Things to do in Fall on Long Island

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Tyler Faber, Staff Writer

Long Island is a very diverse place with a large variety of things to do. One of the seasons where you can reap the benefits of the Island the most is fall. There are a multitude of fall attractions on Long Island that you can enjoy. With fall just beginning, here are some of the best things you can do on Long Island in the season. 

Schmitt Farms Fall Festival

An amazing autumn event on Long Island is the Schmitt Farms Fall Festival. The Fall Festival takes place at Schmitt Farms in Melville, a real farm that is used for events and growing small amounts of crops. It’s a great event for the whole family and it includes a wide variety of activities. There is lots of seasonal food, a small petting zoo, pumpkin picking, rides, loads of games, hay rides, and a corn maze. The corn maze is the biggest attraction; it includes a classic corn maze and a haunted maze section to go into. In order to enter the event, you need to pay a small fee of $10 per person and other activities like rides, food, and games cost extra. The Schmitt Farms Fall Festival takes place every Saturday and Sunday from 10AM to 5PM until October 30th. 

Adventureland´s Pumpkin Park

Adventureland, a well known Long Island amusement park, has an event called Pumpkin Park each around Halloween. It is a family event that has a wide variety of different things to do in it. The main attraction is that children can go from one booth to another (set up by businesses) and go ¨trick or treating¨ for candy from each booth. People can also use the usual park attractions such as rides, games, and the arcade. 

Planting Fields Arboretum

Anyone who is interested in seeing nature may want to visit the Planting Fields Arboretum. Planting Fields Arboretum is a historic state park in the town of Oyster Bay. For those who don´t know, an Arboretum is an area full of different amounts of shrubs, trees, and forestry. This makes it a great place to see fall foliage and look at the many plant species on Long Island. The Arboretum also has a rich history that you can explore when you are there. You can visit the former Gold Coast estates of people that used to live there and get tours of them. You may see some of the architecture, furniture, craftsmanship, and art from the 1920s when many of the mansions were active. 

Sagamore Hill

History lovers may also like to visit Sagamore Hill, Theodore Roosevelt´s former home on Long Island. During Theordore Roosevelt’s time as President, he would run the country from Sagamore Hill during the summer months. You can visit the historic 83 acre grounds on any day for free from sunrise until sunset each day (the bathrooms are only open from 9AM-5PM.) You can also spend $10 to buy a ticket for tours at specified times. 

Safe Halloween

A great fall event here at Lindenhurst High School is Safe Halloween. Safe Halloween is an event hosted by the high school Student Council and takes place inside the building in order to provide a safer Halloween experience for families. Parents are often worried about the safety of their kids on Halloween for many reasons, and Safe Halloween allows them to have a safe and fun alternative. On Halloween each year, families and community members can go to the high school to spend their night. Kids there can go trick or treating in the different rooms, get their face painted, or play games. Student Council Advisor Megan Scharf mentions how Safe Halloween is able to give ¨the families an opportunity to safely have their children trick and treat instead of walking around the streets. It also gives the younger children an opportunity to interact with the older students of Lindenhurst.” 

The Holtsville Ecology Center

A great place to visit on Long Island in autumn is The Holtsville Ecology Center in Brookhaven. It’s a preserve where you can see a multitude of different animal species and even interact with many of them. Entering the center is free, although you may need to pay for parking. Inside the center there is a petting zoo area where you can pet llamas, goats, goats, ponies, and hogs. Further into the center there is a buffalo, brown bears, wolves, bobcats, foxes, eagles, peacocks, turkeys, cranes, and many other bird species. Anyone who is interested can go to the Holtsville ecology center on weekdays from 9:00AM-3:00PM and on weekends from 10:00AM-3:00PM.