Haunted Harvest at Springs Preserve

On October weekends, the Las Vegas springs preserve a spooktacular tradition. It is the Haunted Harvest at Springs Preserve. On October Friday and Saturday nights from 5 to 9 P.M.; ghosts, goblins, and creepy creatures haunt the Springs Preserve. The admission to see them is $ 6 and half off for Springs Preserve members.
Haunted Harvest at Springs Preserve is anything but the night of the living dead. It is alive and hyper-​crowded. It gets so crowded that last October, we couldn’t get into the parking lot and had to delay it a year. It is so popular, that many of the guests are left to park across Valley View Avenue in the Meadows Mall parking lot. Tickets sell out. This year, I did things different. I’d get to Springs Preserve at noon, spend hours on the trails and have dinner in their Divine Café. Upon entering the park to walk the trails, I brought the tix. This guaranteed me that I would be getting in, saved me time on a long line, and granted nearby parking.
The Haunted Harvest takes place in the public areas west of the trails. The stages of the Haunted Harvest are the Springs Amphitheater, Desert Living Center, and Botanical Gardens. The following paragraphs explain each of the stages in detail.
Springs Amphitheater :
This was the least crowded and where the carnival games and shows took place. At 6 p.m., Las Vegas boys band Chimps on a Blimp took the stage. They were scheduled to start at 5:30. Oh well! Before they started I enjoyed a $ 5 can of Dale’s Ale from the Divine Café booth. Beyond the Springs Amphitheater is the Haunted Train Ride that is an additional $ 5.
Desert Living Center:
This is where the Harvest gets spooky. A creepy clown and other creepy things decorated the walkway. This is where Ghost Stories, Lil’ Gliding Paws, and Candy House Craft were. This was the stage of the majority of food venders.
Botanical Gardens:
This was the creepiest land of Halloween Harvest. Everything was outdoors. It was kinda dark in spots with effects creating a spooktacular place. There were witches, goblins, skeletons, ghosts, spiders, but no trolls. The cacti and plants were decorated in colored lights with the Stratosphere towering above in places. There was even a cemetery. The cemetery was more droll than creepy. The Botanical Gardens were mobbed. There was no way to be scared. I think that Frankenstein and Dracula would be spooked by the hyper-​crowded walkways. I couldn’t even pass into the petting zoo on account of the body to body please give me some breathing room congestion. Forget about the hay maze. There were barely any live Halloween characters mixing in with the crowd. This isn’t the place to expect a costumed Freddy, Jason, or Chucky to jump out of a cottonwood tree. The result was that Haunted Harvest was more cool than creepy. It was body to body with people, who were mostly families having a fun time. This is a safe environment for trick or treating. When children walk into the event, they present them with a trick or treat bag. Sprinkled throughout the Halloween –transformed botanical gardens are trick or treat stations. They included Frankenstein’s Fun House, Mummy’s Mad House, and Dracula’s Dungeon.
The Exit:
My annual October hike in the Springs Preserve is a tradition. During these hikes I had spent time in the sun looking at all these creepy before leaving at 4 p.m. I had to see these creepy things in the dark. It was a mental bookmark erased to finally experience the Haunted Harvest. By the time I passed the creepy exit, I had been in the Haunted Harvest for two hours. That was sufficient time to explore the event and beat the crowds when it closes. I left the exit with the impression that Haunted Harvest is more of a family friendly event than a scary event.