Springs Preserve gets into Halloween

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008 | midnight

What: Haunted Harvest

Where: The Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd.

When: 5-10 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays until Oct. 31

Cost: $9 for adults; $6 for children aged 5-17. Free for annual pass-holders. Haunted Hayride costs $7 per person and runs about twice an hour from 6-9 p.m.

Info: SpringsPreserve.org

Halloween stories, events and map to pumpkin patches and haunted houses

For its first Halloween celebration, the Springs Preserve is introducing new characters to valley children.

One is the White Lady of the Caves. Another is a 9-foot giant called the desert Big Foot. Families will see them and a few other wicked Western ghouls at the Haunted Hayride along the preserve's trails.

"We have a headless cowboy named Bad Jack," said Will Adamson, executive director of Theatre Las Vegas, who produced the show. "He was hung by a rope but his head popped off. He is doomed to wander the desert with his head in his hands. We find him playing a harmonica. It's kind of campy that way."

Adamson said the wagon rides — narrated by an old prospector — haven't made anyone cry yet, though some 5-year-olds hunker down into the wagon.

Organizers planned a safe — and not too spooky — event for local children, including trick-or-treating at eight stops within the preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd. The event is open 5-10 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays until Oct. 31.

"Grab a map when you first get in," said spokeswoman Michelle Gresham. "We have stops all over the property, in each museum building, three stops in the garden and at the cafe and gift shop."

Families can also stroll through the eight-acre boo-tanical garden, which staff and volunteers decorated with spider webs and lights. Halloween characters will roam the 180-acre national historic site, which will also feature storytellers and bands.

Becky Bosshart can be reached at 990-7748 or becky.bosshart@hbcpub.com.