Pumpkin season means one thing around here: piling the kids into the car and driving out to a farm to find one that actually looks like a jack-o’-lantern instead of the sad, dented ones left at the grocery store by mid-October. Southwest Ohio has more working pumpkin patches within an hour of Cincinnati and Dayton than you can hit in a single weekend, so we rounded up the region’s best.
Our guide to the best pumpkin patches around Cincinnati and Dayton
Blooms & Berries Farm Market
9669 S. St. Rt. 48, Loveland, OH 45140. 513-697-9173
Blooms & Berries‘ Fall on the Farm greets visitors with piles of pumpkins right at the entrance. The event includes hayrides, a pumpkin-shaped bounce pad, a corn maze, a mini corn maze, a train, a 40-animal petting farm, a low ropes course and the Barnyard 500 trike track. Pumpkins aren’t included with admission; they’re sold by the pound and weighed at checkout. Tickets are sold online only, in 15-minute intervals, and weekend slots sell out.
A&M Farms
22141 SR 251, Midland, OH 45148. 513-875-2500
This farm sits north of Fayetteville and east of Blanchester near Midland, and it’s worth the drive. A&M welcomes customers for pick-your-own apples starting mid-September and pumpkins through the fall. Hayrides run on weekends, weather permitting. Check the farm’s Facebook page before visiting.
Brown’s Family Farm Market
11620 Hamilton Cleves Rd, Hamilton, OH 45013. 513-738-0404
Brown’s Fall Family Fun Weekends run Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., starting mid-September through October. There’s no general admission; a hayride out to the five-acre pick-your-own pumpkin patch is $5 per rider age three and up, and the barrel train is $3 per ride. Free activities include a corn maze, sunflower walk, straw maze and several play structures. Store hours run 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily in the fall.
Brumbaugh’s Fruit Farm
6420 Arcanum Hollansburg Rd, Arcanum, OH 45304. 937-692-8084
Brumbaugh’s calls itself Darke County’s agricultural playground, and it delivers: a hayride to the Kinda Kooky Korn Maze and pumpkin patch, plus Monster Mountain, Storybook Forest, a petting zoo and a bakery known for apple fritters.
Burger Farm and Garden Center
7849 Main St., Newtown, OH 45244. 513-561-8634
Burger Farm & Garden Center hosts one of the largest fall events in Cincinnati, open Saturdays and Sundays starting the last weekend of September through October, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., weather permitting. The festival includes a hayride to the pumpkin patch, a walk-through Pumpkin Land with animated characters, a giant straw castle and maze, a jumping pillow and a puppet show at the top of every hour starting at noon.
Burwinkel Farms
4359 Hamilton Cleves Road, Ross, OH 45013. 513-738-1145
Burwinkel Farms runs hayrides Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., weather permitting. The hayride option is $12 per person and the walking option is $8 per person; children 24 months and under ride free. Either way, the ride ends at the pick-your-own pumpkin patch and sunflower field, where every guest takes home a pie pumpkin and a sunflower while blooms last. The farm also has two corn mazes and a skid maze.
Country Pumpkins
1835 Sherman Mt. Zion Rd., Dry Ridge, KY 41035. 859-905-9656
Country Pumpkins is open to the public September 12 through November 1, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There’s no general admission fee; visitors pay only for the activities they want. The U-Pick Pumpkin Patch hayride is $11 per person and includes the ride and a pumpkin, with rides running on Saturdays and Sundays until they sell out. Staff will cut a pumpkin off the vine for you if needed, and tickets should be purchased online in advance for weekend visits.
Fulton Farms
2393 Ohio Highway 202, Troy, OH 45373, 937-335-6983
Fulton Farms takes visitors on a hayride out to an acres-large patch where pumpkins are picked straight off the vine, not pre-gathered. The market barn is stocked with Indian corn, mums, cider and other fall staples, and there’s a straw-bale play castle for kids. Hayrides run on weekends.
Hidden Valley Orchards
5474 North State Route 48, Lebanon, OH 45036
Hidden Valley Orchards hosts Pumpkin Fest on October 10 and 11, from 10 a.m. Saturday through 6 p.m. Sunday. The event includes the pumpkin patch, fall-themed photo backdrops and access to the farm’s Apple Play Yard, which has more than 30 family attractions. Admission to the farm itself is free; tickets are only required for the Apple Play Yard.
Kleather’s Pumpkin Patch
90 West Central Avenue, Springboro, OH, 937-748-9826
Kleather’s Pumpkin Patch started off the back of a pickup truck in 1976 and has grown into a family-run seasonal shop nearly 50 years later. It sells pumpkins, gourds, squash, straw bales, fresh apple cider and other fall goods, alongside photo-op setups including a life-size pumpkin carriage.
