As the temperature starts to cool down and the leaves start changing to various shades of red, yellow, and orange, you know that fall time in Minnesota is approaching.

Minnesota is full of various fall festivities. There are a variety of different options for family and friend’s. Severs fall festival, various apple orchards around the twin cities and metro area, and the dead end hayride are a few activities you can try out this fall.

Sever’s fall festival, in Scott County, is home to Minnesota’s largest corn maze. Some attractions include the corn pit, which is a huge area filled to the brim with corn kernels and monkey bars as well as other things to climb on. The exotic petting zoo houses unique animals for you to feed and or pet. Another area of excitement is the pig races. People crowd around and cheer on their favorite pigs. “The corn maze is my favorite part because each year it is a different design and it’s fun to find your way to the end,” senior Kiley Trochlil said.

Students also enjoy visiting apple orchards with family and friends. A few popular ones are Minnetonka Orchards, LuceLine Orchards, and Apple Jack Orchards. At these locations you can walk through the orchards as well as undertake seasonal apple picking and various other activities specific to each location. These activities include shopping, petting zoos, and face painting. Some students at BSM live out in the suburbs where apple orchards are only a short walk away. “My neighbors own an apple orchard, and I love going there in the fall,” senior Brady Yakesh said.

One popular attraction for people who love an adrenaline rush on Halloween is the Dead End Hayride in Wyoming, Minnesota. For the hayride, you buy a ticket for entrance to the event. Once inside the gates, there are food options, like fall themed donuts, and entertainment, like an illuminated rock climbing wall. When you enter the hayride it starts off on a trailer pulled by a tractor into the cornfield. Throughout the ride many people pop out from all around you to create jump scares from the audience. Once you reach the destination, you walk through several haunted houses one after the other. Each one is a little bit different, but they are all scary in their own special way. “The Dead End Hayride does a great job of making sure people have fun while still being super scared,” junior Peter Giertsen said.