Fall Festivals in Arizona: 12 Patches, Corn Mazes, and Haunts (2026)

A working directory of 12 real Arizona fall outings for 2026, from daytime pumpkin patches to full-scare haunts, sorted by region and kept current by the Mesa crew that runs Scarizona every October. Dates shift every year, so check the venue's own page before you go.

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12 venues · 4 regions · Compiled by a Mesa haunt operator

By the Scarizona Scaregrounds crew, a Mesa haunt operator · Updated August 2026 · 8 min read

We have run an outdoor haunt in Mesa for over two decades, so we spend every September and October inside Arizona's fall season, ours and everyone else's. This is the list we would hand a friend: the patches, mazes, festivals, and haunts we trust across the state, with our own included and disclosed. It sits alongside our wider Arizona guide.

By the Numbers

What This Guide Covers

Real Arizona fall events, each with a live official site.

Phoenix metro, the East Valley, northern and southern Arizona.

Pumpkin patches, corn mazes, harvest festivals, and haunts.

The patches, mazes, and festivals below. The four haunts do not.

Why This List Exists

The Whole Season, Ours Included

Arizona's fall season is bigger than any one haunt, and a guide that pointed only at our gates would be an ad. So this is the whole spread: daytime pumpkin patches for the youngest visitors, corn mazes and harvest festivals for the middle ground, and the state's serious haunts for the ones who came for a scare. We know the season from the inside, which is exactly why we can tell you honestly which of these is right for your group.

Two rules keep it useful. Every venue here has a live official site, and every seasonal fact that changes, dates, days of the week, ticketing, links straight to that site so you can confirm it before you drive. Where our own haunt appears, we say so plainly.

Where They Are

The Season, by Region

The list is sorted into four corners of the state. Start with the region you can reach, then jump to the full details below.

Phoenix Metro

1. MacDonald's Ranch Scottsdale · Pumpkin patch
2. Tolmachoff Farms Glendale · Corn maze
3. Fear Farm Phoenix · Haunt
4. 13th Floor Haunted House Phoenix · Haunt

East Valley

5. Mother Nature's Farm Gilbert · Pumpkin patch
6. Vertuccio Farms Mesa · Corn maze
7. Schnepf Farms Queen Creek · Fall festival
8. Scarizona Scaregrounds Mesa · Haunt

Northern Arizona

9. Mortimer Farms Dewey · Fall festival

Southern Arizona

10. Marana Pumpkin Patch & Farm Festival Marana · Pumpkin patch
11. Apple Annie's Orchard Willcox · Fall festival
12. The Slaughterhouse Tucson · Haunt

The Directory

All 12 Arizona Fall Outings

The numbers are a regional index, and the order carries no verdict. Each entry carries the basics, a note from us, and a link out to the venue's own page for current dates.

Phoenix Metro

Pumpkin patch

MacDonald's Ranch

Scottsdale, AZ

A daytime pumpkin patch with a petting zoo, a hay maze, gold panning, and trail rides in the north Scottsdale foothills.

Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Category: Pumpkin patch
Typical season: Early October through Halloween (verify current dates on their site)
Good for under 12?: Yes, a daytime family outing

We point families with little ones here first. The gold panning and the pony rides buy you the daylight hours long before our gates ever open after dark.

Corn maze

Tolmachoff Farms

Glendale, AZ

A daytime family corn maze, pumpkin patch, petting zoo, and train, plus a separate haunted corn maze on select nights.

Location: Glendale, AZ
Category: Corn maze
Typical season: Through October (verify current dates on their site)
Good for under 12?: Yes, a daytime family outing

This is the rare spot that splits the day cleanly: a gentle maze for the kids in the afternoon, then a haunted maze after dark for the teenagers who think they are ready.

Haunt

Fear Farm

Phoenix, AZ

A West Valley haunt with multiple haunted houses and a haunted corn maze on the same grounds.

Location: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Haunt
Typical season: Late September through Halloween (verify current dates on their site)
Good for under 12?: No, not recommended under 12

A different corner of the Valley from us and a big, sprawling footprint. If you are building a full night of scares on the west side, this one anchors it.

