Fall around Omaha gets a little ridiculous.
There are pumpkin patches, apple orchards, haunted houses, football games, festivals, ghost tours, trick-or-treat events, outdoor movies, scenic drives and enough Halloween attractions to make you wonder why every haunted house apparently owns a terrifying pig.
Seriously. Why is there always a pig?
The good news is you don’t need a list of every single fall event happening within 100 miles of Omaha.
You just need the good stuff.
Looking for things to do in Omaha this fall? Some of the best fall activities around Omaha include Vala’s and other pumpkin patches, haunted houses, Zootacular, Cobweb Castle, Halloween lights and ghost tours, outdoor movies, neighborhood trick-or-treating and fall day trips to Nebraska City, Roca and the Amana Colonies.
So consider this your starting point. I’ve pulled together some of my favorite fall activities around Omaha, along with guides I’ve created over the years to help you find pumpkin patches, haunted houses, trick-or-treating neighborhoods and more.
Bookmark this one. There’s a lot of fall ahead.
Table of Contents
🎃 Pumpkin Patches and Apple Orchards Around Omaha
You could spend every weekend between September and Halloween visiting a different pumpkin patch around Omaha.
I’ve already put together a complete guide to the best pumpkin patches and apple orchards around Omaha, but here are a few places to have on your radar.
Vala’s Pumpkin Patch
If you’ve lived around Omaha for more than about five minutes, you probably already know about Vala’s.
It’s enormous. There are rides, shows, food, pumpkins, cider, fireworks on select nights and enough things to do that you can easily spend the entire day there.
I’ve spent enough time at Vala’s to know two things: you’re probably going to stay longer than you planned, and you should get the cider.
Insider tip: Go while the Huskers are playing.
If Nebraska football is on, a significant percentage of the state is occupied.
Use this information wisely. And if you want more insider tips, I wrote an entire guide on this place. It needs it!
Skinny Bones Pumpkin Patch
Another big fall destination with plenty for kids, including rides, attractions, corn mazes and pumpkins.
Bellevue Berry & Pumpkin Ranch
Especially convenient if you’re in Bellevue, Papillion or near Offutt. It’s a longtime local fall tradition with pumpkin-patch activities during the day and Halloween attractions as the season gets going.
Roca Berry Farm
If you don’t mind heading toward Lincoln, Roca Berry Farm is worth putting on the list.
It makes a good excuse to turn pumpkin-patch day into a mini road trip, and it’s one of those places that comes up over and over when people start talking about their favorite fall destinations.
Welch’s Pumpkin Patch
Want the pumpkin-patch experience without immediately spending a small fortune just to walk through the gate?
Welch’s Pumpkin Patch in Council Bluffs has free admission, making it one of the better budget-friendly fall activities around Omaha.
👻 Haunted Houses Around Omaha
If your preferred version of fall involves paying someone to chase you through the dark, Omaha has you covered.
I’ve got an entire Guide to Haunted Houses Around Omaha with details, prices and tips, including:
Bloodrush Forest of Terror in Elkhorn
Hillside House of Hell in Glenwood
Psycho Schoolhouse in Pacific Junction
Scary Acres
Madness Haunted House
Eagle Hollow Haunts
Ranch of Terror at Bellevue Berry Farm
Expect clowns, creepy children, chainsaws, blood and, for reasons I still don’t understand, some kind of terrifying pig.
Apparently haunted-attraction owners had a meeting and unanimously decided pigs were horrifying.
They may have been right.
Before You Pay Full Price…
Check Groupon.
There have been some legitimately good deals this season, including two tickets to Madness for $30.
It takes about 30 seconds to check before you buy tickets, and it could save you enough money for food afterward.
🍬 Family Halloween Events in Omaha
Sometimes you want costumes and Halloween without necessarily knocking on 47 doors—or having a chainsaw-wielding clown chase your six-year-old.
Fortunately, there are some really good alternatives around Omaha this year.
Cobweb Castle at Omaha Children’s Museum
If you’ve got younger kids—or kids who are deeply suspicious of this whole Halloween business—start here.
Cobweb Castle runs from late September through Halloween season at Omaha Children’s Museum.
Insider tip: There is absolutely nothing scary about it.
That’s the point.
If you’ve got a child who wants Halloween but wants absolutely no part of monsters jumping out at them, Cobweb Castle is a great choice.
