Central Times correspondent Grace Lloyd discusses the best attractions and activities to visit this fall around Chicagoland.

Apple Picking

Apple picking is a fun and easy way to get out of the house and enjoy the fresh fall air! Plus you get a delicious snack afterwards. You can make so many things out of apples like homemade apple juice, apple pastries, or apple cider. If you aren’t that ambitious in the kitchen, they have delicious apple cider, old fashioned apple pies, and cider donuts for sale on site. Try the following locations for your apple picking needs:

– Kuipers Family Farm – 40min drive from Naperville
– Honey Hill Orchard – 50min drive
– Jonamac Orchard – 1hr drive
– Heinz Orchard – 1hr drive
– Plank Road Orchard – 1hr drive
– County Line Orchard – 1hr 15min drive
– All Seasons Apple Orchard – 1hr 15min drive
– Apple Holler – 1hr 15min drive
– Royal Oak Farm Orchard – 1hr 40min drive

Pumpkin picking and carving

This is another engaging outdoor activity that you can also use as a festive fall decoration or a tasty holiday dessert. With a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes you are bound to find a perfect pumpkin or even some decorative gourds to use as center pieces. The fun thing about this is that you can be as creative as you want and even though Halloween has passed, pumpkin season isn’t over. There aren’t any limits to your fall decorating; you can use markers, cut outs, or actually carve the pumpkin. This is a great activity for young children, teenagers, and adults alike. Let your younger siblings explore the field, or pose with your friends for social media with your pumpkins. To find your perfect patch try the following farms:

– Johansen Farms- 15min drive
– Bengtson’s Pumpkin Farm- 30min drive
– Sonny Acres Farms – 30min drive
– Dollinger’s Family Farm – 40min drive
– Didier Farms – 1hr drive
– Goebbert’s Pumpkin Patch – 1hr drive
– County Line Orchard – 1hr 15min drive
– Stade’s Farm and Market – 1hr 30min drive

Corn maze

While tramping through row after row of corn may not seem like the most fun, corn mazes can be exciting with friends as you race to be the first one out. There are even haunted corn mazes for the brave. Living in Illinois, you have access to some of the largest corn mazes around, with various themes from Star Trek to Future Farmers of America. Corn mazes are fun for families and groups of friends so try out the following mazes:

– Kellers Farmstand – 30min drive
– Konow’s Corn Maze – 30min drive
– Heaps Giant Pumpkin Farm – 40min drive
– Kuipers Family Farm – 40min drive
– Jonamac Orchard – 1hr drive
– Krolls Fall Harvest Farm – 1hr drive
– Goebbert’s Pumpkin Patch – 1hr drive
– County Line Orchard – 1hr 15min drive
– Richardson Adventure Farm – 1 hr 30min drive

Haunted House

This is the activity for you if you’re looking for a thrill with your friends. Take your easily frightened friends for some funny videos of them running and screaming. Or take your braver friends to laugh at some cheesy scares. Halloween isn’t the only time of the year you can be scared so put together a group and try one of these highly rated locations:

– The Massacre Haunted House – 20min drive
– Basement of the Dead Haunted House- 25min drive
– Statesville Haunted Prison- 30min drive
– Cicero’s Town Hall of Horrors – 40min drive
– Dream Reapers Haunted House- 40min drive
– Realm of Terror Haunted House- 1hr 20min drive
– Dungeon of Doom Haunted House- 1hr 30min drive