BROOKINGS — Arguably the best spot in town to view the seasonal shift from summer leaves of green to a kaleidoscopic array of scarlet, orange and golden-brown is at McCrory Gardens where — for the fifth consecutive year — they’ll celebrate a free-admission fall festival. This year’s event is Oct. 13 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

“It’s intended to be just a relaxing chance to enjoy fall, and get out and enjoy nature, get out and enjoy and appreciate the plants and the leaves and the colors of fall — just kind of drink in all of that, as well as those special things that we offer throughout the day,” Lori Puetz, venue sales and services coordinator at McCrory Gardens, said. “It’s just a perfect time to come and take a look at us — no admission. You can do as much or as little as you like, and just check us out.”

The annual autumnal observation features horse-drawn hayrides, food trucks with treats for purchase, a scavenger hunt and a couple art workshops. 

“At one time we did some of these things separately — each thing kind of had its own Sunday,” Puetz said. “Then we decided to combine them into one day called Fall Festival. So it sort of morphed over time into … one event.”

She said the most popular activity is the horse-drawn hayrides — which cost $10 for adults, $5 for SDSU students and youth ages 6-17, and are free to children 5 and younger. 

“Every year it’s been Jamie and Barney — they’re the team of draft horses that are owned by and brought by Mike Olson … He brings the hay wagon, he brings the straw bales, and those rides will happen from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.,” Puetz said. “The path that the hayride will take — through the arboretum — it’ll come up to our front doors, that’s the loading and unloading departing area. And then Mike will take the folks on a little jaunt through the arboretum. I’d have to say that’s one of the big highlights — such an anomaly. Who sees draft horses now? Such gentle giants! Mike generally encourages people to pet the horses, get their photo taken with the horses, that kind of thing. It’s a joy for sure.”

Two art classes are offered — both require payment and registration. 

“One of them is a fall floral arranging class, which we’ve held for many years. People all seem to look forward to that. It’s a chance for the attendee to actually go out into the garden with the instructor,” Puetz said. “They’d collect their plant materials, go back in and make their arrangement to take home with them.”

The other workshop is a cyanotype printing class employing botanical components from the gardens.

“It’s printmaking from flowers and plant materials,” Puetz said. “That one starts at noon, the fall floral arranging starts at 1 p.m. — and so two classes are going on throughout the day. The cyanotype — that one will be held mostly outside. Dress accordingly, maybe according to also working with art and working with color … not your white jeans, right?”

Registration information is posted at the McCrory Gardens Facebook page. 

For those interested in roaming leisurely through the gardens, there will be a just-for-fun scarecrow scavenger hunt.

“Our staff, as well as SDSU Horticulture Club and also the SDSU School of Design sculpture class — we will all be collaborating and creating scarecrows to have dispersed throughout the gardens,” Puetz said. “So they could be small, they could be big, and they are sometimes almost camouflaged because of the nature of what they’re made out of — natural elements is our goal … We will be creating a scavenger hunt sheet that people can use to find them all, because we do find that many folks that come and visit us love that challenge!”

Various other items of harvest décor — pumpkins, squash and gourds — will be interspersed more conspicuously throughout the grounds. 

“They’re more obvious. Sometimes they’ve been placed more in the yard area of the straw-bale house, and sometimes just placed a little here and a little there,” Puetz said. “Some years there’s a maze for people to walk through. It just kind of depends on our crop of pumpkins … sometimes some gourds too, some corn stalks, or there might be some of the shucks that people look to see in the fall, too. It just really depends, year to year, what kind of a supply and what kind of time the staff have to work with.”

An array of food trucks — Old McDonald’s Kettle Corn, La Petite Crêpe and Backyard BBQ  —  will be selling snacks and beverages. 

“We’ll try to have signage on the front walkway and then within the building,” Puetz said. “When people arrive they can come in the front door, check-in with us. There’s no admission charge, but we do like to record the number of visitors that we have … We’re just mostly after collecting — ‘hey where are you all coming from, and how many of you are there?’ That type of thing, because we like to know that for our records.”

Human visitors can sign-in free of charge; but during Fall Festival, guests are permitted to bring a canine companion for a small donation.

“They just need to make a $1 donation, and we’ll let their furry friend accompany them. So that’s kind of fun. People really look forward to that, too especially. Those of us who have dogs count on bringing our companions with us into the formal gardens,” Puetz said. 

She said autumn is a perfect time for humans and hounds alike to explore the gardens.

“It’s always refreshing and rewarding to see that people are enjoying themselves in a place that is safe and beautiful,” Puetz said. “That so many people have worked so hard to create this wonderful oasis really in Brookings, and to know that people enjoy coming here and they appreciate it for the beauty — it’s just really rewarding to see that.”

Email Jay Roe at jroe@brookingsregister.com.