Where to trick-or-treat in the Bay Area 2026

Ollie here with a special Tuesday edition, because Halloween is this Saturday. My short answer: with toddlers and preschoolers, go to a daytime merchant trick-or-treat this week, like Willow Glen's toddler session on Friday morning, Lafayette's Trick or Treat Street on Friday afternoon or [[event:Berkeley's Fourth Street on Saturday afternoon#864b38ab-869c-4292-8701-659b6ee6c7a8]]. For door-to-door on Saturday night, the Bay Area's famous blocks are Belvedere Street in San Francisco, Russell Street in Berkeley, Alameda's Gold Coast, Cabrillo Avenue in Burlingame and Tait Avenue in Los Gatos. Get there by 5 pm.

A few things are different this year. Halloween is a Saturday, so there's no school-night rush and the famous blocks fill up early. Sunset is around 6:11 pm in San Francisco, and clocks don't fall back until the next morning, so the first hour of trick-or-treating is still light. Street closures are approved block by block and many 2026 lists aren't out yet, so where I say "in 2025," check the organizer's page before you go.

Looking for zoo events and Boo at the Zoo? They're in last week's Halloween guide. This one is all about where to collect candy.

Daytime trick-or-treats this week

These are the easiest wins for little kids: shops hand out candy in daylight, the routes are flat, and you're home before dinner. I checked each one for 2026.

Thursday, Oct 29

• Peninsula: Trunk or Treat at Hiller Aviation Museum, San Carlos. 5 to 7 pm, free. Kids collect treats from decorated cars and airplanes, a big hit with plane-mad kids. (Hiller)
• East Bay: City Hall-o-ween Trunk-or-Treat, San Pablo. From 4 pm at City Hall. (San Pablo)
• North Bay: 3rd Annual Treat Walk, San Rafael. Free, from 4 pm at the San Rafael Community Center. (San Rafael)

Friday, Oct 30

• South Bay: Trick or Treat Along Lincoln Avenue, Willow Glen. My top toddler pick. Businesses from Minnesota Avenue to Willow Street hand out candy in two sessions: 11 am to 12:30 pm for toddlers and 3 to 4:30 pm for school-age kids. Walk the route clockwise. (Visit San Jose)
• East Bay: Trunk or Treat at the Lake, Oakland. 11 am to 2 pm at the Edoff Memorial Bandstand on Lake Merritt, 666 Bellevue Ave. Free, and aimed at ages 0 to 5, so it's an easy second toddler pick.
• Peninsula: San Carlos Goblin Walk. 4 to 5:30 pm on Laurel Street, for kids 7 and under with an adult. The first 600 trick-or-treaters get a bag, and past years drew 3,000 to 5,000 people, so go at the start.
• East Bay: Trick or Treat Street, Lafayette. 4 to 6 pm along Mt. Diablo Blvd from Lafayette Plaza to Dewing Ave, plus Lafayette Circle and La Fiesta Square. Free. (Lafayette Chamber)
• East Bay: Oakland Chinatown Trick-or-Treat Trail. 2 to 4 pm. Check in at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center lobby for games, then follow the signs to participating shops. Costume contest at 3:30 pm. Free. (Funcheap)
• San Francisco: Scaregrove at Stern Grove. 3 to 9 pm, free, with a haunted house, carnival rides and a haunted maze. (SF Rec and Park)

Saturday, Oct 31 (daytime)

