"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers," says Anne Shirley, happily, in the beloved children's classic "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery. To be sure, there's a lot to love about October: enjoying the cooler temperatures, welcoming autumn, celebrating Halloween -- and if you're the kind of person who shares Anne's enthusiasm for the month, you're sure to find a corn maze, hay ride or pumpkin patch in Northwest Arkansas that will help you celebrate.
New this year is the first-ever Fall Flower Harvest from 3 to 6 p.m. Oct. 21 at Sacred Hollow Farm, 3830 E. Arkansas 264 in Lowell. The final event for the season at the you-pick herb and flower farm created by Caleb Schoeppe and Sydney Sloan will offer a chance to choose your own bouquet, music by Ashtyn Barbaree at 4 p.m., free cider and wine plus fall-inspired food for purchase from Nellie B's Bakery & Cafe.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children 10 and younger via the farm's Instagram and Facebook pages. Pumpkins will also be for sale.
Throughout the area, enjoy all these things to do in celebration of the 10th month of the year:
Pick A Pumpkin
Visit one of these locations to pluck the perfect pumpkin for your front porch.
McGarrah Farms
14816 Miser Road, Pea Ridge
640-3257
Closed Tuesdays. Open weekdays 1-6 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sundays, 12 p.m.-6 p.m.
Reagan Family Farm
241 E. 15th St., Fayetteville
443-5529
Visit this location for pumpkins of all shapes and sizes, gourds, mums, corn stalk bundles, wheat straw bales and stems of cotton. Hours/days of operation vary; check facebook.com/farmreaganfamily for more information.
Vanzant Fruit Farms
3705 Arkansas 264, Lowell
756-3152
8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Fred and Kahylene Vanzant started Vanzant Fruit Farms in 1949, and their Lowell farm stand is still a popular place to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables -- including pumpkins in the month of October.
Sequoyah United Methodist Church Youth Pumpkin Patch
1910 Old Wire Road, Fayetteville
442-8677
10 a.m.-7 p.m. every day through Oct. 31
Sequoyah United Methodist Church in Fayetteville turns its front lawn into a giant pumpkin patch every October, trucking in the pumpkins and gourds from a Navajo Indian reservation in northwest New Mexico. Proceeds go to support youth ministry and missions.
Ranalli Farms Pumpkin Patch
2190 W. Henri De Tonti Blvd., Springdale
361-1313
Monday-Saturday 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday 12-5 p.m.
Three generations of the Ranalli family have been growing, harvesting and selling strawberries, blueberries, peaches, corn, melons, grapes, apples and, from mid-September until December, pumpkins.
Fall Fun
Enjoy the best of outdoor fall fun with one of these organizations.
Farmland Adventures
5355 Parsons Road, Springdale
799-5033
The Parsons family has been working the land where Farmland Adventures is located since 1910. Today, the farm features a 9-acre corn maze with the theme "Secret Agent," wagon rides, a pumpkin patch, pony rides, farm animals, pig races and a kids' play area.
Blue Ribbon Farms' Ozark Fall Fest
6069 Arkansas 112, Springdale
636-1717
Fridays, 3-9 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
A plethora of activities and events are offered during this nearly monthlong fall festival. Rides, races and games include cornhole, paintball, three-legged races, a corn cannon, trike races, hayrides, a corn maze and a wagon train; family activities include face painting. costume contests, a climbing wall, jumping pillows, tire swings, a petting zoo and bonfires. Live music is featured on Fridays and Saturdays, and concessions are available.
Exeter Corn Maze State
Missouri MM, Exeter, Mo.
877-846-3959
Open now through Nov. 7, Wednesdays-Sundays; hours vary according to activity. Check exetercornmaze.com/hours for more information.
The list of activities and events at this fall extravaganza are as long as your arm and includes scary, Halloween-themed events like the daytime haunted barn, zombie paintball and the haunted corn maze; and more family-friendly activities like swings, a petting zoo, hayrides, a pumpkin cannon, pumpkin jumps, a zip line, go karts and pig races.
Ozark Corn Maze
2991 Dead Horse Mountain Road, Fayetteville
208-2692
ozarkcornmaze.com
Thursdays, noon-7 p.m.; Fridays, noon-10 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sundays 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
At this location, you'll find two separate corn mazes on 10 acres of land, hay stacks, an apple cannon, bounce pillows, the Rivercrest Express Train, a variety of slides, a huge pumpkin selection, free hayrides and live music.
Send your fall festival, corn maze or pumpkin patch to lhightower@nwadg.com.
