Cheekwood Harvest

Cheekwood Harvest turns Nashville's historic 55-acre botanical garden into a six-week fall festival with 100,000 pumpkins. A Marigold River of more than 2,500 orange, red, and yellow blooms runs from the Bradford Robertson Color Garden to Arboretum Lawn and on to Pumpkin Village, where three interactive pumpkin houses sit among the display. The Scarecrow Trail, themed Once Upon a Harvest, lines the Carell Dogwood Trail with 15 storybook figures by local artists, lit day and night. Weekend music runs in the early afternoon, and Harvest Nights bring separate evening shows. Timed-entry tickets are required.

Our take: Reserve a timed ticket before you go, then walk the Marigold River into Pumpkin Village and finish on the Scarecrow Trail.