Take a little break from, everything with some events happening in fresh air
Pumped for pumpkins
1. Show off your pumpkin carving skills at the Hopkinton Halloween Jack-o’-Lanterns. From Thursday, Oct. 29, through Saturday, Oct. 31, carvers are invited to bring their jack-o’-lantern to the Veterans Park wall (located at the intersection of routes 103 and 202 near the Cracker Barrel and First Congregational Church). Place a single battery-operated votive candle in your jack-o’-lantern, and the Hopkinton Recreation Department will light it each night. Visit hopkintonrec.com.
2. There’s still time to do Intown Concord’s Great Pumpkin Hunt. Visit participating Concord businesses to get your pumpkin map stamped and turn it in by Saturday, Oct. 31, to receive a special treat. Visit intownconcord.org.
3. Pick your own pumpkin at Mack’s Apples (230 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, 434-7619, macksapples.com), open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., or Lavoies Farm (172 Nartoff Road, Hollis, 882-0072, lavoiesfarm.com), open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Walk through history
4. Canterbury Shaker Village (288 Shaker Road, Canterbury, 783-9511, shakers.org), a restored Shaker village and history museum with historic buildings and exhibits, is offering free outdoor guided tours on Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
5. Pay a visit to America’s Stonehenge (105 Haverhill Road, Salem, 893-8300, stonehengeusa.com), a 4,000-year-old stone construction — likely the oldest man-made construction in the United States — built by an ancient people as an astronomical calendar to determine solar and lunar events of the year. It’s open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last entrance at 4 p.m.). Admission rates are $13 for adults, $11 for seniors age 65 and up, $7.50 for kids ages 5 through 12, and free for kids age 4 and under.
Open air art
6. Take a self-guided audio tour of the public art in downtown Nashua. There are two types of tours — sculptures and murals — with 10 to 15 stops on each. They are offered through the Distrx app (available for free on Android and iOS), which uses Bluetooth iBeacon technology to automatically display photos and text and provide audio descriptions as tourists approach the works of art. Visit downtownnashua.org/nashua-art-tour.
7. The Andres Institute of Art Sculpture Park (98 Route 13, Brookline, andresinstitute.org, 673-7441), which has wooded hiking trails with more than 80 outdoor sculptures, spread across 140 acres, is open daily from dawn to dusk. Admission is free.
Halloween thrills
8. Enjoy an evening of spooky fun at a local haunted attraction. Fright Kingdom (12 Simon St., Nashua, frightkingdom.com, 809-1173) is open on Friday and Saturday from 7 to 11 p.m. Tickets cost $27 per person and must be purchased online in advance. Spooky World presents Nightmare New England (nightmarenewengland.com, 424-7999), located at Mel’s Funway (454 Charles Bancroft Highway, Litchfield), is open Friday from 7 to 11 p.m., Saturday from 6:30 to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Tickets cost $39.99 per person on Friday, $44.99 on Saturday and $34.99 on Sunday and must be purchased online in advance. The Dark Woods (thedarkwoodsnh.com, 465-3275) at Trombly Gardens (150 N. River Road, Milford) is open on Friday from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Tickets cost $14 for adults and $10 for kids age 12 and under.
9. Auburn Pitts (167 Rockingham Road, Auburn, 622-6564, auburnpitts.com) will host an outdoor Halloween show on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 4 to 7 p.m., featuring live music by cover band Joppa Flatts as well as a costume contest with prizes, a bonfire, fresh food and beverages and more. The event is weather-dependent.
10. Beaver Brook Nature Center (52 Brown Lane, Hollis, beaverbrook.org, 465-7787) will host a Full Moon Halloween Night Hike on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. After the hike, guided by a Beaver Brook naturalist, there will be warm beverages and refreshments. The cost is $15 per person.
Bring the fam
11. Charmingfare Farm (774 High St., Candia, 483-5623, visitthefarm.com) features a hands-on petting area with farm animals, pony rides, tractor train rides, horse-drawn rides, wildlife exhibits and more. This weekend there will be trick-or-treating for kids. General admission costs $22 per person (some activities may have an additional cost). See the website for available visiting times.
