Wabasha & Kellogg, Minn.
The annual SeptOberfest celebration continues through Oct. 26 with dozens of family-friendly events and activities. Guests can enjoy music, riverfront carriage rides, children's train rides and pumpkins, plus special raptor programs at the National Eagle Center, a library book sale, a holiday open house with samples, special German meals, shopping and much more (wabashamn.org/septoberfest).
Belle Plaine
Enjoy dozens of creative scarecrows at the Great Scarecrow Festival through Oct. 27 at Emma Krumbee's 45-acre apple orchard. The popular annual display features scarecrows in categories from humorous to quirky to celebrity to traditional. Visitors are encouraged to pick apples and pumpkins and enjoy the giant haystack, a slide, a corn maze, wagon rides, farm animals and plenty of tasty fall treats (10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily; 952-873-3006).
Winona, Minn., Brice Prairie, WIS., & Brownsville, Minn.
Mark your calendar if you want to watch tundra swans migrate along the Upper Mississippi River during the annual Swan Watch Bus Tour Nov. 16. The guided tour highlights swans that stop in the area each year on their way to the mid-Atlantic coast, and also the area's own waterfowl. Riders will also see a scenic display of fall colors. The bus leaves from Winona at 9 a.m. and returns around 3 p.m. $30 includes a box lunch. Reservations are required by Nov. 8. More info at friendsoftherefugeheadwaters.org/swan-watch-2019.
Colleen A. Coles