• San Francisco: Chinatown Halloween Festival. 11 am to 3 pm on Waverly Place (between Sacramento and Washington), with a pumpkin patch, crafts and games. The costume contest has a kids' category for ages 0–11; pre-register by Wednesday, Oct 28. (Community Youth Center)
• San Francisco: Balboa Street Fright Fest. 11 am to 4 pm, trick-or-treating at shops on Balboa between 33rd and 41st avenues, plus a scavenger hunt. (Funcheap)
• North Bay: Marin Country Mart Halloween Spectacular, Larkspur. Trick-or-treating around the shops from 11 am to 2 pm, with a costume contest at 11. (Funcheap)
• East Bay: Halloween Parade and Trick-or-Treating at the Oakland Main Library. 1 pm, free, all ages. (Oakland Public Library)
• Peninsula: Trick or Treat on Castro Street, Mountain View. 2 to 4 pm, about two dozen downtown businesses hand out treats. (Funcheap)
• Peninsula: Downtown Pacifica Trick or Treat. 3 to 5 pm. Look for shops with green or orange balloons. (Eventbrite)
• East Bay: Fourth Street Halloween Festival & Trick or Treat, Berkeley. 3 to 5 pm. Kids trick-or-treat at more than 80 shops between University and Virginia, and the free festival on Delaware has face painting, a bubble show and magic shows at 3:30 and 4:30. (Fourth Street)
• East Bay: Alameda Landing Halloween Spooktacular. 4 to 6 pm, free. (Funcheap)
• South Bay: Trick-or-Treat at the Gilroy Library. From 4 pm, free. (Santa Clara County Library)
• San Francisco: Fillmore After Dark. 4 to 9 pm at 1500 Fillmore St, with a Kids Scream Zone of spooky bounce houses and trunk-or-treating. Free. (Fillmore After Dark)

Best neighborhoods for door-to-door on Halloween night

These blocks draw families from all over the Bay Area. What they share: houses close to the sidewalk, flat or gentle streets, and neighbors who go all out. Expect crowds, especially on a Saturday.

San Francisco

• Belvedere Street, Cole Valley. The city's most famous Halloween block, between 17th Street and Parnassus. It closed to cars from 4 to 10 pm in 2025, and nearby Shrader Street is already on the city's 2026 closure list. It's steep and packed, and popular houses run out of candy, so go at opening with little ones. Take the N Judah to Carl and Cole.
• Noe Valley. The flat, stroller-friendly pick. Fair Oaks Street (22nd to 26th) closed from 5 to 8:30 pm in 2025, and 24th Street fills with costumed toddlers in the late afternoon. The J Church stops at 24th.
• Jordan Park and Laurel Heights. Commonwealth and Jordan avenues between California and Geary are wide, flat and calmer than Belvedere.
• Glen Park. Haunted Chenery runs on Chenery Street between Diamond and Elk, 5 to 9 pm, a block from Glen Park BART.
• NoPa. Grove Street (Baker to Central) and Lyon Street (Fulton to Hayes) are approved to close from 3 to 10 pm. The block party has a haunted house and a kids' costume contest, and neighbors ask visiting families to chip in some candy.
• Bernal Heights. Cortland Avenue merchants hand out treats, and Moultrie, Anderson and Ellsworth streets closed for trick-or-treaters in 2025.
• Portola (new this year). Neighbors are reviving trick-or-treating along Somerset, Burrows and Bacon streets from 5 to 8 pm, with full-size candy bars promised. Kids 6–10 can do a drop-in Haunted Hunt at the Portola Library from 3 to 4 pm first. (Portola Neighborhood Association)
• Sea Cliff and Lake Street. Big houses and big decorations. Lake Street's busiest stretches are 5th to 9th and 23rd to 25th avenues.

East Bay

• Alameda's Gold Coast. The region's biggest draw: flat, well-lit streets around Grand, Paru and Sherman between Central and Encinal. One porch at Central and Grand counted its first trick-or-treater at 5:21 pm last year, and families come over from Oakland and San Francisco. For something quieter, parents point to Thompson Avenue in the East End.
• Russell Street, Berkeley. From College Avenue up toward the Claremont Hotel, with yard graveyards, smoke machines and haunted houses. Berkeley parents say it can be a lot for kids under 5, so go right at dusk and stay near College.
• Trestle Glen and Crocker Highlands, Oakland. Trestle Glen Road east of Lakeshore Avenue has houses packed close together and gets crowded. Haddon Hill, near Lake Merritt, is known for decorated stoops.
• Smaller Oakland loops. For toddlers, parents on the Berkeley Parents Network like Sheffield Village and Maxwell Park: a handful of friendly houses and home by bedtime.
• Piedmont. Ricardo Avenue is known for its pumpkins. Earlier in the day, Piedmont's Halloween Spooktacular Carnival & Parade starts at 10 am.
• Pleasanton. In the Tri-Valley, Vintage Hills east of downtown is a favorite for walkable streets and lots of houses taking part.

