The Big 417 Fall Guide 2026: Pumpkin Patches, Corn Mazes, Harvest Festivals & Fall Fun

🏠 The 417 Mom Home · 🔥 Today's Deals · 💛 Networking Mama Hub + Start Here

Halloween gets all the glory, but let's be honest — fall in the 417 starts way before October 31. 🍂 Pumpkin patches, corn mazes, harvest festivals, small-town fall days with a parade and a food truck row… this is the season our kids are going to remember, and it is happening all over the 417, not just in Springfield.

So here it is: the Big 417 Fall Guide, organized by area — Springfield, Nixa & Christian County, the west and north towns, the east side, and Branson & the south 417. Every date below was checked against the folks actually hosting, because nobody wants to load up a car full of kids in flannel and drive to a locked gate. (Ask me how I know.)

Planning Halloween itself? Trunk-or-treats, haunted houses, trick-or-treat night and all the spooky stuff live in our companion guide: The Ultimate 417 Halloween Guide — go bookmark that one too. Plenty of places below appear in both guides, because a pumpkin patch with a haunted maze night is doing double duty and so are we. 🎃

🍂 Fall Fun, Area by Area

📍 Springfield

You don't have to leave town to get the full fall experience — Springfield has a free-admission farm park festival, two working farms with pumpkins and mazes, and the cutest pet parade of the season.

• Weekends, Oct. 17–18 & Oct. 24–25 — Harvest Fest at Rutledge-Wilson Farm Park — Saturdays 11 AM–6 PM, Sundays 12–6 PM, 3825 W. Farm Road 146. The Park Board's big fall weekends: corn maze, hayrides, cow train, pony rides, inflatables and farm animals. Admission is FREE; the activities carry small fees. Can't make a weekend? The pumpkin patch is also open Tuesday–Friday, 9 AM–5 PM through Oct. 23, with pumpkins priced by weight.
• Fri–Sun through Nov. 1 — Feemster's Twisted Corn Maze — Fridays 5–9 PM, Saturdays 10 AM–9 PM, Sundays 1–9 PM, 2501 E. Farm Road 94. A "not quite" 13-acre corn maze on a working Century Farm dairy, with a live petting zoo — miniature cattle, pigs, mini horses and goats — included in admission, plus pumpkins for sale and an apple cannon. Admission is $12 for ages 4 and up; 3 & under are free, and parking is free.
• All season — County Line Farm Pumpkin Patch — open daily 10 AM–6 PM, 6610 S. Campbell Ave. A family-owned patch on the south side of town: pick your own pumpkins, ride the County Line Cruiser, and try pumpkin paintball and the crab apple cannon. Low-key, close to home, and easy with littles.
• Sat, Oct. 24 — Pets & Pumpkins Family Festival — Park Central Square, downtown Springfield. $2 per person. Costumed pets, a costume contest and a walking parade around the Square — easily the cutest event of the season. (A start time hadn't been announced when we published — check before you head down.)

📍 Nixa & Christian County (Nixa · Ozark · Sparta)

Christian County's fall calendar front-loads into one big festival weekend — if you're down this way, this is your can't-miss:

• Fri–Sat, Oct. 16–17 — Sparta Persimmon Days — 837 Division St., Sparta. Sparta's beloved small-town fall festival — music, crafters and food vendors — with a parade at 10 AM and a Trunk or Treat hosted by First Baptist Church of Sparta from 12–1 PM during the festival. Festival entry is free (vendor and food prices vary). Small-town fall at its finest.

📍 West & North (Republic · Battlefield · Willard · Clever · Brighton)

The west and north side is patch-and-maze country — a haunted-at-night corn maze in Clever, an orchard festival up in Brighton, and a sweet trailhead festival in Willard, all in one weekend if you're ambitious:

• Sat, Oct. 17 — Frisco Harvest Fest — Frisco Highline Trailhead, 304 E. Jackson St., Willard. Hosted by Hive of the Ozarks, the nonprofit eatery that employs people with disabilities: vendors, food trucks and live entertainment at the trailhead. A sweet small-town fall day. (The day's hours weren't posted when we checked — peek at the Hive of the Ozarks page before you go.)
• All October — Campbell's Maze Daze & Pumpkin Patch — 177 Carob Rd., Clever. Fridays 6–11 PM, Saturdays 2–11 PM, Sundays (through Oct. 25) 12–7 PM. Daytime means a corn maze, pumpkin patch, hayrides and bonfires — and after dark on Friday and Saturday nights, the maze goes HAUNTED. Clever's own fall headquarters. (Admission price wasn't published on the farm's site when we checked — bring a little cash buffer.)
• Through Oct. 31 — Gardener's Orchard Pumpkin Festival — 4455 W. Farm Road 2, Brighton. Open Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays: corn maze, corn pit, jump pads and a hayride, plus an orchard bakery. $14.52 for ages 4–59, 3 & under free — and Wednesdays are $10 days.

