Thread: Haunted Trail ideas?

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This is my first post. Just wanted to warn you.
My mom is on a board of directors at the pool we're members at. Someone suggested to do a haunted trail as a fundraiser this fall. The pool is in a large park that has a mile long fitness trail. A local high school has used the trail for the same purpose years ago.
She told me about it and I kind of jumped on it. I've been doing research and finding ideas for props and themes and whatnot. Right now, they want to do the haunted trail, a corn maze (might do it with hay bales, whatever's cheaper) and refreshments and games for kids (face painting, bobbing for apples, etc.)
The only problem is right now, I'm kind of stuck for ideas for what to do on the trail. I was thinking of having the people going on the trail trying to prove if its haunted, like as a scientific reasearch thing (mad scientists maybe?) Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance!

Years ago at a summer camp I worked at we did a Haunted trail for the campers and we use a horse riding trail that crossed a creek.
On one side Jason would come out of the woods and someone with a fireworks and a fox shot gun from behind would set off the fire works and Jason would fall then the trail guide would scream run this way as they crossed the creek and turned to go to the barn (that was built during the civil war) they found an actor as a gargoyle flying down at them as the ran down the trail. (A glow in the dark mask and fake wings and med scrub, on a zip line). We let the line have some play in it so you wouldn't hit the barn and the actor could stand on the ground too as you run back at them the line you spring you back up into the air 10 feet or so.
The danger was wearing the harness backwards (Australian) and climbing the ladder and hooking it on by your self in the dark from behind you.

Fog, lots and lots of fog. Plus some green backlighting...

Also, have an actor dressed up like the Jeepers scarecrow and stay perfectly still. Then when some people come close have him lunge at them. Chainsaw gangs are also great in the woods.

Ditto what Genexer said: chainsaws always work good in the woods.

I did something similar with my church group back in high school. We used smudge pots for lighting (similar to these, but on a much smaller scale and made from #10 size cans and lard), and guided small groups along the trail. We had several different scares, but I think my favorite was a graveyard where we dug out very shallow graves, hid actors in them, and covered them with leaves. The dead would leap up out their graves and chase people around. It was a lot of fun. I always thought that doing haunts outside was more fun than inside.