Nothing says Fall fun like a day out on the pumpkin patch. San Diego’s many great pumpkin patches offer hay rides, mazes, petting zoos and other great hands-on activities for kids of all ages to enjoy. Just make sure to bring your camera as you head out Charlie Brown style, in search of the Great Pumpkin at one of these great pumpkin patches:
Bates Nut Farm – As a kid, my parents drove my siblings and I out to Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center in their Dodge Ram Van every year to pick out our pumpkins. I’m glad they’re still around today, offering plenty of pumpkins to choose from. Kids can enjoy hayrides, a maze, pony rides, petting zoo, while adults can relax in the gift shop or cop a squat on a bale of hay as they watch their kids enjoy the fall festivities in glee. It is free to visit the farm, but there are small fees for some of the activities.
Julian Mining Company U-Pick Pumpkin Patch – For those out in East County, pumpkin gold and fun can be found at the Julian Mining Company. After picking your giant pumpkin, spend some time taking a hayride, or press some fresh apple cider (please save me a glass). Make ol’ time candles for the coming winter evenings, or be brave and feed the farm animals. There is an admission fee of $9 for kids and $12 for adults.
Oma’s Pumpkin Patch – There’s fun to be had at Oma’s Pumpkin Patch at the Van Ommering Dairy in Lakeside. For just $7 per child (one adult get in free with each child admission), you can take home a “Jack Patch” pumpkin and bottle of water. Kids can also play on Cottonseed Mountain, take a hayride around the farm, race through the hay bale maze and visit the petting zoo. Parents can enjoy the gift shop or pick up some farm-fresh produce. With selections of pumpkins ranging from 1-100lb pumpkins, be sure to bring a big car (NOT your Miata) if you’re gunning for a big one!
Pumpkin Station – The novel and inventive Pumpkin Station brings the pumpkin patch near you! With 7 convenient stops throughout the County, the stations set up kiddie rides, inflated pumpkin jumpies (if I was only a kid again, I would be in there all day), petting zoos and games right in your community. Two of the patches are on actual farms and offer corn mazes, tractor-pulled haywagon rides and farm animals. Of course, all of them offer an array of pumpkins to choose from.
Summers Past Farms Pumpkin Patch – On October 8-9 and 15-16, 2011, Summers Past Farms opens up their pumpkin patch. Enjoy a day of picking out the perfect pumpkin, visiting the farm animals and selecting from a variety of fall plants and pumpkin décor to bring fall to your garden at home.
Let us know in the comments of about your pumpkin picking adventures or other pumpkin patches in San Diego County.