Celebrate Fall with Farms, Food & Fun

Colorado is a wonderful place to be as the seasons change to autumn. There are pumpkin patches, harvest dinners, and fall festivals galore. Whether you’re looking for something to do with the kids or you’d like to celebrate the season with your sweetie, there are excellent fall destinations throughout the state.

Hands-on harvest experiences

For those who’d like to participate in harvest season to the point of dirty hands and knees, you can harvest your own vegetables or fruit this fall at a local farm. Places like Happy Apple Farm in Penrose, Colorado, south of Colorado Springs, grow apples, blackberries, raspberries, and pumpkins. Please call before stopping in to pick fruit at Happy Apple Farm as Tony Ferrara, farm owner, can tell you what’s ready to be harvested.

Strawberry lovers can pick their own at Berry Patch Farms in Brighton. Prime strawberry-picking time is August through September. Visitors to the farm can also pick flowers, basil, and raspberries.

Photo by Paul Bousquet/Courtesy of Cure Organic Farm

If you’d rather not get dirt under your fingernails, visit Cure Organic Farm’s on-site store in Boulder. Open May through December, here visitors can pick up everything from farm fresh eggs to dandelion greens. This farm also raises livestock and sells hormone- and antibiotic-free meat. Check this list to see what’s available now at Cure Organic Farm’s store.

Dining experiences

Today, farm-to-table dinners are fairly easy to find in Colorado. In fact, places like the Lyons Farmette schedules these dinners June through September. Meadow Lark Farm Dinners is a popular venue for farm-to-fork events and their events sell out quickly.

Restaurants specializing in farm-to-table cuisine often hold winemakers dinners or highlight special farms during the harvest season. Try The Living Farm Cafe in Paonia, Bin 707 Foodbar in Grand Junction or Black Cat in Boulder for fresh and flavorful dining events this fall.

Farmers' market at the Mountain Harvest Festival

Festival experiences

The Mountain Harvest Festival, September 22-25, 2016, in Paonia celebrates the bounty of the North Fork Valley, which is located an hour and a half southeast of Grand Junction. This four-day event features farm-to-table dinners, grape-stomping, farm and winery tours, and much, much more.

Boulder County Pumpkin Patch Photo courtesy of The Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau

Many towns around the Front Range hold harvest festivals, including Arvada, Platteville, and Estes Park, among others. Denverites who’d rather stay close to town can experience the change of seasons at Pumpkin Harvest Festival at Four Mile Historic Park on October 1-2, 2016.

For family fall activities, check out this amazing list at Colorado.com.