday, October 25, Belongs to Younger Kids
Keeler's final ghost tour is Sunday evening, and the afternoon before it is full of daytime events for small children.
At 2 p.m., Ridgefield Playhouse at 80 East Ridge Road hosts 123 Andrés in ¡No Tengo Miedo!, a bilingual family concert with a Halloween parade. Costumes are welcome. The Playhouse page links to tickets but doesn't list a price. From 1 to 4 p.m., the Historical Society opens the Peter Parley Schoolhouse, at West Lane and South Salem Road, for a free Halloween at the Schoolhouse. Visitors can come in costume and hear about an old schoolhouse prank. They can also hear about Sarah Bishop, a hermitess called "The Mountain Hag" in a Peter Parley poem. Weir Farm offers informal watercolor and landscape-painting instruction the same afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m., with no registration needed.
A family could go to the Schoolhouse, the concert and a 5 p.m. Keeler tour all on one Sunday without leaving town.
Halloween Day Wraps Up Early
By October 30 the ghosts are gone, and the schedule is set by trick-or-treat hours.
Ridgefield Library's Halloween Storytime & Parade is Friday, October 30, from 10:30 to 11 a.m. at 472 Main St. The inRidgefield roundup lists it for Saturday, October 31, but the library's own calendar says the 30th. The library's event page also gives mixed signals on sign-up. One notice says registration is required, while the description says drop-ins are welcome as space permits. Registering ahead covers both cases.
On Saturday, October 31:
- 10 a.m. to noon: the town's Halloween Walk, with trick-or-treating at downtown shops along Main Street. The town says more details are coming.
- 5 to 8 p.m.: Halloween on the Terrace at First Congregational Church of Ridgefield, 103 Main St.
- 5 to 8:30 p.m.: the Ridgefield Police Department's free outdoor Trunk or Treat for children of all ages at Lounsbury House, 316 Main St.
All three are on Main Street, so a family can walk between them. The downtown scarecrows stay up through November 1, and voting runs through the inRidgefield contest album. The Ridgefield Chamber has a Sip 'n' Shop night downtown on November 5, though it hasn't posted details yet.
For a haunted night this year, the window closes early. Paranormal Park runs October 16, 17, 23 and 24, and Keeler's tours, which do sell out, end on October 25. By Halloween itself, the town's events are candy and costume parades.
McGrath Realty has worked in Fairfield County and the Hudson Valley since 1962. If you're weighing a move to Ridgefield or a property near Main Street, contact McGrath Realty.
