Your complete guide to fall fun just outside Sioux Falls

This paid piece is sponsored by Sioux Metro Growth Alliance

With long-lasting warm weather and leaves just starting to turn, make a little road trip outside of Sioux Falls to experience fall fun. Take the kids to a farm to have fun, get lost in a corn maze, pick the perfect pumpkin or have the daylights scared out of you.

Here are just a few fun things to do:

Our Farm north of Parker has a corn maze, petting zoo, zip lines, corn pit, bounce house and more. There’s also a pick-your-own, 10-acre pumpkin patch with 95 varieties. This is the third 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. On Oct. 26, 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. Bring a food item for Feeding South Dakota, and get a free gourd. The address is 27253 455th Ave.   

Annie’s Coffee Bar in Garretson is hosting the Harvest Festival on Saturday, Oct. 5. More than 20 vendors will be selling handmade goods from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be food and drink specials, funky pumpkins for sale from Two Little Bees Family Farm, baby goats to pet and hayrides around the parks from 10 a.m. to noon.

Head to Centerville on Oct. 19 for the Fall-O-Ween Festival. This year, the fun starts earlier in the day at 11 a.m. and goes until 10 p.m. The event downtown will feature live music, games and activities for kids, a haunted house, vendors, shopping at local businesses, food trucks and booths, and more. The Kid Zone will have activities like inflatables, a barrel train, obstacle course, petting zoo, hayrides and corn pit. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is $15 or $10 with two nonperishable food items for the food pantry. Also downtown that day, the  Centerville High School boys basketball team is hosting the fourth annual Centerville Fall Auto and Tractor Festival from 1 to 4 p.m. Find Fall-O-Ween Festival details here. 

Beresford is turning an annual trunk-or-treating event into the Flannel Fling, adding shopping, live music, food and drinks, and a local food drive. The fun will run from noon to 5 p.m. Oct. 27, with the trunk-or-treating at 4 p.m. on Third Street between Main and Hemlock. Find details here. 

Last year, there weren’t any apples to pick at The Country Apple Orchard because of drought and pests, but there’s a bumper crop this year. The orchard on the west edge of Harrisburg also sells bagged apples in the store. Find details on which varieties are available at countryappleorchard.com. The pumpkin patch also is open for picking.

The orchard store at 27249 Highway 115 is open from 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. 27.

If you’re looking for additional family fun, the orchard’s Fall Festival offers a variety of activities every Friday through Sunday through Oct. 27. For an admission fee, there are more than 20 attractions, including jumping pillows, a corn pit, zip line, hay bale and corn mazes, a petting zoo, 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. This year, there’s a bumper crop, but a hailstorm in July damaged about one-third of the apples on the north and northwest end of the 20-acre orchard, owner David Hoversten said. They’re a little “dinged up” and are sold as “seconds” at a reduced price. The orchard also sells bagged apples, apple cider, pumpkins, other squash, gourds, honey, jam and baked goods. New this year are blueberry fritter bread and caramel apple muffins. 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, Hoversten said. Last year, it was open until Nov. 18. 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 almost 40 varieties in the patch and at the store. Other attractions include hayrides, train rides, inflatables, pumpkin painting, farm animals and more. New this year are a pumpkin cannon and mining sluice. Dates are Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Oct. 20. 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. 5. 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. 5 and 12 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. 

This year, That Pickin Patch west of Sioux Falls on Highway 19 is selling pumpkins from its self-serve stand. “The weeds got away from us” so customers can’t go out in the field to pick their own, said Chris Kasten, the fifth generation to farm the land. The family keeps the stand well stocked with lots of pumpkins to pick from and expects to be open until Halloween night. They planted 20 to 30 varieties this year – “we’ve got blue, pink, green, orange, yellow – every color,” Kasten said. Later in the season, there will be acorn and amber cup squash and pumpkins for cooking or baking. The stand at 26711 455th Ave. is open during daylight hours. 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. 10. The orchard’s store also sells apples from its trees, caramel dip, gourds, baked goods, popcorn and other treats. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Head south of Canton for the Newton Hills 24th annual Fall Festival on Saturday, Oct. 5. The arts and craft show with 60 vendors will be from 1 to 5 p.m. There will be activities for kids, including make-and-take crafts and pumpkin catapulting with the goal of hitting the dummy in the outhouse. 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 to start a candlelight walk from 7:15 to 9:30 p.m. with local performers stationed along the 2.2-mile route. Gail Harmelink, campground supervisor, made the 1,000 candles that will line 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.  

Head out to the Big Sioux Recreation Area west of Brandon on Saturday, Oct. 26, 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. Hopefully, there won’t be snow like last year!

Heartland Country Corn Maze on Highway 11 between Sioux Falls and Canton is celebrating its 25th 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 sea turtle. Find all 10 checkpoints and the special treasure chest checkpoint to win a free treat from the concessions barn. Hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, with final entries at closing time and the grounds closing one hour later. The Haunted Maze with spooks will be Oct. 25-26 with hours of 6 to 9 p.m., and the grounds closing at 10 p.m. The address is 27455 Highway 11. Find other information at heartlandcountrycornmaze.com.

Cherry Rock Farms south of Brandon suffered from damaging floods in June, but it replanted what vegetables it could to harvest and sell at its produce store. The farm also will be able to open its pumpkin patch and corn maze this weekend. Other activities include hay rides, goat-petting, pumpkin painting and food trucks. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays as long as the weather stays nice. The address is 48105 264th St.  Update: The final day for the pumpkin patch and activities is Oct. 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

The Corn Maze at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park along Interstate 90 between Sioux Falls and Brandon, which 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 Maze Nights offer added fun with admissions from 6 to 9 p.m. Those dates are Sept. 28, Oct. 7, 14 and 19.

The Haunted Farm northeast of Worthing opens this weekend with its Haunted Woods and Haunted Barn. “We’ve got some new people with a ton of great ideas,” owner Paula Bell said of the haunt’s 11th year. Guests follow a trail with scares all along the way, she said. This year, the Haunted Barn features phobia-related scares. Hours are 7 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with an 11 p.m. closing time the last two Saturdays of the month. The address is 47449 276th St. 

Terror 29 in Brandon is back for another year of haunting on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights through Nov. 2. 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 10th 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. 10 and runs Thursday through Saturday through Nov. 2. On Oct. 20, there’s a kids trick-or-treat day from 1 to 3 p.m. with the lights on. The Jaycees Asylum at the Feargrounds opens Oct. 11 at the W.H. Lyons Fairgrounds in Sioux Falls. In addition to every Friday and Saturday through Nov. 2, it will be open Oct. 13 for kids day, Oct. 24 for Throwback Thursday and Oct. 31. Blackout Nights are Nov. 1-2.

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

• Brandon: Oct. 31, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Brandon businesses
• Dell Rapids: Oct. 25, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. downtown. 
• Garretson: Oct. 31, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Split Rock Park campground.
• Harrisburg: Oct. 25, from 3 to 6 p.m. at Harrisburg businesses
• Hartford: Oct. 27, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the West Central Middle School parking lot.
• Salem, Oct. 31, 4 to 6:30 p.m. along Main Street.