Boo at the Zoo has two weekends left at Potter Park, with treat stations, a maze and hayrides

LANSING, Mich. — Potter Park Zoo started its Halloween run on the weekend of Oct. 10-11. Boo at the Zoo ran from noon to 5 p.m. that Saturday and Sunday and comes back Oct. 17–18 and Oct. 24–25, according to the zoo’s event page. Greater Lansing Area Moms listed the same hours for opening weekend.

Costumes are welcome. A ticket covers the treat stations, which the zoo says will have gluten-free and nut-free candy plus a non-candy choice. It also covers an ADA-accessible maze, conservation stations, dress-a-skeleton displays put up by local sponsors and performers who move through the grounds all afternoon.

For the event, Ingham County residents pay $8 for adults and $5 for children 3 to 12, the zoo lists. Nonresident adults pay $15 and nonresident children pay the same $5. Kids under 3 get in free, and seniors and military visitors get a lower price.

The extras cost more. Activity tickets start at $3 and work for a black light room, an inflatable slide, carnival games and inflatable axe throwing. Kids 4 to 15 can get a $15 all-access wristband, and the hayride, which has an accessible option, is $3 for anyone 16 and older. Mini doughnuts and Quality Dairy cider are sold on site. Ticket and wristband sales end at 4:30 p.m.

The zoo is at 1301 S. Pennsylvania Ave., and the Lansing River Trail runs right past the entrance sign.

That same weekend, the NCG Fall Family Film Fest had Hotel Transylvania on the screen Oct. 9–11 at $2 a ticket, according to Greater Lansing Area Moms. Lansing Community College staged Layers, or “The Casserole Play,” in the Gannon Building Black Box at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, the Greater Lansing Ubiquitous Theatre calendar showed.

Updated Oct. 13, 2026: Opening Boo at the Zoo weekend and the related Oct. 9-11 film and theater dates are now past tense. This guide was published before them, and its schedule language has been changed to the past tense. Boo returns Oct. 17-18 and Oct. 24-25.

Updated Oct. 13, 2026: The headline and summary were updated because some of the events listed have already taken place.

Sources:
Potter Park Zoo, “Boo at the Zoo,” Oct. 10–25, 2026, https://potterparkzoo.org/event/boo-at-the-zoo-10/
Greater Lansing Area Moms, “Boo at the Zoo – Potter Park Zoo,” Oct. 10, 2026, https://greaterlansingareamoms.com/event/boo-at-the-zoo-potter-park-zoo/2026-10-10/
Greater Lansing Area Moms, “2026 NCG Fall Family Film Fest,” Oct. 9, 2026, https://greaterlansingareamoms.com/event/2026-ncg-fall-family-film-fest/2026-10-09/
Greater Lansing Ubiquitous Theatre, “G.L.U.T. Calendar, October 2026”, https://www.greaterlansingtheatre.net/announcements/glut-calendar-october-2026
Photo: Dj1997, “Lansing Potter Park Zoo Entrance from River Trail,” May 28, 2010, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), cropped and color-corrected; derivative under the same ShareAlike license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lansing_Potter_Park_Zoo_Entrance_from_River_Trail.jpg

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Tags: Lansing · Michigan Travel · Things To Do · Parks and Recreation · Halloween · Pumpkins and Corn Mazes