Fall Events in the Inland Empire 2026
INLAND EMPIRE XPERIENCE FEATURE
Fall Events in the Inland Empire 2026
Harvest weekends, pumpkin farms, Halloween nights, and the civic dates that fill September through Thanksgiving
Tickets • Events • Dining • Calendar • www.iex.directory
Southern California does not get a long autumn. The Inland Empire still gets a real one if you know where to drive. Oak Glen cools first. The pumpkin farms open next. Riverside and San Bernardino put haunts and civic festivals on the calendar. Wine country harvests. The mountains put pumpkins in the pines. Then the lights go up at the Mission Inn and the year tips into winter.
This is the 2026 fall desk for I.E. Xperience — the dates locals actually use, not a national “near Los Angeles” list. Companion features cover the foothill harvest in detail (Fall in Yucaipa & Oak Glen), the patch circuit, and the after-dark nights. Start here for the map of the season.
Pick the apples. Walk the patch. Stay for the haunt.
When Fall Actually Starts Here
Labor Day weekend opened apple season in Oak Glen. Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Farm in Redlands opened September 17. Peltzer Pumpkin Farm in Temecula opened September 19. Frosty’s Forest in Chino and several civic fall parties landed September 25–27. Castle Dark at Castle Park in Riverside opened September 25. The Hollow haunted maze in Live Oak Canyon opens October 2. Escape Halloween takes the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino October 30–31. Oak Glen’s Apple Butter Festival still owns Thanksgiving weekend. Riverside’s Festival of Lights switch-on is Saturday, November 21.
That is the spine. Everything else hangs off it.
The Harvest Road — Oak Glen and the Pass
If you want color, cider, and a temperature drop, climb Oak Glen Road out of Yucaipa. Apple season runs Labor Day through Thanksgiving. Early varieties first. October is peak. November is cooler, later apples, and the community closer.
Stone Soup Farm Apple Fair — October 3, 4, 10, and 11
Reservation-required weekends at Stone Soup Farm & Heritage Orchard, 12131 S. Oak Glen Road. Cider pressing, chef tasting, workshops, and seasonal food from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The 2026 crop is thin across the Glen; Stone Soup is not running public U-pick this year. Neighbors still are. Ages 4 and up typically pay admission; confirm current tickets before you drive.
Stone Soup Apple Butter Social — November 14–15
Apple-butter making and farm tastings as the season winds down. Family Farm Days land September 11, October 16, and November 13.
Oak Glen Apple Butter Festival — Thanksgiving weekend
The mountain’s signature close. Farms and shops boil apple butter the old way. Live music, wagon rides, kids’ crafts, store sales, and the Oak Glen Treasure Hunt. Festival grounds are typically free; some activities and the Saturday hoedown sell tickets. Confirm the Friday–Sunday window on oakglen.net and iex.directory.
123 Farm — Cherry Valley
Lavender Nights run August 20 through October 25 at 10600 Highland Springs Avenue. Christmas Nights take the same ranch November 5 through January 3, 2027. Ticketed nights, not a free stroll. Buy ahead.
Full orchard-by-orchard notes live in the companion feature Fall in Yucaipa & Oak Glen.
Pumpkin Country — A Farm in Every Direction
You do not have to climb the Glen for a pumpkin. 2026 patches are open from the 10 Freeway to wine country to the mountains.
| Farm | 2026 window |
| Live Oak Canyon — Redlands | Sept. 17–Nov. 2 (closed some midweek days). The big one: 70+ rides and games, U-pick, corn maze, petting zoo. The Hollow haunt from Oct. 2. |
| Peltzer Pumpkin Farm — Temecula | Opened Sept. 19 through Oct. 31. $2–$4 gate. Pig races, ponies, train, petting farm next to the winery. |
| Frosty’s Forest — Chino | Opened Sept. 25 through Halloween. 4-acre maze, sunflower labyrinth, carnival floor. Haunted Harvest nights separate. |
| Greenspot Farms — Mentone | Opens Oct. 1. Free admission and parking. Pumpkins, rides, haunted hayride and trail after dark. |
| Wickerd Farm — Menifee | Daytime patch under the oak. Nights of Salem immersive event Oct. 23–24. |
| The Pumpkin Factory — Corona | Oct. 2–31, select evenings. Free midweek gate some days. |
| Cal Poly Pomona PumpkinFest | Weekends Oct. 10–31 on Pumpkin Hill. Ticketed festival, limited capacity. |
| SkyPark at Santa’s Village — Skyforest | Pumpkins in the Pines, weekends Oct. 3–31. Mountain patch plus Oct. 24 costume and skate nights. |
A full farm-by-farm planning piece is the companion article I.E. Pumpkin Patches 2026.
After Dark — The Ticketed Nights
Daytime fall is a farm. Nighttime fall is a ticket. That is the I.E. Xperience pitch.
Castle Dark — Castle Park, Riverside
3500 Polk Street. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from September 25 through November 1, plus Thursday, October 29. Hours 7 p.m. to midnight. Two new haunted mazes in 2026 plus a returning favorite, scare zones, and the After Dark party in the Big Top on Friday and Saturday. Recommended 13 and up. Daytime Fall Fest on the same weekends, noon–5 p.m., is the no-scare version with a Trick or Treat Trail 2–4 p.m.
