October in Colorado Springs belongs to Manitou Springs, which hosts what may be the strangest beloved event in Colorado: coffin racing down its main street.
The month opens with the tail end of aspen season and closes with a full slate of Halloween happenings — this is the region's most personality-forward month.
The Emma Crawford Coffin Races — teams sprinting decorated coffins down Manitou Avenue in honor of a local legend — draw tens of thousands to Manitou Springs each October. It's free, absurd, and utterly Colorado. Arrive very early or take the shuttle; Manitou parking cannot cope.
Pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and harvest festivals run all month at farms east and south of the city. Most run weekends only and are at their calmest on Saturday mornings.
The zoo's family-friendly Halloween event, downtown trick-or-treat happenings, ghost tours in Old Colorado City and Manitou, and haunted attractions cover the full scare spectrum. The with-kids and 21+ event pages split the calendar cleanly this month.
Happening right now
An annual October event in Manitou Springs where costumed teams race decorated coffins down Manitou Avenue — commemorating Emma Crawford, whose coffin famously washed down Red Mountain in the 1920s. It's one of Colorado's quirkiest festivals.
Working farms east and south of the city host patches, mazes, and fall festivals through October. Check our family events page for the current season's lineup.
Early October usually catches the tail of aspen gold at higher elevations, while the city's cottonwoods and scrub oak turn through mid-month at lower elevations.