Halloween fun. No terror required.
Zootacular at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium
This is the full production.
The Zoo stays open after dark on select nights with glowing pathways, Treat Street, entertainment, performances and Halloween surprises throughout the grounds.
And yes, you can apparently rent a private furnished igloo for up to six people.
Because regular Halloween wasn’t enough.
Bewitched Boardwalk at Fontenelle Forest
Want your Halloween with more trees and fewer animatronic serial killers?
Bewitched Boardwalk takes place at Fontenelle Forest and gives families a chance to trick-or-treat along the boardwalk, meet animal ambassadors and play Halloween games.
It’s a particularly good option if your family would rather spend an October evening in the woods than in another parking lot.
Haunted Glow Nights at TreeRush Adventures
TreeRush gives Halloween the adventure-park treatment.
If your family would rather climb through the trees than walk through another trunk-or-treat, put this one on your list.
Baseballoween at Werner Park
Baseballoween is October 23 from 5–8 p.m.
And the important part:
It’s free.
Even better: dogs are welcome.
That’s a hard combination to beat.
Great Hall-oween at The Durham Museum
The Durham is another good indoor Halloween option for families, especially when Nebraska decides October should suddenly feel like February.
Money-saving tip: Some area libraries offer passes to The Durham Museum. Check your local library before buying regular admission, and confirm whether the particular event you’re attending is included.
Trick-or-Treat at AAMA in Bellevue
American Academies of Martial Arts is celebrating Halloween October 31 from noon–2 p.m., rain or shine.
They’re also celebrating the school’s 39th birthday with a Party Like It’s 1987 theme because AAMA opened in 1987.
Other businesses in the plaza are joining in, too, making this a nice free neighborhood option if you’re in Bellevue. As a bonus, your kids will have the option to work for their candy by going through an fitness obstacle course on the mat inside.
🍸 Halloween for Grown-Ups: Spooky Spirits at Lauritzen Gardens
Halloween isn’t exclusively for children.
Spooky Spirits at Lauritzen Gardens is a 21+ Halloween event with themed cocktails, entertainment, eerie games, card readings, nighttime trails, paranormal investigators and access to the conservatory and Wicked Plants exhibit.
No children asking how much longer you’re going to be there.
Just plants that may kill you.
Happy Halloween.
💀 Ride Through Omaha’s Wicked Past
If you’d rather hear some actual Omaha ghost stories than have somebody in a mask jump out at you, Ollie the Trolley’s Haunted Cemetery Tour is a completely different kind of Halloween experience.
The two-hour tour explores Omaha’s darker history with stories about cemeteries, mansions, apparitions and the city’s past.
Tours run Sundays from October 4 through November 1, and tickets are $42.95 per person.
Honestly, riding around Omaha in a trolley while hearing about the city’s wicked past sounds like a pretty solid October afternoon.
🏚️ See Omaha’s Best Halloween Yard Displays
You don’t have to pay admission to see some seriously elaborate Halloween displays.
Omaha Halloween Yard Haunts maintains a map of decorated houses around the metro, which means you can create your own Halloween driving tour.
Pack snacks. Put on a Halloween playlist. Let everybody choose a few houses they want to see.
That’s an entire fall evening for roughly the cost of gas.
And when I say “Halloween displays,” I’m not talking about three plastic pumpkins sitting on somebody’s porch.
Don’t feel like driving yourself? Ollie the Trolley also offers Halloween Lights Tours on select October nights in partnership with Omaha Halloween Yard Haunts.
🎃 Go Trick-or-Treating the Old-Fashioned Way
Sometimes you don’t need an event.
You need a neighborhood with lots of decorated houses, sidewalks and people who understand that a fun-size Tootsie Roll is not an acceptable primary candy offering.
I’ve put together a separate guide to the best neighborhoods for trick-or-treating around Omaha.
👻 Omaha Ghost Tours and Spooky History
Maybe you’d prefer your ghosts with some historical context.
Omaha has enough strange history, old buildings and local legends to make that entirely possible.
Start with my Guide to Omaha Ghost Tours.
Basically, you can choose your preferred level of ghost interaction:
Haunted house: Something screams at you.
Ghost tour: Someone tells you why something might scream at you.
🎬 Watch an Outdoor Movie at Falconwood Park
Here’s another one that belongs in the Wait, they do that here? category.
