Well we started the trail expansion from the backyard into the cedar woods. Been mowing,weed killing and trimming back there. Plenty of good hiding places for actors (even in the daylight) but I'm having a tuff time figuring out what decor to put back there. The Arch pic is the entrance into a cedar tree tunnel, it pops out in an open spot where we are gonna build a mine shack. Already have one spotlight up back there for the dark hrs. (our first hr. of TOTing is daylight). Also you'll see the new deck (stage) we'll have an act there as well before they enter the garage and exit. Oh trail starts between the houses like last year down and up thru the garage for the exit. Thanks for help and idea's.
A FCG way back in that darkness would be awesome, if you have enough extension cord to reach that far. I assume it is pretty much pitch black back there so maybe some trail lights here and there.
Your trail is so long it would be a rather large project to decorate the whole thing. Maybe an increasing level of shredded black plastic hanging from trees as the trail progresses, indicating that things are getting worse, much worse.
I gather the theme is something like a haunted mine thing? You could place some wrecked mine carts here and there, maybe some bluckies with mining equipment (helmets, picks, buckets). A bottomless pit mine shaft prop would be fun.
I saw your trail last year, but I thought it was just in your backyard. You have amazing possibilities with that woods. I would be scared just because it was dark. Wow. Have fun!
Are you planning a theme at all? I think a story line that progresses would be awesome! Doesnt have to be anything real fancy.. Like maybe a cemetary that leads to walking dead / abominations and finally a witches hut at the sort.
Truly great that you get to use all that extra space! Kind of a rarity to have that in town attraction with the extra space.
Are you looking for things that you can set up and leave running (static props, animated stuff, etc), or are planning to have live people working the trail. If you have several people at your disposal, the possibilites are nearly endless for a really sweet trail. Let us know what your theme is and I bet we can help come up with some ideas!
Thank you all, the cedar woods is just open (and protected) green space as well as the hardwoods beyond that. It will never be develope. We see a lot of wldlife back there.....coyote's, deer (I have a deer feeder back there too. I was thinking of a sleepy hollow theme. No real fancy props back there just because I could not police them that well.Sometimes kids go back there and play but really 99 % of the time nobody goes back there. I do most of the heavy decorating in the front,sideyard, and backyard as seen in my profile album pics. We'll have about 10 actors out back hiding. It looks great at night. I only hope I can get anuff light (3 12' high color spots for now) to see the trail well. I used Tiki Torches in the past for my backyard but I'm afraid that would be a fire hazzard back there where I can't see them so the spots will have to do. The one spot lights up the return trail well, and I may add some fog down there. The Cedars are great for hiding you really won't be able to see the actors (even in the daylight)........very creepy !
I saw your trail last year, but I thought it was just in your backyard. You have amazing possibilities with that woods. I would be scared just because it was dark. Wow. Have fun!
Yeah we only did the backyard last year, and Warrant we do have power back there and a FCG would be cool. Below is a map my boy did of a front Pan shot.
BELOW I THREW IN A COUPLE OF NIGHT SHOTS FROM LAST YEAR .
For getting electrical back to your trail, run a #2/4 USE cable good for up to 100amps off of a 30amp doublepole GFI breaker from your main panel, setup a quick disconnect at house to remove cable when not in use. You can run the #2 up to 400'ft out along the perimeter of your yard and forest to a small weatherproof sub panel with multiple outlets. The #2 USE cable runs about
$.40 cents a foot, so 80-100 dollars will get you out to about 250'ft, make sure cable is out of way of guest and hidden away from thiefs. Whole setup should run around 100-250 dollars with panel and outlets. Whats nice about this is its reusable every year. Thats is what I did to get power back to my trail. Further out I used auto batteries and inverters for small lighting and motor prop items.
For getting electrical back to your trail, run a #2/4 USE cable good for up to 100amps off of a 30amp doublepole GFI breaker from your main panel, setup a quick disconnect at house to remove cable when not in use. You can run the #2 up to 400'ft out along the perimeter of your yard and forest to a small weatherproof sub panel with multiple outlets. The #2 USE cable runs about
$.40 cents a foot, so 80-100 dollars will get you out to about 250'ft, make sure cable is out of way of guest and hidden away from thiefs. Whole setup should run around 100-250 dollars with panel and outlets. Whats nice about this is its reusable every year. Thats is what I did to get power back to my trail. Further out I used auto batteries and inverters for small lighting and motor prop items.
Right on Scatterbrains! One of the most successful scares I've had on a haunted trail involved nothing more that some foam tombstones, some holes filled with leaves, and a handful of actors made-up like walking dead. The rising dead always work; plus it would work with the Spooky Hollow theme nicely. We found that having a few people slowing dragging themselves out of the graves worked nicely for atmosphere, followed by 2 or 3 people popping out of graves close to the trail for the big scare. As long as you have plenty of leaves scattered over the whole graveyard to camouflage your holes, no one will know which graves are "inhabited" until someone pops out and grabs you!
Ooooh I like those ideas, my boy and I were just talking about it. We have an open flat spot back there right in the center that the trail will wrap around and needs a good center piece for the main focus (or decoy). Yes we can dig, now leaves we would have to transport since the main area is just a grove of cedars with no hardwoods. I really like playing out a scene.
Thanks again for the help guys, I'll update this from time to time and maybe add a night shot video after I add another spotlight back there. I'm gonna go with Green spots. I got a deal on them last year at Kroger, they are energy savers.....100 watt lights but only uses 20 watts........I have 3 of them, should look nice spotting the green Cedars and trail, may even add a Tiki or 2. * HEY SB, I would like to use my kicking legs back there but I think I will use them hanging from my garage attic for the exit display with a few bubble foggers running and as my guest walk under the legs they should start moving and provide a mild startle !
