October in Albuquerque

October is the one month nobody moves away from Albuquerque. The mornings have balloons in them, the whole city smells like roasting chile, and there are more pumpkin patches and haunted houses within 45 minutes than one family can get to. So here's the short list. It's the same one I text friends when they ask.

Check the links before you load up the car. Prices, sellouts, and October wind all do their own thing.

Pumpkin Patches

McCall's Pumpkin Patch

This is the big one. Fifty acres, sixty-something activities, and a corn maze you will lose a kid in for at least ten minutes. Go on a Friday if you can swing it (cheaper and way less crowded). And use 2 McCall Lane for GPS or your phone sends you to a field. Which, to be fair, is also where you're going.

Where: 2 McCall Lane, Moriarty (about 45 minutes east on I-40) When: Saturdays & Sundays 10am–6pm, Sept 19 – Oct 31. Fridays 12–6pm on Oct 9, 16, 23 & 30. Cost: Fridays $21.99, Saturdays & Sundays $25.99, kids 2 and under free. Pumpkins are extra. Prices move by date, so check when you buy. Heads up: No dogs. Groups of 20+ save a buck a ticket. Tickets: mccallpumpkinpatch.com

Galloping Goat Pumpkin Patch

Closer, cheaper, and easier with little kids than McCall's. It's in the upper parking lot of the Rio Rancho Events Center, which sounds unglamorous right up until your four-year-old meets a goat. Bring a card. They don't take cash, and I've watched a dad find that out at the gate.

Where: 3001 Civic Center Circle NE, Rio Rancho (upper southwest lot of the Events Center) When: Every day 9am–6pm, Sept 26–27 and Oct 1–31 Cost: Adults $13.99, kids 3–17 $11.99, seniors 55+ and military $12.99, plus tax. Season pass $29.99. Heads up: Almost everything is included. Only paintball and the petting zoo cost extra. Outside food is fine, alcohol isn't. Info: gallopinggoatpumpkinpatch.com

Wagner's Farmland Experience

The Corrales one. The family has farmed that land since 1910 and it looks the way you picture a pumpkin patch looking. Do the maze, take the hayride out to the patch, pick a pumpkin, then stop at the farm store down the road and buy more green chile than you need. (There's no such thing, but try.)

Where: 6445 Corrales Rd, Corrales. The farm store is at 5000 Corrales Rd. When: Every day 9am–5pm through the end of October Cost: They don't post it online. Call (505) 459-0719 before you go. Heads up: Maze, hayride, and petting zoo are all included. Pumpkins are separate. Info: wagnersfarmlandexperience.com

Haunted Houses

Haunted Scarecrow presents The Depths of Despair

It's in the basement of the 505 Central Food Hall downtown, which is a sentence I did not expect to write. No-touch and technically all ages, but it is built to scare you, so know your kid. My advice is eat upstairs after, not before.

Where: 505 Central Ave NW, Downtown (basement of the food hall) When: Sept 16 – Oct 31. September: Wed–Sat 6–10pm. Oct 1–25: Wed & Thu 6–10pm, Fri & Sat 6pm–midnight. Halloween week (Oct 26–31): every night. Cost: $20 plus fees and tax, about $21.60 all-in Heads up: A ticket is good for any one night. Show up any time they're open. Tickets: hauntedhousenewmexico.com

McCall's Haunted Farm

This one's for people who want to be actually scared, not zoo-scared. Two haunts on one ticket, out in the dark in Moriarty, and they mean it about the 13-and-up thing. Buy online ahead of time. They sell out, and there's no walking up.

Where: 2 McCall Lane, Moriarty When: Friday & Saturday nights, 7pm–midnight, through Oct 31 (opening weekend got rained out, so the season starts Oct 2) Cost: $40.99 on October weekends (Oct 9–31). Includes the Slaughter House haunted barn and the Field of Screams haunted cornfield. Heads up: Reserved time slots only. Campfires are rentable if you want to make a night of it. Tickets: mccallpumpkinpatch.com

Other Events

Boo at the Zoo

The best family Halloween thing in the city, and everybody knows it. That's why tickets go on sale Monday, September 28 at 10am and are gone soon after. Set an alarm. Park at the Civic Center garage and take the free shuttle. They run that shuttle for a reason.

Where: ABQ BioPark Zoo, 903 10th St SW When: Saturday, October 24, 9am–5pm Cost: Adults $15, kids 3–12 $10, under 2 free Heads up: Timed tickets, advance only, no walk-ups, and regular zoo admission isn't available that day. Shuttle runs from the Civic Center garage (328 Marquette NW) starting 8:45am. No inflatable costumes. Tickets: abqbooatthezoo.org

Adult Night: Nightmare at the Museum

Explora with no kids in it, plus food and music. It's the museum you loved at nine, except now you're allowed to hog the exhibits. Eighteen and up, costumes encouraged, and $14 is a cheap Friday night in this town.

Where: Explora, 1701 Mountain Rd NW When: Friday, October 16, 6–9pm Cost: Adults $14, students/seniors/military $11, members free Heads up: 18+. Tickets are limited. Tickets: explora.us

That's the list. If you go to something on here and it was great, or it wasn't, text me. I keep this updated from real reports, not press releases. And if your visiting cousin looks at the mountains and asks what houses cost here, you know a guy.

Phil (505) 301-8787

Details pulled from each organizer's own site as of Sept 26, 2026. Check the link before you go.