Mount Charleston Fall Festival

We went to the 1st Fall Festival in Lee Canyon . The foundation is there to make this an even better event . They did provide free shuttle service to get from lower parking areas to festival site . The band was great , just not enough seating . More good food n novelty vendors beside the regular places I think more thinking n planning this could be a Great Event

Two things I love are Mount Charleston and the Fall. Mount Charleston and the changing colors of the Fall go together like a horse and carriage. This is the time to visit Mount Charleston when the changing colors of the aspen and wildflower blooms light up the rolling forests. The Mount Charleston Fall Festival celebrates the time of year when the Autumn leaves blanket the forests. When I saw the Mount Charleston Fall Festival on my Facebook page, I was decided on checking out the Fifth Mount Charleston Fall Festival. The Mount Charleston Fall Festival took place yesterday on Saturday, October 8 from 12 to 4 pm at the Spring Mountains Gateway Visitor Center. When I arrived at the Visitor Center a half hour early, the parking lot was filling up. There were a couple of employees directing the drivers where to park. By the time that the festival started, the parking lot serving the Step Ladder Trail northeast of the traffic circle was also filling up. Prior to the festival, a lot of natureholics like me hung looked at the exhibits in the Visitor center and walked around the vast grounds of the complex. Just like the library, elementary school, and resort on Mount Charleston; the fair was small. It was nothing in size to the Art in the Park festival that I attended last weekend. The festival was set around the east parking lot with the exception of the crafts and owl booths at the Education Building. The way that the event worked was that guests purchased raffle tickets to pay for the food. The raffle tickets were inexpensive. At $1 they brought two food items and raffle drawings that were held at 3 and 4 pm. There was a want for food trucks. The food here was served camping style. The guests roasted the hot dogs and smores at a camping pit in the Pinyon Group Picnic Area. Additionally $5 bought a Piesner beer. The raffle tickets with the festival went for good causes. I passed over eating. Instead I visited the different booths that all shared the common good of promoting the outdoors. I chatted with the volunteers running the booths and provided my name and contact information to receive future emails. Additionally I signed the petition to preserve Lava Butte-Nevada's piece of the Grand Canyon. I passed over buying anything because nothing was for sale. The Mount Charleston Fall Festival featured sponsors that have a passion for the outdoors. The sponsor's represented included: REI, Outdoor Las Vegas, Save Lave Butte, Friends of Nevada Wildlife, Back Country Horsemen, Lee Canyon with the Lee Canyon mobile, and Smokey the Bear. The children seemed to enjoy the Back Country Horsemen attraction where they got to be in pictures cutting wood. Nearby, at the Smokey the Bear trailer children learned about the dangers of forest fires. The majority of the guests appeared to be families. The Fall Festival advertised nature walks. I did not hear anything about nature walks during my time here. I did hear the music in the Amphitheater. All in all, I spent an hour at the Festival. After passing the Back Country Horsemen and REI booth for the last time, I walked by the craft center and placed my brochures in the car. From the Visitor Center, I would hop on the Acustus Trail to continue my celebration of Fall in Mount Charleston with hours of hiking in the shadows of the Autumn colors and Ponderosa pine trees. The Mount Charleston Fall Festival brought on the Fall season in Mount Charleston as both a good festival and trailhead.