Ah, fall. Encroaching death, darkness and cold are here. Thankfully, humans have a well-honed talent for distraction and pretending everything's fine and great.
The Denver area has plenty of options for maximum fall fun, though you will probably have leave Denver proper. (If you know of a secret in-warehouse corn maze, please tell me.) But what lies beyond city limits are some charming pumpkin patches, elaborate corn-field mazes and truly outrageous haunted houses. There's also something called "Goat City."
Here's a list and map to help your plan. Let me know if I missed anything at [email protected].
Corn mazes and pumpkin patches. All hours through October, except as otherwise noted.
Anderson Farms
6728 Country Road 3-1/4, Erie
9 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday
10 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday
9 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday
Free-$16
Corn maze, pumpkin patch, camp fires, gem mining and more.
Botanic Gardens - Chatfield Farms
8500 W. Deer Creek Canyon Road, Littleton
Normal corn maze and activities:
10 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday and Saturday
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Free-$14
After dark corn maze:
7-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday
7-10 p.m. Thursday and Sunday
Corn mazes, hay rides, barrel train rides, pony rides and more. Here's our look from last year through a parent's eyes.
Cottonwood Farms
1535 N. 75th St., Boulder
10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily
Free
Corn maze, hay bale maze, pumpkin patch, farm animals, hay rides and more.
Fritzler’s Corn Maze
20861 CR 33, LaSalle
6-9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday
5-10 p.m. Friday
11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday
Noon-5 p.m. Sunday
$13-24
Huge, complex corn maze famous for the designs. This year's is a tribute to farmers. At night: a haunted maze.
Fall Harvest Festival Miller Farms
13912 CR 19, Platteville
9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through mid-November
$15-20
Tractor rides to harvest your own vegetables. Antique planes, trucks, cars and tractors.
Harvest Farm
4240 E. County Road 66, Wellington
10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Noon-6 p.m. Sunday
Free-$15
Corn maze, wagon rides, yard games, camp fires, petting zoo, pig races, "Goat City" (!!!), pumpkin patch, corn cannons, food trucks and much more.
Maize in the City
10451 McKay Road, Thornton
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday
9 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Free-$12
Corn maze, pumpkin patch, pony rides and a corn kernel box (like a sand box).
May Farms
64001 U.S. Highway 36
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Free-$10
Pumpkin patch, hay rides, barnyard, yard games and other more.
Munson Farms
Valmont Road and N. 75th St., Boulder
9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday
9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Free
Pumpkin patch, corn maze, farm animals and hay rides.
Nick’s Garden Center
2001 S. Chambers Road, Aurora
8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday
$1 per token or $13 for a writsband
Straw maze, pumpkins, games, bounce castles, a pedal cart track, mini-train rides and more.
Rock Creek Farms
2005 S. 112th St., Broomfield
9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. daily
Night corn maze open sundown to 10 p.m.
Free
Pumpkin picking, corn mazes, farm animals, homemade fall treats and more.
Tagawa Gardens Nursery & Garden Center
7711 S. Parker Road, Centennial
10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Pumpkin decorating, an inflatable obstacle course, walk on water bubbles, pony rides, a historical hayride, the bat cave, face painting, balloon twisting and more.
Haunted houses and whatnot
13th Floor Haunted House
3400 East 52nd Ave., Denver
Hours vary, see calendar
$27.99-$53.99
Denver's best-known, as-seen-on-TV haunted house horrifyingly explores why so many buildings don't have a 13th floor.
Anderson Farms' Terror in the Corn and Zombie Paintball Hunt
6728 Country Road 3-1/4, Erie
Sundown-10 p.m. Sunday
Sundown.-6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday
Sundown-10 p.m. Thursday
Sundown.-11 p.m. Saturday
$22-45
Haunted corn maze and paintball zombie hunt.
Asylum Haunted House
6100 E. 39th Ave.
Hours vary, see calendar
$19.99-$53.99
Part of the 13th Floor chain, the Asylum is "infested with the endless screams of tortured souls."
Great Room Escape
4120 Brighton Blvd., Suite C2
Note: Great Room Escape is moving and has yet to announce an opening date and hours. Watch the website for updates.
13th Floor took the escape room concept so many companies use for team building exercises and made it terrifying. In one scenario, you have to escape a fenced-in area before a zombie gets you. In the other, you're trapped in a cabin by a serial killer. New this year: a solo virtual reality experience in a haunted manor.
Extinction
4100 Grape St.
8 p.m.-midnight Friday through Sunday, Oct. 30 and Halloween
$25-$35
Don't just run through a haunted house in terror. Fight back. Extinction takes over the American Paintball Coliseum and lets you do just that.
Haunted Field of Screams
10270 Riverdale Road, Thornton
Sundown-10 p.m. Thursday and Sunday
Sundown-midnight Friday and Saturday
$26-$65
The Frightmare Compound
10798 Yukon St., Westminster
7-10 p.m. Sunday and Thursday
7 p.m.-midnight Friday and Saturday
$25.99-$47.99
City of the Dead
7007 E. 88th Ave., Henderson
Hours vary, see calendar
$25-$60
Dead Zone Haunted Attraction
8500 W. Deer Creek Canyon Road, Littleton
Hours vary, see calendar
$27-$37
Corn Stalkers Haunted Maze, Reapers Ranch and a haunted hayride.
