For one afternoon each October, a boys' summer camp in the woods of East Madison stops being a summer camp. The cabins at Tohkomeupog — the ones that normally hold bunks and bug spray and the smell of pine — get draped in cobwebs and lit from within, and the paths between them fill with small people in costumes carrying bags for candy. The event is called Halloween Town, and on Saturday, October 24, 2026, it runs from 3 to 8 p.m. Admission is free. It happens rain or shine.
The idea is almost aggressively old-fashioned. Rather than a haunted house you queue for and walk through once, Halloween Town turns the camp into a walkable neighborhood: over a half-mile of atmospherically lit pathway connecting roughly two dozen cabins, each one transformed by volunteer "gHosts" around its own spooky theme. You trick-or-treat from cabin to cabin the way you'd go door to door. The cabins grow progressively scarier as you move along the trail, and visitors decide for themselves how far they dare to go. Candy, treats and surprises wait at every stop.
That structure exists for a reason. Stevo Harding, the event's coordinator, has described Halloween Town as an attempt to give kids "an opportunity to enjoy what some of us remember from childhood… traditional Halloween fun." The camp's own materials put it more simply: it's a reminder of the classic, walkable Halloween many of us remember.
It started small. Halloween Town was first established on the grounds of Tohkomeupog in 2009. The event has since grown into one of the region's most anticipated fall traditions, drawing thousands of visitors each October to this corner of the Mount Washington Valley.
The cause it was built around has been there from the beginning. Every dollar raised goes to The Laura Foundation for Autism & Epilepsy, which was created after the death of Laura (Hoyt) Mahoney in April 2008. Mahoney's grandson has both autism and epilepsy, and she understood firsthand how devastating those conditions are for the people living with them and for the families caring for them. Her family founded the organization in her memory, with her daughter-in-law Amy Mahoney among the founders and serving as executive director. Its central project has been the Laura Center in Madison, an adaptive sports and recreation facility built in phases — a therapeutic riding ring, a winterized building, a multi-purpose barn with an indoor court and climbing wall — alongside cost-free programs for people with autism, epilepsy and other disabilities.
Halloween Town is a fundraiser in the literal sense: there's no gate fee, but donations, food purchases, souvenir sales and amusement ride tickets all go straight to the foundation. The event is volunteer-run, produced by Tohkomeupog alumni, friends of Purity Spring Resort and volunteers from the surrounding community. The Kid Carnival under the big tent is staffed by the Key Club at Kennett High School, and all its prizes are donated. The signature amusement ride is the Dizzy Dragon, beloved by younger adventurers, with a small ticket fee.
For the youngest trick-or-treaters, or anyone who prefers fun to fright, there's the Halloweenie Walk: five cabins near the food court decorated for delight rather than fear, suitable for all ages, plus a Tree-House Adventure. The main Trick-or-Treat Trail runs 4 to 8 p.m.; the Halloweenie Walk, carnival and rides open at 3.
The setting itself carries a lot of history. Tohkomeupog sits on 1,000 acres of unspoiled land around Purity Lake, and it has been part of the Hoyt family's holdings since Milt Hoyt founded the boys' camp in 1932. His father, Edward E. Hoyt, had built Purity Springs Farms out of a small country inn, a sawmill and a water-bottling operation — Hoyt Natural Mineral Spring Water, shipped by rail to New York, in direct competition with Poland Spring — before turning his energies to hospitality. The resort has stayed in the same family ever since. Camp Tohkomeupog marked its 80th birthday with 20 cabins hosting more than 150 boys a season, including some fourth-generation campers.
Halloween Town has not run every year without interruption. It went on hiatus after 2019 because of the pandemic and returned in 2023, when Northeast Traveler magazine announced its comeback under the headline "A White Mountain Tradition Returns." The return mattered to people who had made the trail part of their October.
If you go, plan for the shuttle. There is no parking on-site, and parking along East Madison Road is not permitted. Visitors park at the King Pine Ski Area lots, where free van service provided by Purity Spring Resort runs to and from the event; walking from the lots is also allowed. Handicapped parking is available on-site for those who need it. Pedestrian crossings are monitored by volunteers at marked crosswalks, and Madison Police and Madison Rescue maintain a presence throughout. Most of the haunted areas are inside cabins and the carnival games and food vendors are under tents, which is how the event manages to run regardless of the weather — but you'll still want to dress for it.
The camp is at 2151 East Madison Road, near the junction of Eaton Road and Route 153, next to King Pine Ski Area. The listing address for the event is Purity Spring Resort, 1251 Eaton Road, East Madison. Either way, the directions lead to the same wooded hillside where, for one evening, the cabins become a neighborhood again.