Ralph H. Dean Recreation Park turns into a field of sunflowers, hayrides, and small-town Labor-Day-weekend energy for one Saturday every September. It’s a fundraiser for Page Alliance for Community Action, and it shows — this is a genuinely local event, not a produced tourist experience, with pony rides, a butterfly garden, live music, and pick-your-own sunflowers in the adjoining field.
Go in the morning if you want the field at its best and the parking lot at its emptiest; by early afternoon both fill up. Bring cash for the $5-per-car gate and for food/craft vendors once you’re inside. It pairs naturally with an afternoon in downtown Luray, a five-minute drive away.