Majestic Nursery and Gardens
2100 Preble County Line Rd, West Alexandria, OH 45381, 937-833-5100
Majestic Nursery and Gardens runs its Pumpkin Fest as one of the longest-standing fall traditions in the area, with nearly 45 varieties of pumpkins, squash and gourds grown on site. Visitors can choose a pumpkin from the display area or pick one straight from the seven-acre field. The farm’s Amazing Maze cuts through 15 acres of corn, with an optional treasure hunt that rewards finishers with a mini pumpkin. Hayrides and Overlook Express train rides run on weekends, weather permitting.
McMonigle Farms
7441 Franklin Madison Road, Middletown, OH 45042. 937-672-8248
McMonigle Farms Pumpkin Fest offers an affordable, low-key pumpkin patch experience: a hayride around a 60-acre farm and through wooded trails, past pumpkin-headed scarecrows, ending at a corn maze where any pumpkin you can carry is included in the hayride price. It’s open Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 6 p.m., through late October. Basic hayrides run $5 per person; all-inclusive hayrides are $8.50.
Neltner’s Farm
6922 Four Mile Rd, Camp Springs, KY 41059. 859-496-7535
Neltner’s Fall Festival runs through late October with horse-drawn wagon rides to the pumpkin patch, a model train display, an expansive corn maze and a toddler-friendly mini maze with wide, stroller-safe paths. Two local wineries pour tastings on site, and admission is free on weekdays.
Niederman Family Farm
5110 Lesourdsville West Chester Rd., Liberty Township, OH 45011. 513-779-3228
Head over to the pumpkin patch at Niederman’s to pick from hundreds of pumpkins, big or small, flat or tall, even green. The farm’s fall lineup also includes a 14-acre corn maze, hayrides, a jumping pillow and several play areas.
Peifer Orchards
4590 US 68 N., Yellow Springs, OH. 937-767-2208
This Yellow Springs orchard is known for its apples, but the pumpkin patch at Peifer Orchards deserves its own visit. The u-pick pumpkin patch, a short walk from the market barn, opens on Saturdays and Sundays; check the farm’s u-pick page for current dates. The farm market stays open June through December.
Schappacher Farms
3068 OH-73, Wilmington, OH 45177, 513-398-0904
Schappacher Farms charges no admission and keeps hayrides free. The farm has six pumpkin patches with 30 to 40 varieties, including blue and white pumpkins, plus an eight-acre corn maze, a petting pen and a straw room. It opens weekends starting the last week of September through October.
Shaw Farms
1737 OH-131, Milford, OH 45150. 513-575-2022
Shaw’s Pumpkin Times has no admission charge. Visitors can hop aboard a horse- or tractor-drawn hayride, tackle the farm’s corn maze with a kid-friendly treasure hunt, and let the kids loose in two interactive playgrounds while picking out a jack-o’-lantern or pie pumpkin from the field.
Tuken’s Orchard & Farm Market
15725 Dayton Eaton Pike, West Alexandria, OH 45381, 937-687-3848
Tuken’s is a u-pick destination for apples and pumpkins alongside strawberries, cherries, plums, blackberries and peaches depending on the season. Fall activities typically run from early September through mid-November, with a free petting zoo and a farm market stocked with homemade cider, jams and baked goods.
Warrick Farm
8055 S Union Rd, Miamisburg, OH 45342, 937-671-2989
Warrick Farm is a working farm with a cow-encounter hayride, where riders can feed cattle straight from the wagon. There’s no gate fee; hayrides run around $8 to $10 per person, with kids under two free. The farm also has a petting zoo, corn box and giant slide, and it sells several varieties of pumpkins and fall mums. It’s open weekends only, roughly late September through late October.
Windmill Farm
1454 E. State Route 73, Springboro, OH, 937-885-3965
Windmill Farm Market’s Spooktacular runs September 26 through October 31, Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with Friday hours from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The signature Adventure Hayride is a 30-minute trip up and down hills, through the mud and back to the pumpkin patch, with commentary on how pumpkins grow along the way. The all-inclusive ticket is $15 and covers the hayride, pumpkin bounce pad, cornstalk tunnel, play areas and farm animals; a $5 value ticket covers everything except the hayride. Children under two are free.
Young’s Jersey Dairy
6880 Springfield-Xenia Rd., Yellow Springs, OH 45387. 937-325-0629
Young’s runs its Pick Your Own Pumpkins experience daily, August 1 through October 26, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Purchase a ticket at the Farmstead Cheese Marketplace, then take the wagon ride out to the field to find your pumpkin. Pricing is $11 per pumpkin, or 3 for $30, 4 for $40, 5 for $48. The $25 MOO-It-All wristband bundles one pumpkin with a ticket to Cowvin’s Corny Maze & Playland and a two-dip ice cream cone.
As with any u-pick farm, call ahead to confirm hours and pumpkin selection before you go. Most farms run limited activities on weekdays and expand hours and attractions on weekends.
