On Friday, Oct. 30, the trunks at one Kaysville trunk-or-treat will belong to actual trees. The USU Botanical Center is holding it in its William A. Varga Arboretum. Community partners will set up treat tables among the trees, and some of the trees will be dressed up for the day. Most announcements stop at that afternoon. It is actually the last day of Spooky Week at the BOOtanical Center, a program that runs from Monday, Oct. 26 through Friday, Oct. 30. The days before Friday give you more time with the arboretum than the trunk-or-treat does.
The Whole Week Is Planned Around the Arboretum
The Center describes Spooky Week as "a week of low-key, come-when-you-can activities intertwined with classes, lectures, and hands-on workshops." Most of it is free, and a few classes need registration and charge a small fee. The arboretum is the setting for nearly all of it.
The Center's gardens page says the Varga Arboretum displays more than 400 tree and shrub species suited to Utah's arid mountain valleys. The Spooky Week event page puts it at almost 600 different trees. By either count, it holds far more kinds of trees than a typical yard or park. Late October is when many of them change color, and the week's schedule is built around that.
Five Days, Day by Day
The Center's Eventbrite page lists some activities that run all week. Spooky Storytime is at 10:30 a.m. every day. Creepy Cosmos & Astronomy and Haunted Hopscotch are self-guided and open from dawn to dusk. The BOOtanical Scavenger Hunt runs Monday through Friday, with pickup from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The scheduled events are listed below:
- Monday, Oct. 26, 6 to 7:30 p.m.: Gather & Grow, Pumpkins, Petals, and Play. An adult craft night where you decorate mini pumpkins with Mod Podge, dried flowers and greenery. Tickets are $17 per person.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27, 4:30 p.m.: Spooktacular Snacks, Reducing Food Waste. An after-school session where kids and their grown-ups make Ghost Pops and Monster Mouths from bananas and apples. Free, but you need a ticket.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27, 5:30 p.m.: Leaf Peeping with Jerry, A Fall Foliage Walk. A guided walk through the arboretum. Free, ticket required.
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 11 a.m.: Little Witch's Cauldron Kid's Craft. Kids paint a cauldron scene and add cotton-ball steam. All supplies are provided. Free, ticket required.
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 6 p.m.: Build a BOOtiful Bat Box. A hands-on workshop where you build a bat box to take home and put up in your own yard. Tickets are $20 per person.
- Friday, Oct. 30, 3 to 5 p.m.: Trunk-or-Treat in the Enchanted Arboretum. No ticket is required, but registering helps the organizers plan for enough treats.
The ticketed events have limited space. The Center asks anyone who registers and then can't attend to let them know, so the spot can go to someone else.
Tuesday Evening Is the Best Time to See the Trees
Friday is the event families will build plans around. For seeing the arboretum itself, though, Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. is the better choice. Botanical Center Director Jerry Goodspeed leads the walk. According to the event page, he'll explain why leaves change color and point out the trees that bring reliable fall color to a home landscape. The page suggests bringing a camera, wearing comfortable walking shoes and dressing for the outdoors.
That makes the Tuesday walk useful for your own yard. The arboretum's collection was chosen for Utah's arid mountain valleys, so the trees you see are ones that grow in local conditions. If you're thinking about replacing a tired tree or adding fall color by the driveway, you can see the options at full size in the same week their color peaks. The Wednesday bat box workshop also has a home use, since the box is meant to go up in your yard as habitat for bats.
Tuesday also works for parents. Spooktacular Snacks starts at 4:30 p.m. and the foliage walk at 5:30 p.m., so a family can do both in one trip before dinner.
Friday Afternoon at the Arboretum, Thursday Evening at the Police Department
By Friday, the arboretum has spent four days hosting crafts and walks, and it becomes the trick-or-treat route. Here is how the USU Botanical Center's Spooky Week page describes it:
"Instead of a parking lot, our community partners will be set up with tables throughout the arboretum, handing out candy and goodies as you wander the grounds."
Kids and adults are welcome in costume, and so are friendly, leashed pets in costume. The 3 to 5 p.m. time slot means the whole event happens in daylight.
The arboretum event isn't the only trunk-or-treat in Kaysville that week. The Kaysville Police Department's annual Trunk or Treat is on Thursday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., in the southeast parking lot of the police department. One is Thursday evening and the other is Friday afternoon, so families can go to both.
Getting There and Getting Registered
- Where Friday's event is: The Kaysville city calendar listing and the trunk-or-treat poster both give 875 South 50 West, Kaysville, the USU Extension Davis County location. The Botanical Center's own site gives its general address as 80 E. 725 S. Sego Lily Dr., Kaysville. Check the poster address before you leave on Friday.
- How to register: The Center has one Eventbrite page for all Spooky Week activities. If you need help registering, call 801-499-5370.
- Accessibility: The event page asks anyone with accessibility questions or accommodation requests to contact the event organizer before the event. Her email is listed on the same page.
- Maps: Maps for self-guided tours are available at the Utah House or the Davis County Extension office.
The Grounds Stay Open After Halloween
Spooky Week ends Friday, but the grounds stay open. The Center says its demonstration gardens, ponds and arboretum are free and open from sunrise to sunset. Named areas besides the Varga Arboretum include the Stokes Ornamental Grass & Iris Garden, the Rasmussen Teaching Garden, the Edible Demonstration Garden, the Urban Farm Demonstration Garden, the Parkstrip Redesign Demo Garden, the Pollinator Garden and Wetland Discovery Point.
The Kaysville Ponds and Nature Trails were created in 1995. They serve as an urban fishery, hold stormwater for the city, help improve water quality and give people a place to learn about wetlands. The ponds and trails are open seven days a week from dawn to dusk. You can fish, paddle a canoe, kayak or stand-up paddleboard, jog, have a picnic or walk your dog on a leash. As the days get shorter, dusk comes earlier, so after-work visits get shorter too.
You'll also pass the Utah House gardens. The house itself is no longer open to the public for tours or events and now serves as the Davis County 4-H Event Center.
The USU calendar doesn't list any Botanical Center events for November. The next big event nearby is The Reindeer Express, Kaysville 2026, on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Davis Agricultural Heritage Center, 788 S. 50 W. Tickets are $35 per family or $7 per person. The Reindeer Express event page says entry is ticketed and timed. Between Halloween and then, the ponds, trails and arboretum stay open at no cost.
If Tuesday's foliage walk gets you thinking about a tree for your own yard, or about which outdoor projects are worth doing before you sell, I'm glad to talk it through. Gardening and remodeling are both part of my background, and fall is a good time to plan the next growing season. Ame Lawlor is happy to help. Let's Connect.
