The 2026 Douglas County Fall Festival Guide

Douglas County has a dozen fall festivals across seven towns and nine weekends, and the towns do not coordinate. So we did. Everything below carries a 2026 date on an organizer's own page as of this week; where a price or parking plan is not posted, we say so rather than guess. Pumpkin patches and corn mazes get their own guide at /news/douglas-county-pumpkin-patches-corn-mazes-2026.

September 19-20: Larkspur goes first

The Larkspur Autumn Arts and Crafts Fest runs Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20, at Larkspur Community Park, 8850 Spruce Mountain Road. The Larkspur Area Chamber's listing says 10 AM to 5 PM; a Tri-Lakes calendar has Sunday closing at 4, so treat Sunday's last hour as optional. Admission, hayrides and the kids' inflatables are all free, which nothing else on this list can say. More than 70 booths and a beer and wine tent. Our take: the better pick if you would rather walk a craft fair than stand in a beer line. Parking is a field. Go Saturday morning.

September 19: Castle Rock Oktoberfest

Saturday, September 19, 1 to 9 PM at Wilcox Square and Festival Park, 300 Second Street. No ticket or wristband to walk in. The Downtown Merchants Association produces it with $20,000 of Town money, and the schedule is posted to the quarter hour: keg tapping at 1, stein hoisting at 2:20, 3:20, 4:20 and 5:20, Neue Polka from 2:30 to 6:45, DJ Markus from 7 to 9. Eighteen food trucks, 21 beverage vendors, free bounce houses for kids. What the organizer has not posted is what a beer costs. Park in the Encore, County or View garages, or the library and DCSD lots; skip Wilcox Street itself. Our take: arrive at 1 for the keg tapping, stay through the polka, leave before the DJ. The 7 to 9 window is a dance party that happens to be near a brat.

September 26: the Saturday everything happens at once

Four events share September 26. You can do two.

Douglas County Fall Festival, Sandstone Ranch. 10 AM to 3 PM, free, all ages. Use the Special Events Entrance at 8309 S. Perry Park Road in Larkspur, not the main trailhead lot; the county says signs will be out. Ranger-guided hikes, food trucks, family games and a Fire Safety Showcase built around the county's firefighting helicopter and the crews who fly it. If you read our helitack hangar piece, this is the aircraft. Parking is free but the county calls it limited and asks for carpools. Bring water and chairs. Our take: the best free event of the season; the guided side of Sandstone Ranch is otherwise closed to you. Unincorporated Douglas County has been under Stage 1 fire restrictions since August 20, so bring nothing that lights.

CALF Harvest Day, Lowell Ranch. 10 AM to 2 PM at 2330 S. Interstate 25 south of Castle Rock. Pay-what-you-can admission with parking included; CALF says most activities carry a small charge. Farm animals and local produce; good for kids under eight, and on the way to Sandstone.

Colorado Highland Games, Sedalia. Saturday 9 AM to 8 PM, Sunday 9 AM to 5 PM at the Denver Polo Club, 6359 Airport Road. Caber toss, pipe bands, Highland dancing, clan tents, whisky seminars. Ticketed, with day, weekend and parking passes sold through the organizer's ticket site; the public pages do not display prices, so check before you drive. Sunday is quieter.

Parker Fall Fest, O'Brien Park. 4 to 7:30 PM at O'Brien Park. The Town lists an inflatable corn maze, carnival games, a beer garden, food trucks, live country from The Country Music Project, a new Artisan Market, and a patriotic drone show at about 7:30, weather permitting. The Town's page prints neither an admission price nor a parking plan. Our take: the natural second stop after Sandstone Ranch, and the drone show is the reason to stay. Mainstreet parking will be gone by 4. Parker has no standalone Oktoberfest on its 2026 signature events list, so if you want steins in Parker, this beer garden is it.

October 3-4: Lone Tree does both in one weekend

Schweiger Ranch, 10822 S. Havana Street, hosts two city events back to back. Park at the RTD RidgeGate Park and Ride directly across the street both days; golf carts run to the gate.

Lone Tree Oktoberfest, Saturday, October 3, 2:30 to 6:30 PM. Entry is free; drinking is not. Unlimited sampling is $36 with a commemorative glass, or $26 buys two beers and a 20-ounce mug. Our take: the $36 package wins past three pours, and a ranch lawn beats a downtown street for sitting down.

Lone Tree Fall Festival, Sunday, October 4, 11 AM to 3 PM, free. Pumpkin patch, wagon rides, petting zoo, food trucks, live music, homestead tours and the Cheyenne Mountain ZOOMobile, with marshmallow roasting at 11:30, 12:30 and 1:30. Our take: the best-organized kids' festival in the county, and the 11:30 marshmallow slot is the least crowded.

October 17: Castle Rock Spooktacular

Saturday, October 17, 1 to 4 PM at Philip S. Miller Park, free, outdoors. A Trick-or-Treat Trail of activity stations, candy, and a Children's Entrepreneur Market the Town calls new this year. Last year entry was staggered by last name; the 2026 page does not say whether that returns. Our take: the one for toddlers, and parking is ample and free, which is true of nothing downtown.

October 23-24: Castle Pines and Parker, same Saturday

Castle Pines runs two nights. Friday, October 23, 6 to 9 PM is Bonfire, BBQ and Brews, ticketed, advance sales only. Saturday, October 24, 10 AM to 2 PM is the Fall Festival with Trick-or-Treat Street through the Village Square storefronts (year 19) and the Great Pumpkin Race at 1 PM (year 4), a box-car derby with pumpkins; racers must be registered in advance. The city's prior-year page puts it at 7437 Village Square Drive. Saturday admission is not posted. Our take: the pumpkin race is the most original thing on this list and worth the drive from anywhere in the county.

Downtown Parker Trunk or Treat, same Saturday, in the rear parking lot of Parker Station, 19751 Mainstreet. Sensory hour 1 to 2 PM, general admission 2 to 5. Free, but every child needs an individual timed-entry ticket; parents do not. Reserve the day tickets open, and leave the sensory hour to families who need it.

October 30-31: the last two

Fangtastic Festival, Friday, October 30, 11 AM to 2 PM, Festival Park, free. A booth-to-booth trick-or-treat the Downtown Merchants Association designs for homeschool families and kids not yet in school. If your kids are in DCSD, this is not yours.

Last Stop Halloween, Saturday, October 31, 6:30 to 9 PM at the Highlands Ranch Mansion, 9950 E. Gateway Drive. Free, outdoors only, mansion interior closed, DJ and a cash bar. The only Halloween-night event in the county that is not a haunted house.

Not confirmed: HRCA's Fall Fest at Backcountry Base Camp ($25 kid tickets in past years) had no 2026 date on any page we could reach, and nothing in Sedalia or Franktown beyond the Highland Games has a date posted.

November 21: the finale

Castle Rock Starlighting is Saturday, November 21, 2 to 6 PM at Wilcox Square: ceremony at 5, the Star lit at about 5:30, fireworks right after, weather and fire danger permitting. Free hot chocolate, a Kids Zone, Santa, beer and wine for adults. Free shuttles run 1:30 to 8 PM from AdventHealth Castle Rock, Douglas County High School and the fairgrounds; downtown streets close from 6 AM. Take the shuttle. Every year someone circles the Encore garage at 4:45 and watches the Star light from a car window. Check /events for anything added between now and then.