This is the busiest Saturday of the fall, and we are publishing early so you can plan it. Two pieces of housekeeping first. Sheriff Darren Weekly lifted Stage 1 fire restrictions on September 17, so for the first time since August 20 your patio fire pit needs no asterisk (details here). And the forecast: as we write on Sunday, the National Weather Service outlook for Castle Rock only reaches Thursday, which it calls mostly sunny and 78, after a week of highs in the mid to upper 70s and lows near 50. Check the weekend itself on Thursday. Nothing below needs a perfect day except the drone show.
1. Saturday, 10 to 3: the county's Fall Festival at Sandstone Ranch
The best free event of the season. Douglas County opens the working side of Sandstone Ranch for five hours: 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. Use the Special Events Entrance at 8309 S. Perry Park Road in Larkspur, not the main trailhead; the county says signs will be out. No registration. Parking is free but limited and the roads in are narrow, so carpool, and bring water and chairs. Arrive at 10. By noon the lot is the story.
2. Saturday, 4 to 7:30: Parker Fall Fest and the drone show
The natural second stop, a half hour or so north. The Town's theme this year is Parker's entrepreneurial spirit, past and present, tied to America's 250th, Colorado's 150th and Parker's own 45th, which in practice means a new heritage artisan market and interactive booths on top of the usual: an inflatable corn maze, carnival games, a beer garden, food trucks and live country from The Country Music Project at O'Brien Park. Admission is free. The patriotic drone show goes up at about 7:30, weather permitting, and it is the reason to stay to the end. Mainstreet parking will be gone by 4.
3. Friday: both pumpkin farms open, and they could not be more different
Lone Creek Farms at 3879 N. Highway 83 in Franktown opens Friday at 10 and runs to 9 p.m. It is the full production: $27.95 for anyone 4 and up ($25.95 for seniors 63-plus and military, free for 3 and under) buys a corn maze, wagon rides, pedal carts, giant slides, a mine cart ride, pig races and a candy cannon. The new Harvest Glow Nights light show does not start until October 2, so this weekend you are paying full price for the daytime farm. Still the move for a full day with kids over five.
Gilly's, at 1433 Lake Gulch Road south of Castle Rock, is the opposite and we mean it kindly: an 1889 homestead, Fridays and Saturdays only, 10 until dark, $5 a head or $20 for the whole family. This is the first of just three weekends. Kids under six will like it better than the big farm, and so will your wallet. The rest of the season is in our pumpkin patch guide.
Lone Creek Farms Fall Festival: Opening Day
Gilly's Pumpkin Patch: Opening Weekend
4. Saturday and Sunday: cabers in Sedalia
The Colorado Highland Games take over the Denver Polo Club, 6359 Airport Road in Sedalia: Saturday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 9 to 5. Caber toss, pipe bands, Highland dancing, clan tents, whisky seminars. It is ticketed, with day, weekend and parking passes sold through the organizer's site, and the public pages still do not show prices without clicking through, so look before you drive. Sunday is the quieter day, and since Saturday is spoken for three times over, Sunday is when we would go.
5. Saturday morning, two ways: pull barbed wire or pet a goat
For National Public Lands Day, Castle Rock wants volunteers from 9 to noon at Lost Canyon Ranch Open Space, the town's newest, to remove old barbed wire fencing near the Cattleman's Trailhead at 6581 Lost Canyon Ranch Road. It is real work with a real payoff: wildlife can move through where the wire comes out. Check the Town's event page for sign-up details before you show up with gloves.
With kids under eight, swap that for CALF Harvest Day at Lowell Ranch, 2330 S. Interstate 25, from 10 to 2. Pay what you can at the gate, parking included, small charges for most activities, farm animals throughout. It is on the way to Sandstone Ranch, which is how you do three things Saturday: Lowell Ranch at 10, Sandstone by 11:30, Parker by 5.
National Public Lands Day
CALF Harvest Day at Lowell Ranch
6. Sunday: the easy day
The Festival Park market runs 9 to 2 in Castle Rock and Parker's runs 8 to 1 on Mainstreet, where the season goes through Halloween. The Town calendar also lists an hour-long walking tour of downtown Castle Rock at 10:30 both Saturday and Sunday, starting on Perry Street, an easy add-on to the market. Then go find some color. Douglas County's oak and cottonwood turn late September into mid-October, and our fall colors guide ranks thirteen places to see it.
Festival Park Farmers Market
Parker Farmers Market
Walking Tours of Downtown Castle Rock
Next weekend
Lone Tree does a doubleheader at Schweiger Ranch: Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 3, from 2:30 to 6:30 (free entry, $26 to $36 to drink), then the free Fall Festival on Sunday, October 4, from 11 to 3, where the wagon rides require pre-registration through the city. Book those now, not Saturday night. And ballots mail Friday, October 2. Here is everything on yours.
And one we still wouldn't do
Try all four Saturday events. We wrote "you can do two" in the festivals guide and have now talked ourselves into three. Four means you spent the best Saturday of the fall on I-25.
We'll see you out there. If we missed something that belongs in next week's drop, the address is on the About page.
Places mentioned
Sandstone Ranch Open Space
O'Brien Park
This town park has a softball field, basketball court, playgrounds, an outdoor pool & picnic areas.
Festival Park
This scenic community area features an amphitheater, picnic pavilion & paved walking trails.