The Hollow — Live Oak Canyon, Redlands
New for 2026. Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and select weeknights October 2–31. First entry 7 p.m. Gate tickets. Closed-toe shoes. Unaccompanied guests 15 and under are not admitted.
Escape Halloween — NOS Events Center, San Bernardino
689 S. E Street. October 30 and 31, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., afterparty to 6 a.m. Insomniac’s 18+ electronic Halloween festival. This is a concert ticket, not a family haunt.
Farm haunts and one-off nights
Frosty’s Haunted Harvest in Chino (Thu–Sun Sept. 25–Oct. 31 plus Oct. 19 and 26). Greenspot haunted hayride and trail from Friday, October 9. Nights of Salem at Wickerd Farm in Menifee, October 23–24, ages 16+ recommended. Caitlin Manor in San Bernardino runs a walk-through house on selected October nights.
Full night-by-night notes live in Halloween Nights in the I.E. 2026.
Civic Dates Worth the Drive
Autumnfest — Historic Uptown Yucaipa
Saturday, September 26, noon–9 p.m. at 12062 California Street. Free plaza party: live music, car show, kids’ zone, beer garden, haunted house inside YPAC.
Inland Empire Lebanese Cultural Festival — Riverside
Saint Joseph Maronite Church, 3870 Castleman Street. September 26, 4–10 p.m., and September 27, 1–9 p.m. Food, dance, kids’ zone. Tickets at the door.
Fairplex — Pomona
The Grand National Truck Show and Fairplex Yard Sale landed September 26–27. Fall agriculture days rotate through the campus. Check the Fairplex calendar and iex.directory before you treat Pomona as a leftover L.A. County date — I.E. families already use that lot.
Riverside October
Typical civic stack: Pink on Parade and ARToberfest around October 17, Mission Inn Run October 18, Ghost Walk Riverside the weekend before Halloween (often October 24–25). Confirm 2026 hours with California Riverside Ballet and the city before you park downtown.
City Halloween parties
Expect Apple Valley Halloween Spooktacular, Rancho Cucamonga Spooktacular, Upland Scary-A-Faire, Temecula Halloween Carnival, Chino Halloween Spooktacular, Rialto Halloween Hi-Jinks, and Calico Ghost Haunt at Calico Ghost Town. These are free or low-cost civic nights. Dates shift year to year — list them on the I.E. calendar as cities publish.
Late Fall — Memory, Lights, and the Close of Harvest
Día de los Muertos
Riverside’s downtown festival is one of the largest in California: community altars, two stages, folklórico and Aztec dance, lucha libre, lowriders, and a La Catrina pageant. Typical window is November 1–2 around White Park and Market Avenue. The Cheech usually adds workshops and a community ofrenda the same weekend. Free to walk.
Festival of Lights — Mission Inn, Riverside
Switch-on Saturday, November 21, 2026, 5 p.m. at Orange Street and Mission Inn Avenue, fireworks after. Display runs November 22 through December 31 (dark Thanksgiving and Christmas Day). Downtown programming with the Riverside Arts Council runs November 27–December 17, Thursday–Sunday 5–10 p.m., then daily through December 27. Street level is free.
123 Farm Christmas Nights
Cherry Valley, November 5 through January 3, 2027. About a million lights, Christmas village, Santa on select dates. Same ranch that just closed Lavender Nights.
Three Weekend Loops
| Loop | How to run it |
| Foothill harvest | Oak Glen U-pick and cider in the morning. Lunch at Haus Bistro or Hawk’s Head. Live Oak Canyon or Autumnfest in the afternoon. YPAC, Riley’s dinner theater, The Hollow, or Lavender Nights after dark. |
| West valley night | Frosty’s Forest in Chino while the sun is up. Early dinner in Chino or Ontario. Castle Dark in Riverside from 7 p.m. Or skip the farm and make Castle Park Fall Fest the afternoon and Castle Dark the night. |
| Wine country + south county | Peltzer Pumpkin Farm in Temecula by day. A tasting room that still seats families before 6 p.m. Friday/Saturday. Wickerd Farm or Nights of Salem in Menifee if you want a second stop. |
Plan It With I.E. Xperience
Fall in the Inland Empire is not one orchard photo. It is a working entertainment season: farm stages, civic plazas, a 291-seat theater in Yucaipa, a canyon-sized pumpkin patch, a Riverside theme-park haunt, an 18+ festival in San Bernardino, and a Mission Inn light display the rest of the country already knows about. That is directory material.
Find dates, venues, and tickets at www.iex.directory. Add your event free at iex.directory/events/community/add/. Farms, haunts, restaurants, and civic producers that want a listing — or a neighbor with a video review — can email xperience@iex.directory.
Pick the Weekend. Live the Xperience.
Event Calendar • Ticket Sales • Video Restaurant Reviews
www.iex.directory · xperience@iex.directory
+1 (951) 987-5145
Harvest hours, haunt calendars, U-pick varieties, and civic festival dates change with weather, crop, and city permits. Confirm on operator sites and the I.E. Xperience calendar before you drive.