12. Mel’s Funway Park (454 Charles Bancroft Highway, Litchfield, melsfunwaypark.com, 424-2292) is open Friday from 7 to 11 p.m., Saturday from 6:30 to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Enjoy go-karts, batting cages, mini golf and fair food. Rates are by attraction.
13. Play a game of paintball at AG Adventure Park (158 Deering Center Road, Weare, 529-3524, agpaintball.com), open Friday by appointment and on Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There’s a painless Paintball Lite for kids as young as age 7, Low Impact Paintball for kids as young as age 9 and regular paintball open to players age 12 and up. Rates vary. Equipment rental packages are available.
14. Beaver Brook Nature Center (52 Brown Lane, Hollis, beaverbrook.org, 465-7787) will host a family-friendly Enchanted Forest Walk on Saturday, Oct. 31, with start times from 3 to 4:40 p.m. Learn about New England wildlife, get your photo taken at the Bat Photo Booth and enjoy cider and s’mores by the campfire. The cost is $12 per person.
Take a hike
15. Visit a state park. Bear Brook State Park (61 Deerfield Road, Allenstown, 485-9874, nhstateparks.org/visit/state-parks/bear-brook-state-park) sits on 10,000 acres and features 40 miles of trails, making it the largest developed state park in the state. Activities include hiking, biking, fishing and more. The park is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and reservations must be made in advance. Admission costs $4 per person and $2 for kids ages 6 through 11. Visit nhstateparks.org for a list of other New Hampshire state parks.
16. There’s still time to participate in the New Hampshire Forest Society’s 5 Hikes Challenge. Choose and hike five trails from an extensive list to earn an embroidered hiking patch. Register by Saturday, Oct. 31, and receive a Forest Society buff and paper trail maps with directions for the hikes you choose. The cost is $8 per hike (free for hikers under age 18). Complete and submit photos of your hikes to [email protected] by Nov. 15. Visit forestsociety.org/5-hikes-challenge.
17. The New Hampshire Audubon’s nature sanctuary trails remain open daily from dawn to dusk. There are 39 trails, including ones in Amherst, Auburn, Candia, Concord, Epsom, Hollis/Nashua, Hopkinton and Moultonborough. Visit nhaudubon.org for the full list.
More outdoor fun
18. Have your own skywatch. Through the New Hampshire Astronomical Society’s Library Telescope Program, you can check out a telescope from your local library just as you would a book. Bonus: Saturday is a full moon. Visit nhastro.com for a list of participating libraries and contact your library for details.
19. Visit a corn maze at a local farm. The maze at Beech Hill Farm (107 Beech Hill Road, Hopkinton, 223-0828, beechhillfarm.com) is open Friday from 2 to 7 p.m., and Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. It costs $6 per person and is free for children under age 3. The maze at Elwood Orchards (54 Elwood Road, Londonderry, 434-6017, elwoodorchards.com) is open on Friday and Saturday starting at 8 a.m., with the last entrance at 9 p.m. Tickets cost $10 per person and are free for kids age 5 and under. The maze at Trombly Gardens (150 N. River Road, Milford, 673-0647, tromblygardens.net) is open on Friday from 9 a.m. to dusk and Saturday starting at 9 a.m., with a nighttime flashlight maze in the evening until 10 p.m. It costs $5 per person and is free for kids age 3 and under.
20. Catch an outdoor movie at the Milford Drive-In Theater (531 Elm St., Milford, milforddrivein.movie, 673-4090). Weekly movie schedules are posted on the website. Tickets cost $30 for a vehicle with one to six people and can be purchased online.
21. Stop by a farmers market. The Milford Farmers Market (milfordnhfarmersmarket.com), located at 300 Elm St., will be held this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will continue each Saturday through Nov. 21. The last Concord Farmers Market (concordfarmersmarket.com) of the season is on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 8:30 a.m. to noon next to the Statehouse on Capitol Street in downtown, and will include trick-or-treating for kids.