Glenlore Trails opens for fourth Halloween season

COMMERCE TOWNSHIP — The Glenlore Trails “Enchanted” forest experience, an immersive and interactive Halloween light show, opened for its fourth season on Sept. 21.

The “Enchanted” forest walk has various interactive experiences for guests to enjoy as they walk the milelong trail. This includes a section with a giant pumpkin telling people to slow down as he “doesn’t like fast food,” a bubble tunnel, a fortune teller, several interactive light games, talking skeletons, howling wolves in the woods and much more.

“The trails are intended to provide moments of inspiration, reignite our sense of wonder and play, and deliver those who venture in with a sense of peaceful euphoria that comes from creating memories with friends and family,” said Scott Schoeneberger, co-founder of Glenlore Trails and managing partner of Bluewater Technologies, which operates the trails.

Schoeneberger describes the trails as “part art installation, part light show and part interactive storytelling.”

“It’s a fun, non-spooky family experience,” said Jesse Ewing, of Inkster, who came out to walk the trail with friends.

Ewing said she particularly enjoyed the wolf section.

The trails were a brainchild of the pandemic. Schoeneberger said that a good portion of his day-to-day business is producing corporate events; consequently, at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak he found himself with a “substantial” amount of gear and a “highly trained technical staff” that he wanted to keep employed.

“We also could feel the desire for any kind of entertainment throughout the community,” Schoeneberger said. “With these two things in mind, we felt that we could put together a safe outdoor experience that would at least for a moment make people feel like things were normal.”

He said that the goal of the trails is to provide quality entertainment to people who don’t often get this type of experience and to make people smile.

Ewing said she enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to those with kids or teens. She said she liked that it is self-paced with different attractions.

“We never expected the reaction from the community that we received,” Schoeneberger said. “So what started as a way to give back has turned into something much more meaningful in the hearts of many of our fans who have quickly adopted Glenlore as a new family tradition.” 

Glenlore Trails “Enchanted” is open Thursday through Sunday evenings starting at dusk until Nov. 3. Start times vary, but it typically starts at 7 p.m. and the last entry is around 10:15 p.m. The trails will be closed on Halloween. Tickets cost $25 for those ages 13 to 64, $15 for kids 4 to 12, and $20 for seniors 65 and older. Children ages 3 and younger are admitted for free. Group rates are also available. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to GlenloreTrails.com.