Your complete guide to fall fun in the Sioux Metro

This piece is sponsored by Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.

Fall is a favorite time of year for many families. Take a little road trip outside of Sioux Falls to see the fall foliage, go on a candlelight walk, take the kids to a farm to have fun, get lost in a corn maze, pick the perfect pumpkin or bushel of apples or have the daylights scared out of you.

 Here are just a few fun things to do:

Head south of Canton for the Newton Hills 25th annual FestiFall on Saturday, Oct. 4. The arts and craft show will be from noon to 5 p.m. There will be activities for kids, including make-and-take crafts and pumpkin catapulting. Bring your carved or decorated pumpkin for a contest. Take a hay ride through the campground, and vote for the best-decorated site. There will be live music and food trucks. You’ll need a state park sticker to enter or can pay the daily entrance fee.  

Stay until sunset for a candlelight walk from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. with local musicians and a magician stationed along the 2.2-mile paved route. The final stop is a pumpkin bowling station. Last year, there were 1,000 candles lining the road that goes down into the valley and back up. Golf cart rides will be available back to the top for those who need it.  

The Harrisburg Chamber Oktoberfest will be from 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, at The Country Apple Orchard. There will be a ceremonial keg tapping at 4 p.m., best-dressed contest, stein-holding competition, festival games and live music with Main Squeeze. Admission is $20 and includes German food. Get an Oktoberfest stein for $5. Beer will be available to purchase. Register here.

The Hartford Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting its inaugural Fall Festival from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, in the Sunshine Foods parking lot. “Expect cozy vibes, crisp air and all the autumn fun you can handle. Think pumpkins, animals, great food and fun activities for all ages.”

Centerville’s Fall-O-Ween Festival is expanding to two days this year. This year, the fun starts at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, with a vendor market, shopping at local businesses, food trucks and booths. The market continues Saturday, Oct. 18, along with live music, games and activities for kids and more. Last year’s Kid Zone, which charged admission, had activities like inflatables, a barrel train, obstacle course, petting zoo, hayrides and corn pit. The high school boys basketball team is organizing the Fall Auto and Tractor Festival from noon to 3 p.m. Oct. 18. Find Fall-O-Ween Festival details here. 

Annie’s Coffee Bar & Roastery in Brandon is hosting a Harvest Festival on Saturday, Oct. 25. Vendors will be selling handmade goods and pumpkins from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the coffee shop at 721 N. Splitrock Blvd. There will be food and drink specials.

Beresford’s second annual Flannel Fling will be Sunday, Oct. 26. In addition to trunk-or-treating, there will be shopping, food and drinks. The fun will run from noon to 5 p.m., with the trunk-or-treating from 4 to 5 p.m. on Third Street between Main and Hemlock. Find details here. 

Our Farm north of Parker has a corn maze, petting zoo, zip lines, corn pit, hay bale mountain, bounce house and more. There’s also a pick-your-own, 10-acre pumpkin patch with 95 varieties.This is the fourth season Lane and Brooke Mellegaard have opened up their farm for family fun. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through October. Admission for the activities is $10 for each person 3 and older. Wednesdays through Oct. 30 are half-price admission days with hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and that $5 fee includes a small pumpkin. Kids can go right into the pen with the pigs, goats, chickens, ducks and rabbits. Concessions are available. On Oct. 18, there’s a Halloween party with The Table Ministry from noon to 6 p.m. Kids can come in costumes for trick-or-treating, Halloween games and a photo booth in addition to the regular activities. There’s also a big bake sale. Our Farm’s address is 27253 455th Ave.

The Country Apple Orchard in Harrisburg offers apple, raspberry and pumpkin picking, along with bagged apples and pumpkins in the country store. Find details on which apple varieties are available at countryappleorchard.com. Update: U-pick apples ended Sept. 30. 

The country store at 27249 Highway 115 also features baked goods like apple cider doughnuts and apple turnovers and locally made crafts and other merchandise. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The final day is Oct. 26. There’s a free corn maze and a beer garden with TVs for watching football. New this year is an area for food trucks, which are open during festival hours, and a vendor doing Old West photos for families and friends.

The orchard’s Fall Festival offers a variety of activities every Friday through Sunday through Oct. 26. For an admission fee, there are more than 20 attractions, including jumping pillows, a corn pit, zip line, hay bale maze, a petting zoo, kiddie Ferris wheel, kiddie train rides and a hay ride. Hours for the festival are 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Find admission prices online, and save time by buying tickets there. 

To pick apples, head to Hoversten Orchard north of Brandon. The 25-acre orchard has 5,000 trees. Half of them produce the popular Honeycrisp variety, and there’s a big crop this year. The orchard also makes its own apple cider, honey and jam. It also sells bagged apples, pumpkins, other squash, gourds and baked goods. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with picking closing at 5:30 p.m. The orchard stays open as long as the weather holds or until Thanksgiving. Last year, it was open until Nov. 3. Find updates at hoverstenorchard.com or on Facebook. The address is 25789 480th Ave.

Riverview Christmas Tree Farm north of Canton is open for its annual Pumpkin Festival weekends. This year, there are more than 30 varieties in the patch and at the store. Other attractions include apple and pumpkin cannons, a rock mining adventure, hayrides, train rides, inflatables, farm animals and more. Dates are Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Oct. 26.

Think you’ve grown the state’s biggest pumpkin? The Great South Dakota Pumpkin Weigh-Off is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4. Categories include pumpkin, melon and squash.

And for extra fun at night, prepare to be scared with a hike down to the river in the dark for the Haunted Trail. Those dates are Oct. 4 and 11 from 7 to 9:30 p.m., with the last tickets sold at 9 p.m. The farm is at 48392 278th St. Find admission prices and other details at riverviewtreefarm.com. 