Peninsula

• Cabrillo Avenue, Burlingame. Five blocks between Adeline Drive and Carmelito Avenue: flat, houses close together and few stairs, so little legs can keep up. One family there buys around 20,000 pieces of candy a year.
• The Willows, Menlo Park. Pope Street is the one people mention. Bring little kids early.
• Palo Alto. Old Palo Alto is busy enough that streets have closed on Halloween, and College Terrace and Evergreen Park get hundreds of kids. Neighbors use the Nextdoor treat map to show which porches are open.

South Bay

• Tait Avenue, Los Gatos. In the Almond Grove district from West Main Street toward Los Gatos-Saratoga Road. The town closes it to cars for the night (4 to 10 pm in 2024, along with Johnson Avenue), and residents hand out candy by the thousands. Check the town's notice for this year's hours.
• Willow Glen, San Jose. After Friday's merchant trick-or-treat, the flat grid of bungalows around Lincoln Avenue carries Halloween night.
• Naglee Park, San Jose. Near downtown, and a regular on local parents' lists.

North Bay

• Mill Valley. In 2025 the city closed Sycamore Avenue (Park Avenue to Valley Circle) and Walnut Avenue (Park to Locust) for trick-or-treaters. Look for the city's notice this week.
• Petaluma. Downtown runs [[event:Petaluma's Trick or Treat Trail#b2167627-1e47-42ad-9d66-10a95f28f673]] with local merchants on Saturday, 3 to 5:30 pm. (Funcheap)

Need a plan for this weekend? gokidbay lists hundreds of kids events across the Bay, filtered by age, city and day.See this weekend →

Which kind of trick-or-treat fits your kid

• Babies and toddlers: a daytime event made for little ones (Willow Glen's toddler session, Lake Merritt's trunk-or-treat or the San Carlos Goblin Walk), then a few houses near home. Aim to be done by 5:30.
• Ages 4 to 7: a Saturday afternoon event like Fourth Street or Castro Street, then a flat neighborhood like Noe Valley, Cabrillo Avenue or the Gold Coast from about 5 to 6:30.
• Ages 8 and up: the big blocks after dusk (Belvedere, Russell, Tait), with a grown-up and a meeting spot in case you get separated.

Halloween night tips for the famous blocks

• Arrive by 4:30 or 5. Lines are shorter, houses still have candy, and parking is still possible. After dark the crowds jump.
• Take transit if you can. Muni is free for everyone 18 and under, and BART stops near Glen Park, Rockridge and downtown Berkeley.
• Park far and walk in. Parking near Belvedere, Russell, the Gold Coast and Cabrillo fills early.
• Bring a little candy to share. The famous blocks get thousands of visitors, and some neighbors ask visiting families to help out.
• Respect the porch light. Skip houses that are dark, stay on the sidewalk and keep gates closed.
• Check closures the morning of. San Francisco posts approved trick-or-treat closures through the SFMTA, and towns like Los Gatos post their own.

Safety and allergy tips

• Be seen. Reflective tape on costumes and buckets, plus a flashlight or glow sticks, helps drivers spot kids after sunset.
• Check the costume. It should fit so kids don't trip, and masks shouldn't block their view.
• Look for teal pumpkins. A teal pumpkin on a porch means the house has non-food treats, like glow sticks or small toys, for kids with food allergies. It's part of FARE's Teal Pumpkin Project, and you can put one out yourself.
• Read labels at home. Fun-size candy can be made in a different facility or with a different recipe than the full-size bar, so check before your child eats it.
• Pack a few safe treats. If your child has allergies, bring some of their own and swap at the end of the night.

Have a happy Halloween! I'll be bobbing in the Bay with my pumpkin bucket, cheering on every little costume.

Want more ideas for this week? See trick-or-treat events on gokidbay