Falconwood Park in Bellevue hosts outdoor movies and seasonal events, including its Fright Nights series.
Bring chairs or blankets, grab some food and watch a movie outside on an October night.
It’s simple.
It’s weirdly charming.
And it feels like fall.
💰 Cheap Things to Do in Omaha This Fall
You can burn through an alarming amount of money in October if every weekend involves admission tickets, food, pumpkins and somebody saying, “Can I have one of those?”
Fortunately, several of the best things to do around Omaha this fall are cheap—or completely free.
Welch’s Pumpkin Patch has free admission.
Baseballoween at Werner Park is free.
Omaha Halloween Yard Haunts gives you a free DIY Halloween-lights tour.
Falconwood Park gives you an inexpensive outdoor fall-night option.
And before paying full price for bigger attractions, check Groupon. We’ve already spotted deals this season for Madness Haunted House and Adventureland.
You can also simply get in the car and head south.
Which brings us to…
🚗 Fall Day Trips from Omaha
Some of the best fall activities aren’t technically in Omaha—but they’re close enough to make a day trip or weekend out of them.
Nebraska City
Head south on Highway 75 and let the drive be part of the experience.
Nebraska City gives you Arbor Day Farm, orchards, roadside stands and plenty of fall scenery. Stop at Union Orchard along the way and you’ve got an entire fall day without needing an elaborate itinerary.
Roca Berry Farm
Roca is close enough to Lincoln to make this an easy Omaha day trip and different enough from the metro pumpkin patches to justify the drive.
If you’re the kind of person who wants to try a different pumpkin patch every year, put it on the list.
Adventureland
Yes, Adventureland can be a fall road trip.
Head east on I-80, enjoy the fall scenery and squeeze in one of the last amusement-park visits of the season.
And check Groupon before buying tickets.
Seriously.
Amana Colonies Oktoberfest
Now we’re stretching “day trip” a little—but this one might be worth it.
The Amana Colonies Oktoberfest runs October 1–4 with German music, food, beer, wine, cider and enough activities to make you seriously consider spending the night.
Saturday includes the parade, keg toss, log sawing, brat-eating contest and a yodeling contest.
Yes.
Competitive yodeling.
Sunday admission is free.
At some point, you have to respect the commitment to the theme.
Want to see what Oktoberfest actually looks like? Watch this Reel from the Festhalle Barn.
🏈 Fall Means Football in Nebraska
Fall in Nebraska without football would be suspicious.
Go to a local high school game. Find somewhere fun to watch the Huskers. Make an entire Saturday out of it.
Or use football strategically.
Remember that Vala’s tip?
Go during the Husker game.
Sometimes everyone else watching football is the best thing that can happen to your fall plans.
🍂 Sometimes the Best Fall Activity Is Just Going Outside
Not every fall afternoon needs a ticket.
Take a walk. Ride one of the trails. Head to a park. Drive somewhere you’ve never been before.
There is a very small window every year when eastern Nebraska does this.
Fall is one of the best times to explore the Omaha metro on two wheels. From wooded trails with changing leaves to scenic rides along the Missouri River, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the season. Our guide to the best bike trails in Omaha includes family-friendly routes, scenic destinations, and even a few rides that end with tacos.
🏠 Fall Home Maintenance for Omaha Homeowners
I hate to interrupt the pumpkin patches, haunted pigs and competitive yodeling with responsibility, but winter is still coming.
Before it does, there are a few things homeowners around Omaha should take care of.
I’ve got a complete Fall Home Maintenance Checklist covering the things worth checking before Nebraska decides it’s winter.
Do those.
Then return to your regularly scheduled cider drinking.
🍁 Keep This Omaha Fall Guide Handy
This isn’t every fall festival, trunk-or-treat, craft show and pumpkin-related gathering happening around Omaha.
That’s intentional.
There are hundreds.
These are the things I think are worth knowing about—the big traditions, some less-obvious local finds, a few inexpensive options and enough ideas that you shouldn’t have to spend another Saturday morning searching “things to do in Omaha this weekend.”
I’ll keep sharing seasonal events, local discoveries, neighborhood recommendations and other useful Omaha-area stuff in 402 Connect.
So bookmark this guide, send it to somebody who’s always asking what there is to do around here, and subscribe if you’d like the next batch delivered to your inbox.
Real estate occasionally sneaks in there, too.
I am, technically, still a Realtor.
