A dragon made of glowing pumpkins is a fairly strong hint that your evening has moved beyond the usual fall outing. At Skylands Stadium in Augusta, more than 6,000 illuminated jack-o’-lanterns fill an outdoor trail with grinning faces, oversized figures, and scenes that reward a closer look.
The walk takes about 45 minutes, though that estimate may lose its meaning once someone in your group starts picking a favorite pumpkin at every turn. This is the stadium’s Jack-O’-Lantern Experience, a Sussex County autumn tradition that mixes Halloween spectacle with a full fall festival.
For 2026, the organizers have added new displays and worked an interactive corn maze into the walk. Outside the trail, there are warm drinks, s’mores, music, and enough activities to stretch the visit well beyond an hour.
Here’s how to enjoy the glowing part without overlooking everything happening around it.
Skylands Stadium Lights Up the Night in Augusta
Most people know Skylands Stadium as the home of the Sussex County Miners. Come fall, the grounds at 94 Championship Place trade baseball crowds for people following a trail of orange light.
The setting is part of the fun: this is a stadium visit where nobody needs to know the score, and the evening’s main event begins when the jack-o’-lanterns glow against the dark. The Jack-O’-Lantern Experience runs on select dates from September 25 through November 1, 2026, giving Sussex County families and visitors several weeks to fit it into their fall plans.
There is plenty to see before anyone reaches the first major display. The festival spreads across the stadium grounds, with food, drinks, activities, and room to settle into the evening.
An early arrival makes sense if you want cider or dinner before your assigned trail time. It also gives children a chance to look around without being hurried straight from the parking lot to the entrance.
This is an outdoor event, so dress for the temperature you expect after sunset. A comfortable pair of shoes is more useful than an elaborate Halloween outfit if you plan to explore the whole site.
The stadium says strollers and wheelchairs are welcome, although parts of the route are uneven, unpaved, or soft underfoot. That detail is worth knowing before you pack the stroller with every possible autumn essential.
The location also gives the outing a distinctly Sussex County feel. You can spend the day elsewhere in the area and save the stadium for evening, when the pumpkins get their moment.
Once the lights are on, a familiar ballpark becomes an entertaining place to wander.
More Than 6,000 Hand-Carved Pumpkins Line the Trail
Six thousand is the sort of number that barely registers until it starts glowing all around you. Along the walk, individual jack-o’-lantern faces give way to larger arrangements, and larger arrangements become full scenes.
One pumpkin might earn a quick laugh; a whole illuminated figure can make everyone stop in the middle of a conversation. The route is designed as a roughly 45-minute walk-through, which leaves time to notice the small carvings as well as the big pieces competing for your camera.
The displays go well beyond the familiar triangle-eyed porch pumpkin. Skylands Stadium highlights dragons, dinosaurs, superheroes, and New Jersey landmarks among the sights on the trail.
Lighting, fog effects, and sound add to the scenes, but the carved forms remain the stars. Children can hunt for a favorite character while adults try to work out how many glowing pieces went into a towering sculpture.
There is one useful detail behind the spectacle. Although the event describes its displays as hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns, the stadium says most are made from durable foam molds cast from real pumpkins.
Artists hand-carve the custom displays, and the materials allow the work to stay on view through a season that lasts more than a month. So if a particularly intricate pumpkin looks impossibly fresh late in October, there is a practical explanation.
Resist the urge to photograph only the largest creations. A little distance helps the sculptures come together, while a closer look reveals faces and patterns that disappear in the wider view.
Half the pleasure is switching between the two, then hearing someone farther down the path call you over to see what you missed.
New Pumpkin Displays Bring Fresh Surprises in 2026
Returning visitors have a reason to look carefully this year. Skylands Stadium has announced never-before-seen pumpkin displays for the 2026 Jack-O’-Lantern Experience, alongside new activities and entertainment.
The organizers have kept the full reveal for the trail, which is probably wise. Seeing a huge illuminated figure emerge ahead of you works better than knowing exactly what is around every bend.
The most interesting displays are built for two kinds of viewing. From farther away, the pumpkins combine into a single shape or themed scene.
Step nearer and the individual carving becomes visible again. That change in scale gives the walk its rhythm: a few minutes taking in the whole thing, then a pause to inspect the details that make it work.
You need not treat the route like a gallery, but it rewards anyone willing to slow down. The mood can shift just as quickly.