Haunt

13th Floor Haunted House

Phoenix, AZ

An indoor, climate-controlled multi-attraction haunt on West Bell Road, part of a national haunt chain.

Location: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Haunt
Typical season: Late September through early November (verify current dates on their site)
Good for under 12?: No, not recommended under 12

The indoor one. When the desert night refuses to cool off, an air-conditioned haunt has its own appeal, and this is the polished, set-heavy version of that.

East Valley

Pumpkin patch

Mother Nature's Farm

Gilbert, AZ

A kid-first Gilbert pumpkin patch built around hay rides, farmyard animals, and daylight hours.

Location: Gilbert, AZ
Category: Pumpkin patch
Typical season: Through October (verify current dates on their site)
Good for under 12?: Yes, a daytime family outing

When people ask me where to take a three-year-old, this is the answer. It is a patch for the youngest visitors, and it never pretends to be anything else.

Corn maze

Vertuccio Farms

Mesa, AZ

A Mesa corn maze with a ropes course, wagon rides, and a jump pad, billed as the Valley’s longest-running maze.

Location: Mesa, AZ
Category: Corn maze
Typical season: Through October (verify current dates on their site)
Good for under 12?: Yes, a daytime family outing

Practically down the road from us in Mesa. It is the daytime half of an East Valley October: the maze and the jump pad at Vertuccio, then the scares at our place after sundown.

Fall festival

Schnepf Farms

Queen Creek, AZ

The Pumpkin & Chili Party in Queen Creek: 25-plus rides, hay rides, a corn maze, and pig races, one of metro Phoenix’s largest fall festivals.

Location: Queen Creek, AZ
Category: Fall festival
Typical season: Through October (verify current dates on their site)
Good for under 12?: Yes, a daytime family outing

This is the whole-day, whole-family event on our side of the Valley. Bring a wagon, plan for hours, and do not expect to see all of it in one trip.

Haunt

Scarizona Scaregrounds

Mesa, AZ · Our haunt (listed and disclosed)

Our own outdoor scaregrounds in Mesa: three walk-through haunts on one price, minutes from Phoenix. Not recommended for guests under 12.

Location: Mesa, AZ
Category: Haunt
Typical season: Late September through November 1 (dates announced on the ticket page)
Good for under 12?: No, not recommended under 12

This is us, and we list it because a fall guide for the East Valley that left it out would be dishonest. We run three walk-through haunts on one price, outdoors, in the dark, with a live cast working every corner of it. It is built to be intense, so it is not recommended under 12.

Buy Tickets See the 3 Haunts

Northern Arizona

Fall festival

Mortimer Farms

Dewey, AZ

A Pumpkin Fest and corn maze near Prescott with a big pumpkin patch, at a cooler, higher elevation than the Valley floor.

Location: Dewey, AZ
Category: Fall festival
Typical season: Through October (verify current dates on their site)
Good for under 12?: Yes, a daytime family outing

The one you drive to for the weather as much as the pumpkins. If a Valley October has you tired of the heat, the elevation up here does the work the calendar will not.

Southern Arizona

Pumpkin patch

Marana Pumpkin Patch & Farm Festival

Marana, AZ

A large farm festival north of Tucson with 15-plus attractions, corn mazes, a train, and a petting zoo.

Location: Marana, AZ
Category: Pumpkin patch
Typical season: October, Thursday through Sunday (verify current dates on their site)
Good for under 12?: Yes, a daytime family outing

The anchor patch for anyone down toward Tucson who does not want to drive the whole way to the Valley for a pumpkin. It earns the trip on its own.

Fall festival

Apple Annie's Orchard

Willcox, AZ

A Willcox u-pick orchard with a corn maze, hayrides, and a sunflower field, a true harvest destination in the southeast corner of the state.

Location: Willcox, AZ
Category: Fall festival
Typical season: Late September through October (verify current dates on their site)
Good for under 12?: Yes, a daytime family outing

This is the destination entry on the list, the one people build a weekend around. Willcox is a drive, and the u-pick orchard is why they make it. Nothing else in Arizona fall feels quite like it.

