What happens on the farm grounds along Hickman Road once the tractor carts stop? From May through October, Living History Farms is easy to drop in on. It's open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. You arrive by 2 p.m. if you want to see the farm sites, and you listen for the bell as carts leave about every 20 minutes. That routine ended last Saturday.
From November 1 through April 30, the museum runs on programs by reservation. Much of November was already booked before the month started.
The Gate Rule Changed on November 1
In winter you don't buy a general admission ticket. You book a specific program for a specific date. The hours and admission page lists them:
- Day camps
- Historic dinners and teas
- Historic skills classes
- Barnyard Readers
- Book club
- Community outreach, school explorations and historic home tours for groups
So for an Urbandale household, the winter question is when you booked. Two Saturdays, November 7 and December 5, work more like open days. Everything else depends on a seat you reserved ahead of time.
Why the Farm Can Run a Winter Calendar Now
On May 1, 2025, Living History Farms opened the Kemin Cultivation Center and the MidAmerican Energy Foundation Pavilion with a ribbon-cutting. The project added a public entrance, a climate-controlled gallery, accessible visitor amenities and a sheltered gathering space for up to 88 people.
The old Visitor Center became a Learning Center. Its 2026 program listings show Smithsonian Spark!Lab and America 250 activities running there. The Business Record reported in April that the Learning Center supports expanded year-round education programming, and that the new gallery can host permanent and traveling exhibits outside the outdoor season. The museum's 2025 annual report also lists new programs from that year, including a civics camp, an America 250 winter-break camp and new historic-skills classes.
Those indoor spaces are where much of the winter calendar takes place.
This Saturday Is the Big Open-Gate Morning
The Living History Farms Race is Saturday, November 7, at 9 a.m. It's a five-mile off-road course that starts and ends in the 1876 town of Walnut Hill and runs through all three historic farm sites. The museum's description promises splashing through streams, plowing through fields and running woodland trails past horses, cows, sheep and pigs.
The course is different this year. The race page says the map was updated October 12 after a record rainy September, and that more changes are possible depending on conditions. If you've run it before, download the revised map before Saturday instead of relying on memory.
Race morning, in order:
- Doors open at 8:15 a.m.
- Costume photos at 8:30 a.m.
- The race starts at 9 a.m.
- Awards at 10 a.m.
- The free Kids' Run at 10:30 a.m., with advance registration requested
This year's costume contest has categories for best individual, best group, and best patriotic or U.S. semiquincentennial costume. Every finisher gets an America 250 race shirt and a cowbell medal. Runners must be at least 14 to register. Stoik Body Company is offering a free 10-minute massage before or after the race. Anyone who hasn't reached the halfway point within an hour may be asked to ride the "sag wagon."
Registration is $66 plus processing fees through Friday, November 6. Packet pickup runs today, Thursday, from 3 to 6 p.m. at Fleet Feet Des Moines, 521 E. Locust St. Tomorrow, Friday, it runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Living History Farms, 11121 Hickman.
The race has a long history on this ground. The museum's 2013 annual report marked that year as its 35th anniversary. At the time it was a seven-mile event held the Saturday before Thanksgiving, with several thousand participants. It now runs earlier in November with a shorter course. WHO 13 reported nearly 600 runners at the 2024 race.
The Seats That Go First
The race is open to anyone who registers. The dinners are where the reservation-only rule really shows.
The 1900 Farm Dinner begins with an introduction in the farmhouse. Then comes a family-style meal made from historic recipes, with chicken or pork depending on the date, and the evening ends with a lantern-lit visit to the barn. Adult tickets are $125, or $110 for members. At the start of November, the museum's ticket calendar showed the November 6, 7, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 28 dinners sold out, plus the December 4 pork dinner. The remaining dates were down to a handful of tickets.
The teas at the Flynn Mansion follow the same pattern. A two-hour tea costs $65, or $59 for members, and includes seasonal sandwiches, scones, pastries, cakes, sweets and hot tea, served by interpreters in 1870s dress. The November 15 Harvest Tea was sold out by the start of the month. A Christmas Tea is listed for December 12 or 13, and a family-friendly Little Women Tea for December 26 or 27. The mansion's nine-course coursed dinners, at $130 or $115 for members, are scheduled to resume in March 2027.
| Program | Price | Status at the start of November |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 Farm Dinner | $125, $110 members | Most November dates sold out |
| Flynn Harvest Tea, Nov. 15 | $65, $59 members | Sold out |
| Flynn Christmas Tea, Dec. 12 or 13 | $65, $59 members | Listed |
| Little Women Tea, Dec. 26 or 27 | $65, $59 members | Listed |
Weeknights at the Wood Stove
The skills classes are the most local-feeling part of the winter calendar. Most are two-hour weeknight sessions at an 1870s wood stove, and you eat what you make. The sold-out dates follow the same pattern as the dinners. The November 7 wood-stove cooking class, the November 21 19th-century bread baking class and the December 1 Norwegian Kringla and Fattigman night were all full by the start of the month.
These were listed on the historic skills classes page for the weeks ahead:
- Quick Rolls & Churned Butter, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., $75, ages 16 and up
- Cooking with Kids: Mac & Cheese & Cookies, Saturday, Nov. 14, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., $75, ages 7 to 14 with a registered adult
- Apple Doughnuts & Hot Cider, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., $75, doughnuts fried on the wood stove
- Sausage, Biscuits & Gravy, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., $75, with eggs and coffee
- Norwegian Christmas Sandbakkels, Tuesday, Dec. 8, and Norwegian Christmas Pepperkakker, Tuesday, Dec. 15, both 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., $75
Away from the kitchen, Blacksmith Basics runs Saturday, November 14, from noon to 3 p.m., and Wednesday, November 18, from 2 to 5 p.m. It's $125 for ages 18 and up, and you take home a decorative iron piece. Beginning Embroidery is December 12 and Beginning Knitting is December 19, each from 2 to 4 p.m. for $75, with needles, yarn and patterns included for the knitting class.
December 5 and the Week After Christmas
The second open-gate Saturday is Family Christmas on December 5, from noon to 3 p.m. Advance tickets are $12, or $11 for members. Tickets at the door are $13, or $12 for members, and children under 2 get in free. The afternoon includes crafts, carols, stories, cookie decorating, visits to the historic buildings, Santa photos and wagon rides if the weather allows. The museum suggests bundling up for the wagons.
That same morning, the Barnyard Readers series for ages 3 to 5 holds its Immigrant Christmas Traditions session. Families with preschoolers can easily make a full day of it. Sessions generally run from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and cost $34 for one adult and one child, or $30 for members, plus $12 for each additional child. The other two dates are Thanksgiving on the Farm on November 21 and Christmas on the Farm on December 19.
For the gap between Christmas and New Year's, Winter Break Camp runs December 28 through 31, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It costs $300 per camper, with a 10% member discount. There are separate tracks for grades 2 and 3 and grades 4 and 5, plus a family event on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. Registration opened November 2.
Whether you're lacing up for Saturday's race, trying for a farmhouse dinner seat or booking cookie night with a friend, these winter traditions are part of what makes Urbandale feel like home. If you'd like more local ideas for the season, or you're curious how a nearby favorite like Living History Farms shapes daily life around Hickman Road, Megan Mitchum + CO would love to hear from you. Contact Us anytime.