Cherry Rock Farms south of Brandon offers a pick-your-own pumpkin patch with more than 40 varieties and a free corn maze that will be open as long as the weather holds. Other activities on the weekend include hay rides, chickens and goats, pumpkin painting and food trucks. Picked pumpkins also are available in the produce store. Hours are 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Find updates on Facebook.

Jeff and Nancy Kirstein bought a farm near Lennox in 2011 and turned it into a farm animal sanctuary and a place for family fun and events. The pumpkin patch at The Good Earth Farm is open now for picking. Hours are 1 to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at least through Oct. 11 and longer if the weather holds. That’s also when you can pick flowers while the season lasts. On the weekend, the farm also sells wood-fired pizza from 3 to 8 p.m. – If you want to make sure you can eat, reserve a crust in advance at thegoodearth.us. The farm’s address is 28318 466th Ave.

This year, That Pickin Patch west of Sioux Falls on Highway 19 offers pick-your-own pumpkins by appointment and has plenty ready to go at its self-serve stand, which is open during daylight hours. The Kastens planted everything from flat stackers to carving pumpkins in a variety of colors. You’ll also find giant white Polar Bear pumpkins. Later in the season, there will be pumpkins for cooking or baking. The farm is at 26711 455th Ave., and pumpkins should be available until Halloween. Say hi to the goats, turkeys and the donkey while you’re there.

For more pumpkins and fall treats, Homestead Orchard is open southwest of Parker through Nov. 9. The orchard’s store also sells apples from its trees, caramel dip, squash, gourds, baked goods, jam, honey, cider, syrups and dried flowers. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Check out the chrysanthemum show with more than 100 pots of flowers. The address is 44890 279th St.

Heartland Country Corn Maze on Highway 11 between Sioux Falls and Canton is celebrating its 26th year. It’s the creation of Bob and Karen Sproul, who years ago went through a wooden maze in the Black Hills and thought it would be fun to have one on this side of the state, Karen said. Bob read about corn mazes, and they grew corn on the farm, so that’s what they started.

This year’s animal design for the 11-acre field is a rabbit. Find all 10 checkpoints and the special treasure chest checkpoint to win a free treat from the concessions barn. Hours are 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, with final entries at closing time and the grounds closing one hour later. The regular maze will be open through Oct. 26, and there will be haunted maze nights form 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. The maze also will be open on Native American Day, Oct. 13, from noon to 5 p.m. Check Facebook for updates.

The Corn Maze at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park along Interstate 90 between Sioux Falls and Brandon is open Friday through Sunday through Oct. 31. You don’t have to stay at the campground to enjoy the fun. Admission includes the nine-hole minigolf and access to the jumping pillow. Hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, with the grounds closing one hour later. Moonlight Maize Nights offer added fun with admissions from 6 to 9 p.m., and the grounds closing at 10 p.m.Those remaining dates are Oct. 4 and 11. Find additional details at siouxfallscornmaze.com. 

The Haunted Farm northeast of Worthing is open this weekend through Nov. 1 for its 12th season with the Haunted Woods and Haunted Barn. A large crew of scare actors provide plenty of screams. Get an additional scare on the Haunted Hayride, and enjoy snacks in the heated shack. Hours are 7 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with an 11 p.m. closing time Oct. 18 and 25. The address is 47449 276th St. Find updates on Facebook.

Terror 29 in Brandon is adding two more haunts to its offerings this year, including one on the trails at Leif Ericson Camp in Sioux Falls. In addition to the Trail of Terror at the camp, there will be a haunted corn maze near Brandon that’s filled with zombies. The haunted house at 1420 E. Cedar St. is back this year as the Ravenwood Murder House with “all-new frights, twisted characters and terrifying sets.” The house and corn maze are open Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights through Nov. 1. The Trail of Terror starts Oct. 10 and is open on Friday and Saturday nights, with Thursday offerings Oct. 23 and 30. Find all the details on times and ticket prices here.

Other haunts include the Twisted Nightmare Haunted House that’s east of Sioux Falls and is celebrating its 11th year. For an extra fee, there’s an escape room too. The volunteer-run attraction that benefits the Fraternal Order of Police and Feeding South Dakota opens Oct. 9 and runs Thursday through Saturday through Nov. 1. On Oct. 19, there’s a kids trick-or-treat day from 1 to 3 p.m. with the lights on. The Jaycees Feargrounds opens Oct. 10 at the W.H. Lyons Fairgrounds in Sioux Falls. In addition to every Friday and Saturday through Nov. 1, it will be open Oct. 12 for kids day, Oct. 23 for Throwback Pricing. Nov. 1 is Blackout Night.

Head out to the Big Sioux Recreation Area west of Brandon on Saturday, Oct. 25, for Trick or Treat Trails. Costumed kids can trick-or-treat through the campground from 3 to 6:30 p.m. The fun starts near the picnic shelter. You’ll need a state park sticker to enter or can pay the daily entrance fee.  

Several communities offer trick-or-treating or trunk-or-treating. Here are a few:

• Brandon: Oct. 31 at Brandon businesses. Check here for hours.
• Dell Rapids: Oct. 30, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at downtown businesses. There also will be games and live music.
• Garretson: Oct. 31, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Split Rock Park and on Main Avenue.
• Harrisburg: Oct. 25, from 3 to 6 p.m. at Harrisburg businesses.
• Hartford: Oct. 26, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the West Central Middle School parking lot.
• Salem: Oct. 31, 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Main Street. 
• Tea: Oct. 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Titans Tavern south parking lot. There also will be a bounce house, popcorn, face painting, bike raffle and special guest visits from the police and fire departments.