A young trick-or-treater gets an up-close look at an animatronic ghoul gracing a campsite
at Alexandria SRA.
I
n 2013, inspired by an event they saw at a lake in Kansas, area
residents hosted the first Camp Spook to celebrate Halloween
at Alexandria State Recreation Area in Jefferson County.
Just eight recreational vehicles showed up that first year, and
not many more the next. The past five years, however, has seen
attendance boom, making it the busiest weekend the quiet park
sees all year.
Campers now start rolling into the park on Tuesday to snap up the
best sites, with some coming from as far away as Lincoln and Kansas.
Nearly all the campsites in both of the park's campgrounds are filled
with RVs by Saturday morning. Most sport decorations ranging from
simple lights, pumpkins and inflatables to animatronic monsters
and smoke-filled tunnels of terror, all to the delight of hundreds of
trick-or-treaters who arrive from Bruning, Hebron, Meridian and
other nearby towns to get an early start on gathering free sweets.
28 Nebraskaland • October 2026
