Editor’s Note: This is a personal experience from 2012. Your experience may vary. Originally published on Little Lake County.
Shades of Autumn is the Fall Festival at Stade’s Farm and Market in McHenry. Our family has gone to every year since the kids have been old enough to enjoy it. On the weekends, the farm is open for the whole family to enjoy all of the great activities. The main reason to visit is to take a hayride out to the pumpkin patch, pick your pumpkins, and come back to the main area. It’s a fun place to take a picture of your little ones sitting on some big pumpkins in the field. You can also purchase pre-picked pumpkins.

Admission to the festival includes all sorts of fun activities, including:
- veggie cars
- climbing web
- giant jumping pillow
- duck races
- pedal cars
- observation bridge
- petting zoo
- pumpkin cannon
- corn maze
- corn cannons
- barrel train
- bovine befuddlement maze
- inflatables,
- tractor-tire pyramid
- tractor tire swings
- and (our favorite), the corn bins

Another plus is the yummy food! You can get lunch or snacks there in the barn. Don’t miss the apple cider donuts, which are our favorite. You can also purchase fresh-picked produce from the farm market.

Strollers are OK to bring, although it is a bit hard pushing them around the grassy area. Just a side note, there will be a lot of standing and walking around, as everything is spread out. Two years ago, when we went with the family, I was pretty pregnant and ended up having my daughter the very next day! I attribute it to all the exercise- might have been a fluke!

Shades of Autumn at Stades Farm & Market
3709 W. Miller Rd., McHenry, IL 60051
(815) 675-6396 | Facebook | Twitter
Find more Fall Events in McHenry County or more Farm Fun in McHenry County.
Becky is a life-long Lake County resident. Not one to sit at home every day, you will find her and her three kids riding in the light green minivan (NO, NEVER PLANNED ON IT!!!) on their way to someplace new or loved! She loves knitting, crocheting, skiing, and beaching it.

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