Dracula and other monsters have taken over the Douglas Hart Nature Center for a haunted hike on Friday and Saturday.

Dakota Radford, volunteer coordinator/assistant educator for Douglas Hart, said this is the third year they have had this child-friendly hike.

Radford said staff and volunteers will lead tour groups though the forest on the property every 10 minutes from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. both days.

“This hike is a spooky, guided trail hike meant for children 12 and under,” Radford said.

She said the hike is not overly scary.

Radford said from 5 to 6 p.m., the hike is oriented for younger children who are not used to being scared.

“It’ll be total daylight, and we will really tone down the fright factor so it is a good experience for even the littlest children,” Radford said.

Radford said the hike increases in scare levels as the daylight decreases.

“The hike will go through a forest and will pass through a variety of haunted areas with different characters before finishing with a hayride back to the nature center,” Radford said.

The theme for this year’s hike is Dracula.

Radford said hikes will depart every 10 minutes. She said people should arrive early to sign up for their time.

She said the paths are wheelchair- and stroller-accessible.

The hike will be about 20 minutes long followed by a 10-minute hayride.

“We’ll go through our forest—we visit our ponds, we’ll even do a little bit in the prairie before the hike is done so they’ll see all of the place,” Radford said.

Radford said there will also be activities at the nature center before and after the hikes.

“We will have a campfire going and popcorn and s’mores roasting kits and cookies and things like that, as well as all the regular nature center exhibits,” Radford said.

Radford said last year, children liked the hayride and the werewolf character.

“They also get a kick out of being outside and in the forest,” Radford said. “For a lot of them, being in the forest past dark is a huge experience itself.”

The nature center uses decorations that they have bought, but a lot come from donations.

Radford said they have been able to expand the hike because of their new sponsor Slumberland Furniture Store in Mattoon.

Tickets for the hike are $5 for children 12 and older, $3 for children 3 to 11. Children 2 and under are free.

Radford said they get a lot of different reactions to the hike.

“Some kids will hug the characters, and others will be terrified,” Radford said.

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].