Bushy Run adapts annual hayride to haunted museum play, citing state hayride policy update

Bushy Run is adapting its annual haunted hayride event to a night of scary stories in the museum in light of state policy changes for hayride attractions.

The Penn Township historical site had hosted a hayride each October, wheeling visitors along the trail as 18th-century reenactors tell the story of the battlefield.

But the person who typically operates the hayride for Bushy Run declined to run the event this year following a 2022 decision from the state Department of Agriculture to adopt a hayride attraction standard set by a third-party standards organization.

The additional cost and time that would go into meeting the new standards deterred the hayride operator from running the attraction, Bushy Run Museum Manager Matt Adams said.

“The hayride is super, super popular,” Adams said. “Our phones have been lighting up with messages from people asking about the hayride.”

The state policy requires those operating hayride attractions to submit information to the state for approval — including a copy of the vehicle operator’s manual, detailed proof of vehicle inspection, photographs of the vehicle and the manufacturer’s ID plate, a hayride approval checklist and a registration form.

There is a $50 fee to submit an attraction to the state. The attraction operator must show proof of a liability insurance policy with a minimum of $1,000 per occurrence or a $300,000 aggregate, said Shannon Powers, press secretary for the Department of Agriculture.

“The department is working with ride operators to adhere to the national standards,” Powers said.

The state has long considered hayrides an attraction and followed the guidance of ASTM International, formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials. The organization officially published its hayride attraction standard in 2019.

Play presentation

Bushy Run will instead stage the museum for “The Haunting of Duncan Campbell,” a three-part play telling the scary stories of 18th century historical figures. They will be portrayed by Bushy Run volunteers and actors from across the region.

The play will feature three stories that attendees can walk through at their own pace, said Scott Perry, a Bushy Run board member who designed the event.

“I think everybody should come with an open mind for a new experience,” Perry said. “I think most people haven’t experienced something like this before.”

The first story — which inspired the name of the event — will discuss the life and death of Duncan Campbell, a soldier who was killed at Fort Ticonderoga in a 1758 French and Indian War battle. Campbell was allegedly visited by the ghost of his murdered cousin prior to his death.

The actors will also tell the tales of Enoch Brown — a teacher who was killed alongside his entire class in a 1764 massacre — and the 1763 Conestoga massacre against a group of Native American people called the Susquehannock.

There will be eight actors and about 20 nonspeaking roles in the play, Perry said.

“I’m hoping that it will fill the room with the sound of whispering, which will make it extra creepy,” Perry said.

Although Bushy Run hopes to bring back its hayride in future years, Adams said he is excited about the new event.

“We do want to see how this goes,” Adams said, “and if it’s something that’s popular and people enjoy, we will try to bring it back in some way.”

This story was updated to reflect that actors come from across the region to participate in the event.