October, around the Wasatch
Past issue. Events and dates are from October 2026 and may have passed.
If somebody made me pick one month to live in Utah, it would be this one. The canyons turn, the valley finally cools off, and every town between Herriman and Heber seems to put something on the calendar at once.
One timing note before the list. Color starts high and works its way down. The tops are already turning, and the canyon drives are usually at their best in the first couple of weeks. If the Alpine Loop or Guardsman Pass is on your list, go early in the month. Almost everything else in here runs all the way to Halloween.
Every event name is a link. Most of these are free.
Close to home
Herriman, Riverton, Draper, West Jordan
Mon, Oct 5 · J. Lynn Crane Park & Plaza · 5:00 to 8:30 pm · Free
Free admission and free activities, which with three kids is not a small thing. Dinosaurs, a reptile zone from Scales and Tails, a dog costume contest, food trucks, and trick-or-treating at the businesses around the plaza. Pumpkin decorating is limited supplies, so that one you go early for.
Mon, Oct 5 · Dr. O. Roi Hardy Park · Mini Monster triathlon 6:00 pm, Halloween 5K 7:00 pm · $15 to $25
Same night as the Howl, one town over. Run the 5K along the Jordan River Parkway and you can still catch the back half in Herriman. Costumes are the entire point.
Oct 14 through 31 · Riverton · Free
The city picks the best decorated houses, marks them with yard signs and puts them on a map, so you drive a route instead of hunting. If your house belongs on it, entries are open October 1 through the 11th at midnight.
Thu to Sat, Oct 15 to 17 · Ballard Arena · 4:30 to 10:00 pm, ticketed start times · $4.25
Built for kids 15 and under, mild to moderate. It gets spookier as it gets darker, so bring the little ones at 4:30 and save the late slots for the brave ones. Every person needs a ticket, adults included.
Through Sat, Oct 31 · West Jordan · Free to wander
The witch displays and the scavenger hunt cost nothing. Witchapalooza, Breakfast with a Witch and the escape room are ticketed and they do sell out. One thing people get caught by: parking is $10 a vehicle on Thursdays through Saturdays in October.
Tuesdays, Oct 6 and 13 · Smith Fields Park · 5:00 to 8:00 pm
Last two of the season, and October runs an hour shorter than summer did. The 13th is the final one until July.
Downtown Salt Lake
Salt Lake City
Thu to Sun through Oct 18, then nightly Oct 22 to 30 · 6:30 to 9:30 pm · $19.95 to $24.95
Lit up rather than scary, which is the right call for most families. Give it ninety minutes and buy online, because the gate line is the slow part. It runs rain or shine and tickets are not refundable for weather.
Fri and Sat, Oct 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and 31 · Heritage Park
Daytime, in the village, and genuinely not scary. Costumes, trick-or-treating, a storytelling witch, creature encounters, train and pony rides. If you have anyone under eight, this is your one.
Sat, Oct 10 · The Gateway · Noon to 5:00 pm
Utah's giant pumpkin weigh-off, and the winner gets two thousand dollars and an orange jacket. There is also a zombie walk, a costume contest, a pie eating contest and a pumpkin drop. Strangest free afternoon downtown all year.
Oct 23 to 31 · Capitol Theatre · From $30
Evenings on the 23rd, 24th, 28th, 29th and 30th, matinees on the 24th and the 31st. Flying effects and pyrotechnics, recommended for ages 8 and up, about two and a half hours with two intermissions. A Halloween night ballet is a better date than it sounds.
Up the canyon
Park City, Midway, Heber Valley
Best in the first two weeks · Alpine Loop, Guardsman Pass, Big and Little Cottonwood · Free
This is the actual reason October is the best month here, and nobody puts it on an events list. The high country turns first, up around Guardsman from mid-September, and the color works down the canyons through the first couple of weeks of October. So go high now and lower later. Weekday morning if you can swing it. By eleven on a Saturday the Alpine Loop pullouts are full and people start parking in places they should not.
Thu to Sat, Oct 1 to 3 · Venues around Park City · Ticketed by event
Grand Tastings Friday and Saturday, wine dinners and lunches at restaurants around town all weekend. Every event is ticketed separately and several sell out well ahead, so check what is left before you plan the drive up.
Saturdays, Oct 3, 10, 17 and 24 · Heber City · Departures at 10, noon, 2 and 4 · $15
Forty minutes on the train, a pumpkin cookie on board, and every kid picks a pumpkin out of the patch to take home. Seats are assigned, so if you are going with another family on a separate order, call at least a day ahead or you will not be sitting together.
Sat, Oct 31 · Main Street, Park City · 3:00 to 6:00 pm
Park City's own Halloween, in costume, dogs very much included. China Bridge garage is a $15 flat rate from 2:00 to 6:00, which beats circling Main and losing the afternoon to it.
South, into Utah County
Utah County
Mon to Sat, Oct 12 to 17 · Thanksgiving Point, Lehi · 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, 10:00 am on the 17th · Gardens admission
Dozens of scarecrows and carved pumpkins built by families around the valley, spread across fifty acres of garden. The festival market runs the 15th through the 17th at the Waterfall Amphitheater. You can enter your own scarecrow if your kids are the competitive type.
Through Sat, Oct 31 · Lehi · Tickets online
The one that catches people out: admission closes a full hour before the gates do, and the hours are not the same every day. Pull up the calendar for the night you actually want before you buy.
Through Nov 7 · Pleasant Grove · Pumpkin drop Sat, Oct 24 · Halloween festival Sat, Oct 31
Pumpkin patch, hayrides, petting farm, corn pit, slides. The pumpkin drop on the 24th runs noon to about dusk and is exactly what it sounds like, pumpkins let go from fourteen stories up. My kids would watch that all afternoon.
North, into Davis County
Davis County
Sat, Oct 24 · White Rock Bay · Viewing from 10:00 am · Park entry fee
If you only do one thing on this list, do this one. Riders start pushing the herd north from Fielding Garr Ranch at 9:00, and the final drive into the corrals usually lands somewhere between noon and 3:00, because they are wild animals and they do not read schedules. No registration to watch. Bring camp chairs, and know that the east side road is restricted that day. Miss it and the free bison working tours run the 27th through the 29th.
Sat, Oct 10 · White Rock Bay · From 6:30 pm · Park entry fee
The Ogden Astronomical Society brings the telescopes. It opens on the sun and moves to planets and deep sky once it is properly dark. Dress a layer warmer than you think you need, the causeway wind does not care what the valley is doing.
Through Sun, Nov 8 · Farmington
Included with regular park admission, no separate ticket. Nine haunted attractions plus four that are not scary at all for the little ones. Thursdays and Sundays are the calm nights. Saturdays in late October are the opposite of calm.
Fri and Sat, Oct 30 and 31 · Davis Conference Center · Fri noon to 7, Sat 10 to 6 · Free
Free to walk through. If you have a project you keep putting off, this is a decent way to stand in front of three contractors in one afternoon and get a feel for who you would actually want in your house.
Keep these bookmarked
The calendars I actually check when I build this list. Yours is probably in here.
That's October. If you make it to one of these, send me a picture. I mean that, I love seeing where people end up.
And if I missed something happening in your city, let me know. This list gets better when it comes from all of us.
See you out there,
Jeff
Dates and details came from each event's own page at the time and can change.