While the view of autumn is beautiful in the canyons, a picturesque fall scene of rolling hills, tidy rows of fruit trees and a big red barn -

aptly called the Red Barn - that make up Rowley's South Ridge Farm. The 900-acre working farm in Santaquin is a great fall destination spot for kids and adults alike.

"We want people to feel like they're coming to the farm," said Phil Rowley, a co-owner of the family-operated farm.

One of the fall activities is the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, where patrons can pick their own pumpkins, right off the vine.

"It's just like pumpkin patches were," Rowley said. "There are a few weeds even."

He said commercial facilities are so neat and polished, it is not how a real farm is.

A tractor-pulled trailer takes visitors on a ride through the orchards. This is a beautiful journey and a perfect introduction for children on where fruit comes from.

Then the fields open up to orange orbs of all sizes dotting the landscape. So many, in fact, it seems impossible not to find the perfect pumpkin.

Children will enjoy wandering up and down the rows of the universal Halloween mascot: tall and skinny, short and stout, bumpy or smooth, unblemished or fantastically flawed.

Example sizes of pumpkins are lined up to judge the price of a chosen pumpkin. They range from $1-$8. Be sure to bring a camera to remember the trip.

Back at the Red Barn, the retail outlet for Mountainland Apples we loaded the pumpkins in the car and headed inside, where we perused the craft items, jars of homemade jams and salsas, and took a quick trip into the cooler for a bag of apples and sample of apple juice -- and no, it's not made from concentrate -- the juice and cider are pressed right on the farm at the Mountainland Apples processing facility. Apples are available year-round, and cherries, peaches and other produce are available in season.

Also for sale are doughnuts and ice cream -- dubbed "World's Best".

Also at the farm is the annual Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off, sponsored by the Utah Giant Pumpkin Growers and set for Oct. 24. The weigh-off will award a grand-prize winner with two runners-up. Along with that is a pumpkin walk, open to anyone who brings a carved, painted or decorated pumpkin to the back lawn of the Red Barn. The public will vote on the best decorated and most unique pumpkins for prizes.

Rowley's goal with these events is to bring people to the farm, let people know what a working farm is all about, and to educate them, particularly schoolchildren.

"We want people to come and feel the spirit of coming back to the land," Rowley said.

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