Chapel Hill's Fall Runs on a Countdown: What's On Before the Woods Close Early

Fall around Chapel Hill comes with an end date for almost everything. The Monmouth County Park System has already set the dates when the nearby woods start closing at 5:30 p.m., when bow hunting season opens at Huber Woods, when the Portland Place tours stop and when Hartshorne Woods closes for a morning of hunting. Middletown Township moved its biggest community day onto a Sunday that was already busy. Plan October 2026 around those dates, working backward from the last ones, and you won't miss anything you meant to do.

The cutoffs, in order

The table lists every scheduled change between now and the end of the year at the parks and venues closest to Chapel Hill.

Most of these dates fall in a three-week stretch. Between October 9 and October 30, the hayrides, the orchard, the farmers market and the township's community day all run at once. After that, the November dates are mostly about the woods getting shorter hours and fewer open days.

The first two weekends carry the history programs

The season opens on October 9 at Huber Woods Park on Brown's Dock Road, which the county lists in Locust within Middletown Township. The Park System's Creatures of the Night hayrides run Friday and Saturday evenings through October 24. They're non-scary, family-friendly rides past short educational skits, and this year's theme is "Unlocking Nature's Magic." Rides leave at staggered times between 4 and 7:30 p.m., though not every time is offered each evening. Tickets cost $16 per person, and children under 2 riding on an adult's lap are free. You have to preregister, either at 732-842-4000 or through the Park System's website. That gives six evenings in total. A family that waits until the last weekend to book is choosing from whatever times are left on just two nights.

The next morning brings a history program. On Saturday, October 10, Poricy Park holds a Civil War living-history day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Joseph Murray Farmhouse, 345 Oak Hill Road. Admission is free and no registration is needed. Sunday, October 11, is the last day of the season's Saturday and Sunday tours of Historic Battery Lewis at Hartshorne Woods, which run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you want to see the old coastal defense site at Rocky Point with a guide this year, this weekend is your last chance.

Monday, October 12, is Columbus Day. Eastmont Orchards at 321 Route 537 in Colts Neck adds that day to its usual Friday-to-Sunday schedule, which runs through October 25, weather permitting. The farm is selling pumpkins, fall décor, jams and honey this year, and it has added a new corn maze. Posted hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays and 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekends.

October 18 is the busiest day on the calendar

Middletown Day wasn't scheduled for October 18 at first. When TAPinto Middletown announced it in August, the festival was set for Sunday, October 4, with October 18 as the rain date. The township's own announcement, last updated October 1, now lists Sunday, October 18. The festival runs 1 to 5 p.m. and is followed by live music from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on the Croydon Hall Campus. The program includes the Business and Community Showcase, a food court, first responder demonstrations, live entertainment and family activities. Croydon Hall is at 900 Leonardville Road in Leonardo, and admission is free.

The new date puts Middletown Day on the same Sunday as two other events. Thompson Park Day in Lincroft runs 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with free admission and parking, wagon rides, pumpkin painting, kids' races and food vendors. It's also the second day of the New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge, which runs 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. October 17 and 18 and has stops at Sandy Hook and Twin Lights.

The start times are staggered, so you can do more than one in a day:

1. 8 a.m.: The Lighthouse Challenge stops open. On a two-day event, Sunday morning is the time to get your remaining stops.
2. 11 a.m.: Thompson Park Day begins in Lincroft.
3. 1 p.m.: The Middletown Day festival opens at Croydon Hall.
4. 5 p.m.: Thompson Park Day ends just as the Middletown Day concert starts.
5. 6:30 p.m.: The Middletown Day music ends, and the township's busiest day of the season is over.

Some details for Middletown Day haven't been published in the sources we checked, including who is performing and how parking will work. The lineup TAPinto printed in August was planned for October 4. It listed touch-a-trucks, children's inflatables, a character meet-and-greet, story time and student musicians from Octopus Music School. Treat that list as the earlier plan, and check the township's Middletown Day page the week of the event.

Brookdale Haunted Theater also runs that weekend, October 16 through 18, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center, 765 Newman Springs Road in Lincroft. Its other dates are October 9–11, 23–25 and 29–30. Tickets must be bought in advance.

The last week of October closes the open-air season

After October 18, the season ends quickly. The final Creatures of the Night evening is Saturday, October 24. Eastmont's last scheduled day is Sunday, October 25. The Atlantic Highlands Farmers Market, which extended its Friday season, holds its last market on October 30 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Veterans Park, 111 First Avenue. Vendors include Butch's Hot Sauce, Picklelicious, Loafing Around and Jersey Cookie Girl.

Every one of those is over before the November park schedule takes effect.

November 1 and 2 change how the woods work

On November 1, Huber Woods and Hartshorne Woods start closing at 5:30 p.m. instead of 7:30. They still open at 7 a.m. every day, and the earlier closing time lasts through January 18. From January 19 to February 8, closing moves to 6 p.m. That takes two hours a day off the end of the day at both parks. If you usually walk the trails after work, you'll be cutting into the shorter window.

On November 2, bow-only deer hunting opens in designated areas of Huber Woods and runs through February 20, 2027. The county's 2026–2027 hunting table says these areas stay open for other public use and their trails stay open unless otherwise noted. In practice, Huber Woods stays open through the winter. The things that change there are the shorter hours and the bow hunters in the designated areas.

Inside Huber Woods, the Environmental Center and Reptile House keep their regular hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends, until winter hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily take over. The county page doesn't say when winter hours start.

Mid-November ends the Hartshorne season

Historic Portland Place, the restored 18th-century Hartshorne family farmhouse at 200 Hartshorne Road overlooking the Navesink River, offers guided tours Wednesday through Sunday at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. through November 15. The house was left to the Park System in 2008 by Daniel Ward Seitz, a Hartshorne descendant. November 15 falls on a Sunday this year, so the last tours are on a weekend.

Hartshorne Woods also has full closures, which Huber Woods doesn't. The park is closed to all outdoor activities for deer hunting on the morning of November 24, a Tuesday, when only antlerless deer may be taken. The county's two published schedules give different end times for that closure. The Hartshorne Woods park page says noon, and the 2026–2027 hunting table says 11 a.m. Plan on noon, the later of the two. The park closes again on December 8, 10, 16 and 18, 2026. Hartshorne has some of the highest ground on the Atlantic Coast and a well-known trail system, and those five days are the dates to plan around if you hike or ride there. A habitat restoration project on the Grand Tour Trail is still underway. The Park System describes the next phase as continued monitoring of regrowth and treatment of invasive species.

For mornings when the woods are closed, LeGrand Coffee House opened in July in Kings Commons at 1500 Route 35 South, in the former Booskerdoo space next to Nicholas Creamery and Rosie's Pizza. It's open daily from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The dates to put on the calendar now are October 18, November 1 and November 24.

Katherine Raftery writes about the dates and changes that shape daily life in Chapel Hill and the neighboring Middletown communities. If you have a question about your part of town between the hayrides and the hunting closures, let's connect.