October 2, 2018
How great is it that businesses in Wisconsin Dells have jumped on the Halloween bandwagon, make that hay wagon, with tons of candy and miles of corn mazes to keep kids happy? Let’s start with Country Bumpkin Farm Market & Lil' Bumpkin Play Village. This year they have a 2.5 acre corn maze with fun trivia questions to help you through, an express farm train ride through the farm fields, petting farm, pumpkin smashin’ catapult and pumpkin picking. On some evenings, there will be a moonlight corn maze (bring your flashlights) and hay-wagon rides, with s’mores making and hot apple cider to fill hungry tummies.
At Red Ridge Ranch Riding Stable, there’s a corn maze, hay maze, pumpkin painting which includes a pumpkin of your choice and haunted hay rides on October weekends.
The resorts serve up their own spooktacular fun too. Chula Vista Resort has trick-or-treating, Halloween crafts, and wagon rides. Wilderness Resort has horse-drawn wagon rides to their pumpkin patch, a trick-or-treat trail, and a Halloween party. It’s Howl-O-Ween fun at Great Wolf Lodge, where the kiddos can trick-or-treat and dance at the Monster Bash. On Halloween weekend, Kalahari Resorts & Conventions has a fun door decorating contest with winners awarded spooky prizes and a Monster Mash costume contest. Mt. Olympus Resort has a scary-good offer – guest will have access to Ghost Out-Post Haunted House, Top Secret, A Highly Classified Experience and Lost Temple.
If legitimately scary ghost tours are more your thing, then go for the chilling tours at area haunted houses and on the Wisconsin River. Start at The Haunted Mansion, then mosey over to Ghost Out-Post Haunted House. Round out the night by jumping on the Ghost Boat for their “Journey to Haunted Canyon” tour- you’ll depart via boat, navigating the jet black waters of the river while hearing tales of lost spirts and ghostly apparitions that haunt the wild places of the Dells. A sudden turn into a hidden passage takes you to your final destination: the creepy confines of Cold Water Canyon. There, you’ll embark on-foot to explore its winding passages and craggy corners, and whatever dwells inside.
For the most colorful take on Fall, hop on the train. Mid-Continent Railway Museum has their Autumn Color Weekend in mid-October with passengers getting a chance to leaf-peep in style aboard restored vintage passenger cars, followed by their Pumpkin Special train rides the weekend after that includes picking a pumpkin at the midway point in the ride. Riverside & Great Northern Railway, a 15-inch gauge railroad living museum, has a Pumpkin Train that runs select weekend days in October.