Hours/Admission Information Coming Soon
Saturdays & Sundays, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. • Children under 35 inches are always free
Save 10% on any ticket by purchasing online. Ticket purchases are non-refundable.
One day at the festival. Perfect for a single visit.
Unlimited visits, every weekend. Less than two single-day tickets.
Six admissions for one day, our lowest price per person.
Admission on either Saturday, October 10 or Saturday, October 17
Tire Mountain, sandbox & slide, inflatables, train rides, farm animals, yard games, grain cart basketball, football toss, and more.
Gemstone mining bags, pumpkin cannon shots (limited per hour), apple cannon buckets, food, drinks, and pumpkins for purchase.
Take a hayride to the patch and pick from over 30 varieties of pumpkins and gourds! Pre-picked pumpkins are available as well.
Try Apple Cannons, play cornhole, giant Checkers, Connect 4 and Tic Tac Toe, paint pumpkins, play basketball, bean bags and watch football on the big screen TVs.
Kids love to play all day with inflatables, tire mountain, slide and sandbox, train rides and more. Mine for gemstones in our mining sluice and launch apples as far as you can!
Check out SD's giant weigh-off! Competitors trailer in giant pumpkins, gourds and melons.
Our outdoor Beer/Wine Garden serves South Dakota Wine and Beer including Domestic, Craft, Oktoberfest and Pumpkin!
Enjoy music performed by local artist, Kevin Jensen, as he plays a variety of country music for a few hours each day.
Book a field trip for your group! Take a tour of the farm, learn what it takes to grow Christmas trees, pick pumpkins and play activities.
Book Today
SDSU ice cream, caramel apples, cotton candy, fudge, roasted nuts, pumpkin pie and lots of yummy baked goods are available.
Shop in the Riverview Tree Farm lodge for fall decor, cute clothes, stylish hats, handmade jewelry and more. New items every year!
Capture your memories on the farm with our cute photo setups or book a professional mini or full photoshoot.
Learn More
Head out to the stable to meet our family's favorite turkey, Stanley! We also bring in baby animals like ducks, goats, calves for the festival.
Take a guided hike through the riverside trails surrounding the pumpkin patch and hear spooky stories from our haunted farm.
More Information
We are proud supporters of Law Enforcement Officers. Show your badge to receive one (1) FREE medium pumpkin. We are forever grateful for your service.
Local food trucks will be serving food every weekend this year. There will be a variety of food options available at great prices!
Meals are available at our concession stand for the first 3 weekends, including burgers, brats, hot dogs, nachos and more.
We are excited to host the Great South Dakota Pumpkin Weigh-Off at the Riverview Tree Farm’s Pumpkin Festival.
The Great Pumpkin Commonwealth’s (GPC) mission cultivates the hobby of growing giant pumpkins throughout the world by establishing standards and regulations that ensure quality of fruit, fairness of competition, recognition of achievement, fellowship and education for all participating growers and weigh-off sites.
When:
Saturday, October 3, 2026 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
This is a sanctioned Great Pumpkin Commonwealth event.
Competition Categories:
Largest Pumpkin • Largest Melon • Largest Squash
• Best of Show (Selected on Beauty, Size and Weight)
• Youth Best of Show (17 and under)
Prizes:
1st Place: $500 • 2nd Place: $250 • 3rd Place: $100 • 1st Place Under 18: $100
Frank & Jesse James Day
Saturday, October 10
Showtimes at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Celebrate the 150th anniversary of the James Younger Gang’s escape through South Dakota at Riverview Pumpkin Festival! Watch two live reenactments featuring Frank and Jesse James, plus a historical display all day with period artifacts, maps, and stories from the real 1876 escape route.
Cost:
$10/each
Kids Under 35 inches: Free
Take a hike through the dark trails of Riverview Tree Farm!
Hear stories of our historical past of tragedy, hardship and woe. It has been said that the spirits of those grievous souls still wander through the trees and in the river valley below, searching for peace. Sadly, they never found what they were looking for. The horrors that tormented them in life, seemed to follow them to death. Come experience the haunted trail for yourself and see what lurks behind every deep, dark corner. . . if you dare.
Notes: We do our best to give a consistent experience to our customers each weekend, but due to the changing volunteers, please understand that they may vary.
Trail Difficulty: Please make sure that you are able to walk up to 3/4 of a mile on uneven terrain, including one large hill.