Dinosaurs and superheroes offer familiar things for younger visitors to spot; spooky silhouettes, fog, and sound give Halloween fans a little atmosphere. The event is presented as a family outing, so the emphasis is on visual fun and seasonal surprises.
If your group includes someone who loves Halloween decorations but has no interest in a frightening haunted house, this trail has plenty to hold their attention. Photo stations offer a chance to get everyone in the frame instead of making one person photograph the whole night.
Give the camera a second to adjust to the low light, then put it away for a stretch. Some displays are best experienced as the path brings them into view, with the next glowing shape still hidden just ahead.
An Interactive Corn Maze Joins the 45-Minute Walk
A corn maze after dark sounds like a separate adventure, but this year it is incorporated into the approximately 45-minute walk-through experience. It gives the route a change of pace between pumpkin scenes and adds something to do as well as something to admire.
For children who have spent the first part of the trail pointing out carvings, a chance to navigate the maze may be exactly the reset they need. That 45-minute figure is a planning estimate, not a challenge to finish quickly.
A group intent on every photo opportunity may take longer; another may keep moving through the displays and spend more time in the festival area afterward. Skylands Stadium suggests allowing at least two hours if you want to enjoy the larger event.
It is good advice, especially if dinner, a petting zoo visit, or a round of pumpkin painting is part of the plan. The maze also makes comfortable footwear a particularly sensible choice.
This is an outdoor walk, and the stadium notes that some areas have uneven or soft surfaces. Strollers are permitted, but anyone pushing one will appreciate knowing that the route is more varied than a paved stadium concourse.
A small flashlight may help you get organized in the parking lot afterward; on the trail, let the event lighting do its job. There is a pleasing logic to the combination.
The pumpkin displays invite you to pause and look up at the larger shapes. The maze asks you to pay attention to where you are going.
Together, they keep the walk from feeling like a long procession past decorations, particularly for a group with different ages and attention spans.
The Fall Festival Keeps the Fun Going After the Trail
Follow the smell of something warm and you may find that the pumpkins were only part of the evening. Around the stadium, the festival offers hot apple cider, cocoa, coffee, and s’mores by a fire pit.
There are also vendor treats and seasonal food from The Barnyard, the stadium’s restaurant and bar. If you prefer a proper sit-down meal, reservations at The Barnyard are recommended; if you want to graze as you go, the concession areas offer an easier plan.
The activities cover more than one age group. Pumpkin painting and a petting zoo give younger visitors somewhere to spend their remaining energy.
Live entertainment, line dancing, and a beer garden with craft beer, cider, wine, and other drinks make it easy for adults to linger. The schedule changes across the season, so anyone hoping for a particular performance or themed event should check that night’s lineup rather than assume it happens every evening.
You can enter the fall festival area without a ticket, but admission to the jack-o’-lantern walk costs extra, as do food, drinks, pumpkins, and some activities. That distinction helps if part of your group wants to spend longer at the festival while someone else is focused on the trail.
It also means a family can decide where to spend its time and money once it arrives. For the simplest evening, put the timed walk at the center of the plan and leave space around it.
Get there early enough to look around, enjoy the trail without watching the clock, then see what sounds good afterward. Hot cider has a strong case once the temperature drops.
What to Know Before Your Jack-O’-Lantern Visit
The most important bit of planning happens before you drive to Augusta. Standard tickets for the 2026 walk cost $20 and must be purchased online in advance for a reserved time slot.
A $39 VIP ticket includes skip-the-line access for one visit on any event date, without an assigned time, plus a drink token and commemorative badge. Children 36 inches tall and under enter free, and parking at Skylands Stadium is free.
The stadium is at 94 Championship Place in Augusta. Check the date again close to your visit.
The experience is scheduled on select nights through November 1, rather than every night of the season, and opening times can change with light levels or business conditions. It normally runs rain or shine, but severe weather can delay or close it.
In fact, the stadium canceled its September 26 and 27 dates because of the forecast, a reminder that an outdoor fall plan deserves one last schedule check before everyone gets in the car. A few smaller rules are useful to know.
Service animals are allowed, but other pets are not. Strollers and wheelchairs can use the route, with care on uneven or unpaved sections.
If your plans change, the stadium says tickets can be exchanged by phone up to 72 hours before the reserved slot; missing your scheduled night does not qualify for a refund or exchange. Once those details are settled, the night can stay pleasantly simple: find your way to the trail, let your eyes adjust, and see which of the thousands of glowing faces your group remembers on the ride home.
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