Haunt

The Slaughterhouse

Tucson, AZ

A multi-level Tucson haunt set inside a former meatpacking plant, the marquee scare event in southern Arizona.

Location: Tucson, AZ
Category: Haunt
Typical season: October, Thursday through Sunday (verify current dates on their site)
Good for under 12?: No, not recommended under 12

The southern-Arizona haunt worth respecting. A real building with a real history behind it does something no built set fully replicates, and Tucson has that.

Family or Full Scare

Know Before You Bring the Kids

If you read one line in this guide, read this one: the patches, mazes, and festivals are daytime outings built for young children, and the four haunts are built for guests 12 and up. We would rather tell you that up front than have you walk a seven-year-old into a scare.

Family, works for under 12

MacDonald's Ranch · Scottsdale · Pumpkin patch
Tolmachoff Farms · Glendale · Corn maze
Mother Nature's Farm · Gilbert · Pumpkin patch
Vertuccio Farms · Mesa · Corn maze
Schnepf Farms · Queen Creek · Fall festival
Mortimer Farms · Dewey · Fall festival
Marana Pumpkin Patch & Farm Festival · Marana · Pumpkin patch
Apple Annie's Orchard · Willcox · Fall festival

Daylight hours, animals, hay rides, and picking a pumpkin. No scares involved.

Intense, not recommended under 12

Fear Farm · Phoenix · Haunt
13th Floor Haunted House · Phoenix · Haunt
Scarizona Scaregrounds · Mesa · Haunt
The Slaughterhouse · Tucson · Haunt

Darkness, loud noises, and full-on scares. Parents and guardians know their children best, but these are not for young kids.

Best For

Find Your Group

Young kids and toddlers

The daytime pumpkin patches carry the youngest visitors: Mother Nature’s Farm in Gilbert, MacDonald’s Ranch in Scottsdale, and the Marana Pumpkin Patch near Tucson are built around animals, hay rides, and picking a pumpkin in daylight.

Teens who want a little scare

Corn mazes and big harvest festivals hit the middle ground. Vertuccio Farms and Schnepf Farms fill a whole afternoon, and Tolmachoff Farms runs a separate haunted corn maze after dark for the ones who are ready to move up.

Thrill-seekers and adults

The four haunts are the serious end: Scarizona in Mesa, Fear Farm in the West Valley, 13th Floor in Phoenix, and The Slaughterhouse in Tucson. If haunted houses are the whole point, our Phoenix haunted houses guide ranks that field on its own.

Out-of-town visitors

Traveling in for the season? Mortimer Farms near Prescott and Apple Annie’s in Willcox are destinations in their own right, worth planning a whole day around for the elevation and the harvest.

Side by Side

Every Venue at a Glance

Season shows the general window each venue tends to keep. Confirm current days and dates on each venue's official page before you go.

Arizona fall venues compared by region, category, family-friendliness, and typical season
Feature	Region	Category	Under-12 friendly	Season
MacDonald's Ranch	Phoenix Metro	Pumpkin patch	Included	October
Tolmachoff Farms	Phoenix Metro	Corn maze	Included	October
Fear Farm	Phoenix Metro	Haunt	Not included	Late Sept to Oct
13th Floor Haunted House	Phoenix Metro	Haunt	Not included	Late Sept to Nov
Mother Nature's Farm	East Valley	Pumpkin patch	Included	October
Vertuccio Farms	East Valley	Corn maze	Included	October
Schnepf Farms	East Valley	Fall festival	Included	October
Scarizona Scaregrounds	East Valley	Haunt	Not included	Late Sept to Nov 1
Mortimer Farms	Northern Arizona	Fall festival	Included	October
Marana Pumpkin Patch & Farm Festival	Southern Arizona	Pumpkin patch	Included	October
Apple Annie's Orchard	Southern Arizona	Fall festival	Included	Late Sept to Oct
The Slaughterhouse	Southern Arizona	Haunt	Not included	October

How This Guide Was Built

Our Method, Stated Plainly

This is a directory, sorted by region and deliberately left unscored. We do not assign one venue a higher grade than another, because a haunt operator ranking its rivals is not a ranking anyone should trust. Instead, every entry had to clear one bar to make the list: a real Arizona fall event with a live official site. From there we sorted by region so you can find what is near you, and labeled each one by category and by whether it works for young children.

