The active RV season in the north is on limited time as the cold weather approaches, but before many of the RVs are put to bed or in storage, many RV parks around the country are hosting special Halloween get-togethers and site decorating contests.

And the parks are filling up.

At the Addison Oaks County park near our Michigan home, where we walk our dog several times a week, the Halloween weekend turns into quite a spectacle, with contests, trick-or-treating and prizes for the best-decorated RV. They call it the Boo bash and once it ends, the park shuts down for the season.

RV Halloween weekends are being held all over this year as the concept has spread across the county.

I know of no park, though, that is into the spirit of it all like the Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort in Santa Claus, Ind., which is planning seven – count them, seven – consecutive Halloween-themed activities this fall. “It’s the most popular thing we do,” said Dave Lovell, the resort’s director of marketing. The park hires professional story tellers for Friday night bonfires. There are haunted hayrides, costume contests, scary movies and a dance-until-you-drop sound and light show.

As an indicator of how popular it is, reservations start rolling in a year in advance. The last event this year is Oct. 25-26. The 2014 Halloween weekend schedule is already up on their website.

The Lake Rudolph folks are not alone. Most Jellystone Parks around the country now offer Halloween themed activities, while more than a third of KOA’s nearly 500 campgrounds offer Halloween themed activities and so do many privately owned campgrounds.

If groups and lots of fun and activities are your thing and especially if you have young kids or grandkids, you might one to try one of these Halloween gatherings.

The Lake Rudolph RV Resort in Santa Claus, Ind., hires professional storytellers to tell ghost stories around a bonfire.

These sites might be of interest to you:

Yogi Bear's Jellystone Parks - Halloween weekends

Go Camping America - fall and pre-Halloween activities

Kentucky State Parks - Halloween events