Questions? See Haunted Trail FAQs below.
Take a hike through the dark trails of Riverview Tree Farm!
Hear stories of our historical past of tragedy, hardship and woe. It has been said that the spirits of those grievous souls still wander through the trees and in the river valley below, searching for peace. Sadly, they never found what they were looking for. The horrors that tormented them in life, seemed to follow them to death. Come experience the haunted trail for yourself and see what lurks behind every deep, dark corner. . . if you dare.
Notes: We do our best to give a consistent experience to our customers each weekend, but due to the changing volunteers, please understand that they may vary.
Trail Difficulty: Please make sure that you are able to walk up to 3/4 of a mile on uneven terrain, including one large hill.
Questions? See Haunted Trail FAQs below.
This event is a fundraiser for the Canton High School FFA and Drama club. To date, Canton students from those clubs have been our scarers and guides and will continue.
Due to the popularity of this event and in order to create a better experience for our guests, WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS. So this year, we invite members from the surrounding communities to join us as scarers or guides. If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering for this cause, please contact us below.
If you have other questions, please feel free to reach out on our Contact page or ask an employee at the Pumpkin Festival.
We ask people to arrive at 6:30 p.m. so that we can begin compiling a list of guest names and the number in their groups. The actual experience begins around 7 p.m., starting with guests whom have requested to go before it gets really dark. We do our best to move these groups along quickly, but it depends on how many people we have in line. For our guests who want to wait until dark, your name will be moved to a list beginning at dark in the order you have arrived. Small groups will be combined with each other in order to move people through the lines faster. We send groups of 15 or so people through at the same time. If you have a large group, note that smaller groups may be called ahead of you to fill up other groups.
The length of the trail varies from year to year, so the wait could range from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how many guests are ahead of you and how quickly they move through the trail. We apologize if your wait is longer than we guestimate, as we have no control over the capabilities of our guests that enter the trail.
We have lots of things to do while you wait. No standing in lines! We will keep our inflatables running and have yard games to play including bean bags, pumpkin checkers and tic tac toe. Treats are available for purchase inside and the store is open for shopping. When it’s safe to do so, we will have a fire pit burning for guests to enjoy. (During a very dry year, we will not have fires due to safety concerns of our guests and our farm.)
Kids 10 and under: We leave the decision up to the parent or guardian, but after dark, the trail may be too scary for young kids. We recommend coming right away when the Haunted Trail opens as it is still light out. The experience will be less scary at that time. Early time slots are limited. You are not guaranteed to go through the trail when it’s light out if a large number of groups want to go early.
The trail goes through the tree farm and down in the river bottom. Depending on flooding issues, the trail may be moved to ensure safety for all guests. There are natural obstacles throughout the path that may require guests to step over. The path may require guests to climb up or down small hills or slopes. We HIGHLY recommend that every guest that goes through our trail is very capable of walking long distances on rough terrain as quickly as possible, so that no one slows the experience down. When this happens, it adds much more time to the wait time and we want to make sure everyone is considerate of the other waiting guests.
We recommend that each guest wear hiking shoes and appropriate outerwear. Like any fall night, the temperature cools off. Plan ahead so you’re not cold.
Each group is led by a guide, who will share the story of the haunted happenings and will make sure that each guest makes it safely through the trail. They will point out obstacles in the path and show guests where to go.
Thank you for your interest in booking a field trip to our farm! Each group gets to take a hayride tour of the farm, learn what it takes to grow Christmas trees and pumpkins and finally pick cannonball pumpkins to take home. Your group will also get to play in the kids' zone which includes shooting the apple cannons, jumping in the inflatables, playing on the tire mountain, slide and sandbox. We have other games too including giant Checkers, Connect 4 and Tic Tac Toe.
Thank you for your interest in becoming a craft vendor! All vendor products are consigned during the festival. Any products that don’t sell will be returned to the vendor at the end of the festival. We do our best to limit similar items to one or two vendors so things sell better. Spaces are limited. Fill out the form below to enter the selection process. We will contact you soon with more information!
Thank you for your interest in becoming a food truck vendor! We are inviting food trucks in on the 4th weekend of our festival only, unless otherwise contracted. We will CLOSE our concession stand that weekend. We do our best to limit similar options to one vendor to lessen competition. Spaces are limited. Fill out the form below to enter the selection process. We will contact you soon with more information!