📍 East (Rogersville · Fordland · Strafford)

Rogersville carries the east side this fall, with a big free festival day and a ranch night worth the drive:

• Sun, Oct. 18 — 6th Annual Rogersville Farm + Harvest Festival — Rogersville City Park, 270 County Line Rd., Rogersville. FREE! Vendors, food trucks, live entertainment, games, bounce houses and face painting — Rogersville's big fall day in the park.
• Sat, Oct. 24 — Wild West Fall Fest, Dogwood Ranch — from 4 PM, 2689 Parch Corn Rd., Rogersville. A western-themed fall festival out at the ranch — a fun excuse to put the cowboy boots with the flannel.

📍 Branson & the South 417

Yes, Branson counts! 🎢 The south end of the 417 does fall BIG — glowing pumpkins, a working-ranch roundup, and the classic patch experience. Heads up that the headline attractions down here are ticketed (we'll be honest about which ones cost money), but they're also the showstoppers of the season.

• All season — Silver Dollar City Harvest Festival & Pumpkins In The City® — Harvest Festival runs Sept. 11–Oct. 31; Pumpkins In The City® runs Sept. 18–Oct. 31. The park fills with more than 20,000 pumpkins, the Garden of Giants shows off pumpkins weighing up to 1,000 pounds, hundreds of visiting craftsmen set up shop, master pumpkin carver Barry Brown carves live, and the fall menus come out. It's included with regular park admission — so it's a paid theme-park day, not a free event — but if your family does one big fall outing, this is the one. One important note: costumes aren't allowed at Silver Dollar City, so save those for Halloween night.
• All season — Shepherd's PumpkinFest, Shepherd of the Hills, Branson — Sept. 12–Oct. 31, Fridays–Sundays plus select Wednesdays and Thursdays. Hayrides, pumpkin picking and painting, scarecrow making, and a pumpkin house and chair made for photos. Stay after dark for Pumpkins Aglow (glowing pumpkins at dusk until 9 PM Sun/Wed/Thu, 10 PM Fri/Sat) — and Sleepy Hollow brings the Headless Horseman and a spooky hayride on select evenings through Oct. 24. 💛 Local love: Stone & Taney County locals get $15 tickets at the booth with ID. Bundled "Great Pumpkin Ticket" options start at $39.95.
• All season — McKenna's Pumpkin Patch, McKenna Family Farm, Branson — Sept. 26–Nov. 1, 3265 State Highway F. The classic family pumpkin patch: bounce pillow, jump pad, hay mazes, a corn box, gerbil wheels, rubber ducky races, and a "Spook-tacular" hayride that is proudly NOT scary. Admission is $9 for ages 3–65, $4.50 for 66+, and free for 2 & under (no admission needed just to buy pumpkins). Hours: Wed–Thu 10 AM–6 PM, Fri–Sat 10 AM–7 PM, Sun 11 AM–7 PM; closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
• Weekends through Nov. 1 — Sycamore Creek Fall Roundup — Saturdays & Sundays, 2:30–8:30 PM, 2657 Sunset Inn Rd., Branson. A working-ranch fall day: a 6-acre corn maze, hayrides, a cow train and pony rides. Tickets run a little cheaper online ($15 ages 12+, $10 ages 3–11, 2 & under free) than at the gate ($18/$13).

🧡 Before You Hit the Patch: 417 Mama Tips

Layer up. Missouri fall is a liar — 70° at noon, 40s by the time you're leaving the patch. Fleece or thermals under the flannel, a hat and gloves in the car, and a blanket in the trunk for the ride home.

Wear the shoes you don't care about. Pumpkin patches are fields, and fields after rain are mud. Closed-toe shoes or boots for everybody, and a trash bag in the trunk for the muddy ones on the way h

Bring a wagon if you have one. Pumpkins are heavier than they look and kids are committed to the biggest one in the farthest row. Every time. (At Rutledge-Wilson and McKenna's, you don't pay admission just to buy pumpkins — handy for a quick porch-pumpkin run.)

Check the farm's Facebook page the morning you go. Fall farms close for mud and weather more than you'd think, and the little ones post updates on social before anywhere else. A two-minute check beats a disappointed carload.

Cash AND card. Most of these take cards now, but the kettle corn stand at a small-town festival is exactly where you'll wish you had a five. Plan accordingly.

🎃 Don't Forget the Halloween Guide

This guide covers the fall season — for trunk-or-treats, haunted houses, sensory-friendly picks and Halloween night itself, head to The Ultimate 417 Halloween Guide 2026. Between the two of them, your whole October is hand

💛 Before You Go

Bookmark this page — I'll keep it updated as new fall events pop up. Follow The 417 Mom on Facebook for week-of reminders and weather changes, and browse more local guides anytime at the417mom.blogspot.com.

And mama — share this with a 417 mama friend who needs a plan for Saturday. Nobody should have to piece together fall from fourteen screenshots and a prayer. Happy fall, 417! 🍂🧡

🏠 The 417 Mom Home · 🔥 Today's Deals · 💛 Networking Mama Hub + Start Here