How many times can a Sunset household go trick-or-treating this October without heading downtown? This year the answer is at least four. Each time is in a different corner of the district, and each takes place on a different day of a single week.
Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday. That puts the night itself at the end of a run of events around the Sunset's edges. Golden Gate Park is on the north side, the beach on the west, Stern Grove on the south. Each draws its own crowd and has its own hours and transit plan. Then on Saturday it all moves back onto the residential blocks, where neighbors close their own streets.
The week, laid out
The schedule is unusually tidy. Every event below has a confirmed 2026 date from its organizer or venue.
| Date | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Through Sat., Oct. 31 | Clancy's Pumpkins | 1620 7th Ave. at Lawton | Varies |
| Sat., Oct. 24, 6:30–9 p.m. | SuperNatural | California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park | Adults $60, ages 3–17 $45, 2 and under free |
| Sun., Oct. 25, 1–4 p.m. | The Great Hauntway | Sunset Dunes, Judah to Taraval | Free |
| Fri., Oct. 30, 3–9 p.m. | Scaregrove | Sigmund Stern Grove, 19th Ave. and Sloat Blvd. | Free |
| Sat., Oct. 31, evening | Trick-or-treat street closures | Permitted residential blocks | Free |
The table works as a map too. Each event sits on a different side of the district, so a family could hit all of them without repeating a neighborhood.
The pumpkin lot that opened the season on Oct. 2
The season started at Clancy's Pumpkins on 7th Avenue at Lawton. The lot has been open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. since Oct. 2 and stays open through Oct. 31. The business behind it is older than most of the Halloween traditions on this list. Clancy's says the family company started in December 1949 and opened San Francisco's first pumpkin patch in 1979.
The lot is also a few blocks from one of the Inner Sunset's recent trick-or-treat streets. In 2025, 12th Avenue in the Inner Sunset closed to cars for Halloween night. The 2026 roster isn't public yet, so that's a pattern from last year, not a promise for this one. Still, the pumpkin and the block that uses it sit within walking distance of each other.
Saturday, Oct. 24: the ticketed night in the park
The first costume event of the week is the only one with a real price. The California Academy of Sciences runs SuperNatural on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. It's the Academy's family Halloween night, with trick-or-treat stations, live animal demos, face painting, a silent disco and a teen lounge.
There's one rule to know before buying. Every adult ticket must come with a child, so this isn't an adults' night out. Tickets are $60 for adults and $45 for ages 3 to 17, and children 2 and under get in free. Details and tickets are on the Academy's SuperNatural page.
The timing matters for the rest of the week. With the Academy holding its event the Saturday before Halloween, the park side of the district has had its turn before the beach side starts.
Sunday, Oct. 25: trick-or-treating on the sand
The next afternoon, the action moves west to the ocean. The Great Hauntway returns to Sunset Dunes on Sunday, Oct. 25, from 1 to 4 p.m., spread between Judah and Taraval. Friends of Sunset Dunes calls this its sixth annual event. Its organizers describe it as a community-powered Halloween party for the whole neighborhood, with trick-or-treating, live performers, bounce houses and live music. They also bill it as San Francisco's largest Halloween event, free to attend.
In the Hauntway's own phrasing, it's trick-or-treating at the beach, and it's car-free. The Great Hauntway page has separate sign-ups for people who want to hand out candy, volunteer or RSVP as a trick-or-treater.
The organizers say plainly that parking nearby is limited, and they encourage guests to bike or take Muni. Here's what they've set up:
- Muni: the N-Judah, the L-Taraval, and the 7, 18, 23 and 48 bus lines all serve the Hauntway.
- Bike parking: event bike parking at Judah and at Taraval.
- Bay Wheels: stations at Lincoln and La Playa, and along Lower Great Highway at Judah, Noriega, Quintara and Taraval.
- Shuttle: SF Rec and Park is running a special edition of the Golden Gate Shuttle. It picks up at the Blue Heron Lake Boathouse and at Transverse Drive and JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park, and drops off at Judah Street and Lower Great Highway.
The shuttle ties the two weekend events together. It links the park, where the Academy held its night less than 24 hours earlier, directly to the beach entrance at Judah.
There's also a quieter way in. The organizers note that the crowds at the Judah and Taraval entrances can overwhelm some children. They set up a welcome station at the Pacheco intersection as a calmer entrance, with extra trick-or-treat bags for children with sensory challenges. Pacheco sits between the two main entrances, so it doubles as a sensible meeting point for groups coming from different ends of the Outer Sunset.
Friday, Oct. 30: the grove on the southern edge
After a few school days off, the week picks back up on the district's southern edge. SF Rec and Park lists Scaregrove at Sigmund Stern Grove, 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, on Friday, Oct. 30, from 3 to 9 p.m. The department calls it an annual, free event. The listing includes a haunted house, a haunted maze, carnival rides, arts and crafts, live entertainment and food for sale.
Scaregrove has a different feel from the Hauntway. The beach party is daytime trick-or-treating spread along a long stretch of sand. Scaregrove runs from mid-afternoon into the dark and leans on rides and haunted attractions. Its six-hour window is the longest of any event this week, and it overlaps both after-school and after-work hours on a Friday. The Rec and Park listing also links to a volunteer sign-up.
Friday is also the night before Halloween. By the time Scaregrove closes at 9 p.m., the permitted residential closures are less than a day away.
Saturday, Oct. 31: the blocks neighbors close themselves
All week, the events have been on public land at the district's edges. On Halloween night, the action moves onto residential streets, and here the Sunset stands out citywide.
Every Halloween block closure in San Francisco needs an SFMTA permit. Project SF counts those permits by neighborhood using the city's Temporary Street Closures dataset. As of Sept. 27, 2026, the city had permitted 27 residential Halloween-night closures across 13 neighborhoods. Sunset/Parkside had six, more than any other area. Glen Park was next with five, and Bernal Heights and the Mission had three each. The Inner Sunset added one more.
Two caveats come with that count. It's a snapshot. Permits keep arriving, and Project SF re-runs the count every Monday until Halloween. It also uses the city's Analysis Neighborhood boundaries, which draw some lines differently from how people describe their own blocks. And Project SF deliberately counts the blocks without naming them, since residential closures point to people's homes. The approved list will be on the SFMTA's trick-or-treat street closures page closer to Halloween.
Timing matters on a Saturday Halloween. Sunset on Oct. 31 is around 6:10 p.m. Younger children usually trick-or-treat from about 4:30 to 7 p.m., and the busiest blocks can run out of candy early. Muni is free every day for anyone 18 and under, no card needed. Adults pay the regular fare, and cable cars aren't included.
How a block gets on the list
The six Sunset/Parkside closures all started with neighbors filing paperwork. An SFMTA trick-or-treat closure permit costs between $56 and $320, depending on how many blocks are closed and how early the application comes in. The $56 rate for one block requires 90 days' notice, so a request filed now costs more. Applicants also have to talk with neighbors on the block and post public notices.
Count back 90 days from Halloween and that cheapest rate needed an application by early August. For a block that wants in next year, the lowest fee means filing by the start of August 2027, months before Clancy's opens its lot again.
If you're filing for your block, are curious about the streets around it, or want to compare notes on the west side's calendar, Selling San Francisco keeps a close eye on the Sunset all year. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