Scarizona Scaregrounds, our own haunt in Mesa, is on this list at number eight, and we want that stated in the open. We included it because a fall guide for the East Valley that omitted a two-decade Mesa haunt would be incomplete, and we flagged it as ours everywhere it appears so you can weigh our note accordingly.

On Third-Party Dates

Season windows, days of the week, ticketing, and prices for the other venues change every year, and we do not control any of them. We do not print other venues' 2026 dates or prices here on purpose. Confirm the current details on the venue's official site before you drive. This guide is refreshed before each September.

Came for the Scare?

If the haunts are what pulled you to this page, one price walks you through all three of ours in Mesa, minutes from Phoenix, outdoors and after dark. Timed entry means the busy nights sell out first.

Buy Tickets Plan Your Visit

Arizona Fall, Answered

Frequently Asked Questions

When do Arizona pumpkin patches open?

Most Arizona pumpkin patches open in late September or early October and run through Halloween. The exact opening date shifts every year, so check each farm’s official site before you drive out. In this guide, Mother Nature’s Farm, MacDonald’s Ranch, and the Marana Pumpkin Patch all run daytime patch seasons across October.

Which Arizona fall spots are good for toddlers and young kids?

The pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and harvest festivals on this list are the ones built for young children: petting zoos, hay rides, jump pads, and picking a pumpkin in daylight. The four haunts, including our own, are not recommended for guests under 12. Parents and guardians know their children best, but a haunt is not the place for a toddler.

Which of these are actually scary?

Four venues here are true haunts: Fear Farm in the West Valley, 13th Floor in Phoenix, The Slaughterhouse in Tucson, and Scarizona in Mesa. Scarizona is a seasonal outdoor show with three walk-through haunts on one price, designed to be intense and not recommended for guests under 12. The patches, mazes, and festivals are daytime family outings with no scares involved.

Are there fall festivals in Arizona outside the Phoenix area?

Yes. Mortimer Farms near Prescott runs a Pumpkin Fest at a cooler, higher elevation. In southern Arizona, the Marana Pumpkin Patch sits north of Tucson, Apple Annie’s Orchard is a u-pick harvest destination in Willcox, and The Slaughterhouse is a haunt inside a former Tucson meatpacking plant.

Do I need to buy tickets in advance?

It depends on the venue, so confirm on each one’s official page. Some patches sell at the gate; larger festivals and haunts often sell timed-entry tickets online that can fill up on peak weekends. Scarizona sells timed-entry tickets through its own ticket page, and the busiest nights sell out first.

When is Scarizona open in 2026?

Scarizona runs its outdoor haunt season in Mesa from late September through November 1. The exact nightly dates are announced on the ticket page ahead of the season, so check there for the current schedule before you plan your visit.

What can families do if the kids are too young for a haunt?

Skip the haunts and build the day around the daytime options: a pumpkin patch like Mother Nature’s Farm, a corn maze like Vertuccio Farms, or a full harvest festival like Schnepf Farms. All of them run in daylight and are built for young children, with no scares involved.

About the Author

Written by a Mesa Haunt Operator

The Scarizona Scaregrounds crew has run an outdoor haunt in Mesa for over two decades, working the East Valley's October season year after year. That is the credential behind this guide: we live inside Arizona's fall calendar every season, ours and the ones down the road, so we can tell you honestly which outing fits your group.

See what we run at the 3 haunts, check the season on our events calendar, scan the valley-wide Halloween events roundup, or, if haunted houses are the whole reason you are here, read our Phoenix haunted houses guide. For the daytime side of the season, we also keep regional roundups of pumpkin patches and fall festivals.

The Season Is Short. Plan the Night.

Whatever corner of Arizona you land in this fall, use the list above and confirm the dates on each venue's own page. And when you want the serious end of the season, our gates in Mesa open at 7pm, once the desert has finished going dark, and they run on timed entry, so the busy nights sell out before they open.

Plan Your Visit

12 Arizona fall outings · Compiled by a Mesa haunt operator