Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Downtown Sarasota Campus
Garden · Florida
Selby Gardens' bayfront campus in downtown Sarasota holds an internationally known collection of orchids and other epiphytes. Each October the paths turn over to families for Spooktacular, a costumed Sunday morning of trick-or-treating, crafts, and mild scares for older kids.
Don’t miss
Plan your visit
Peak: November 28–December 2
Color builds from November 15 · mostly bare by December 26
Method: daily ERA5 temperatures drive a photoperiod + chilling phenology model, sampled at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Downtown Sarasota Campus’s own coordinates and elevation (3 m) rather than a regional average. Estimates, not promises — check locally before you plan a trip around it.
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Downtown Sarasota Campus on the map
More things to do in Florida
Halloween Horror Nights
Haunted attractionColor nearby peaks December 5
Universal's after-hours haunt takeover has run every fall since 1991, filling the Orlando park with a rotating slate of maze houses and scare zones built around horror franchises, typically running from late August through the first weekend of November.
Don’t miss: Held since 1991 · Multiple haunted houses and scare zones · Runs into November
Ghosts & Gravestones St. Augustine
Ghost tourColor nearby peaks December 2
A nightly 80-minute narrated trolley tour of the oldest city in the country, stopping at Tolomato Cemetery, the Old City Gates and the Old Jail, which the operator calls the town's most haunted building. Boards at the San Marco Avenue welcome centre.
Don’t miss: Tolomato Cemetery and the Old Jail · Chamber of Horrors at Potter's Wax Museum · Runs nightly, all year
Amazing Grace Family Farms
Corn mazeColor nearby peaks December 1
A Clay County farm on State Road 21, about 30 minutes south of Jacksonville, that opens a crop maze and pumpkin patch each autumn alongside a cow train and other farm attractions. The farm also runs a sunflower festival earlier in the year.
Don’t miss: Crop maze and pumpkin patch · Cow train and farm attractions · Half an hour from Jacksonville
Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Haunted attractionColor nearby peaks December 2
Busch Gardens' after-dark Halloween takeover, billed as Tampa Bay's most terrifying event, fills the animal-and-coaster park with haunted houses and roaming scare zones on select nights. The 2026 run is September 11 through November 1; gates open at 5 p.m. and the frights start at 7.
Don’t miss: Haunted houses and scare zones after dark · Coasters run into the night · Select nights, Sept 11-Nov 1
Plan from a city
Frequently asked
- When does Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Downtown Sarasota Campus peak in 2026?
- Peak color is predicted for November 28–December 2 (best estimate November 30). Color starts around November 15 and is mostly bare by December 26.
- What is Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Downtown Sarasota Campus best for?
- A gentle, not-too-scary Halloween morning with real gardens the rest of the year.
- How do I get to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Downtown Sarasota Campus?
- The closest city is Tampa, about 43 mi away. It's part of Florida's fall lineup.
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