Fall is my favorite season for many reasons. I love Fall because my birthday is the first day of Fall, the weather gets cooler and crisp, and pumpkin patches open up! Fall is our time to rest after the Summer for my family and I. The harvesting in the garden is finishing up, the chores seem to get a little lighter, and Fall for me is the transition into the Winter season of more rest. I also love Fall because because of less mosquitos, better weather, and bonfires beginning! Visiting pumpkin patches are a family favorite of ours, so I wanted to highlight my 5 favorite pumpkin patches to visit this Fall in hopes that you will be able to go explore them with your friends and family. Of course, the past two years have been different due to COVID so I will share the in’s and out’s of how you can best prepare to go to these patches and not be disappointed. All of these are located in the greater Nashville area.
This family farm is located at 1974 New Hwy 96W in Franklin, Tennessee across the road from the well known Westhaven community. Per their website, they are a seventh generation working farm celebrating 165 years on this land and 30 years of providing Fall family fun activities! They offer pumpkins, hay, and beef cattle for sale, as well as, rent land to other farmers who farm row crops such as soybeans, corn, and winter wheat. Normally, you can just drive up and go on in to enjoy the Fall festivities. However, with COVID, pre-purchased reservations are required for the activity areas. These sell out in advance and quickly so be sure to plan ahead if you can. I know this is hard because we cannot predict the weather or show up when we want. On the bright side, if you need pumpkins, you can pick those up anytime. They ask that masks be worn when social distancing is not possible.
Their hours are Saturdays 9am-5pm, Sundays 1pm-5pm, and Mondays 9am-1pm, beginning October 2nd and ending October 31st. As far as farms go, the entry into this one is more affordable than the others with tickets at $8.25 plus tax for ages 2-65. Under age 2 and over 65 are free and you do not have to pre-register them to enter.
Some of our favorite things at this farm are closed this year. These include the wagon rides, play farmer’s market and ice cream shop, grain/corn troughs, and the pick-your-own pumpkin patch. My son loved the grain troughs and playing with the toys in the corn as well as the farmer’s market play areas last year. I love hay or wagon rides so I was sad to hear about that being closed this year. The good news is that there are several other options that are open such as the outside and inside corn mazes, river walk trail, tractor playground, sorghum labyrinth, tire swings, life size large and small spider webs, animal viewing area, and photo opportunity areas. This gives plenty of options to enjoy a wonderful Fall day together.
This farm is beautiful in scenery and spacious enough to maintain distance yet visit all they have to offer without being completely exhausted. I love the heritage of this farm and the way their family has taken care of what God has given them.
Established in 1893, this designated Century farm has been passed down through the generations. They are located at 4809 Byrd Lane in College Grove about 35 minutes South of Nashville. This farm also asks that you purchase tickets in advance but also offers them at the gate with cash or Venmo. They will be taking temperatures at the gate and anyone with a temperature may not enter. Masks are not mandatory but they recommend when in closer proximity to others on the hayride that you sit with your own family group.
Their hours are Saturdays and Sundays from 10am-4pm, starting October 3rd until October 31st. Admission is $10 and free for children under 2. To order tickets in advance you can go here.
We have enjoyed this farm for it’s down home, family oriented, friendly feel. They used to offer pick-your-own pumpkins but due to COVID they are pre-picked with a large selection to choose from. They have an 8 acre corn maze and stunning flowers. There is a tent area that offers wares for sale such as baked goods, jams, salsa, and more. Their sweet farm dog, Camo, always greets us when we arrive which is good since outside pets are not permitted. Thompson had great fun with their hayride, cow train, and pumpkin cannons!
This farm is also excellent at Christmas time. There were many photo opportunity areas that were lovely and thoughtfully decorated. We actually used one of them for our Christmas card last year. I highly recommend visiting them during the Christmas season for hot cocoa, Santa train ride, picture with Santa, and plenty of photo ops.
The Ladd’s purchased this farm in Eagleville in 2008, located 45 minutes South of Nashville at 4374 Rocky Glade Road. It is a 60 acre homestead that offers educational agricultural experiences for visitors. They opened Lucky Ladd Farms a year later, naming it for all of life’s blessings that have been showered upon them. They have been featured by Travel Channel as one of the Top 15 Best Pumpkin Patches in the US and I can see why. For children and adults alike, there are a ton of things to do on this farm. Masks are not required and they ask that you social distance responsibly. When we went, that was not the case at all as the majority of people were around one another and not wearing masks. Wide open areas abound so it is not difficult to find your own space.
Their hours until October 3rd are Thursday- Saturday 10am-4pm and 12pm-5pm on Sundays with admission ending an hour before closing. From October 4th-October 30th, Thursday-Sunday hours are 10am-6pm, and Sunday hours are 12pm-5pm. There are many offerings at the farm seasonally and dates vary by each season so be sure to check out their website for more details. For Fall, they close October 31st. Timed ticketing is in effect and you may not get in if you do not order your tickets in advance. Even with the advanced tickets, we had to wait in line about 15 minutes just to get to the ticketing area to show them our tickets on our phones. Tickets vary in price by date from $15.99-17.99 plus tax, making this one of the more expensive patches to visit. The Pumpkin Pass ranges from $20.99-22.99, and the Fall Frenzy package ranges from $35.99-37.99. The magnitude of activities offered and all day things to do make the cost worth it as you get your bang for your buck. They also offer season passes at other times during the year so that the farm fun can continue.
This farm has so many things to do it is hard to mention them all. Some of our favorite things are the animal petting zoo which has pigs, goats, sheep, and more. You can feed, pet, and in pre-COVID times you could brush them. We also enjoy the hayride which is long and has wood cutouts of various animals along the ride. There is a toddler town that is separated by a fence area and allows the little ones to play safely without getting run over by the larger children. Thompson loves the slide, play structures, pots and pans musical section, and adult/child swing. For children of all ages there are large slides, a very large inflated jump area, tire mountain, corn maze, cow train ride, spider web crawl, individual game area with puzzle style games, and of course pumpkins!
We normally only visit this farm once due to the size of it and how much energy and time it takes to see everything. Plan a larger chunk of time for this farm if you want to see everything it has to offer.
This 265 acre farm is located at 8653 Rocky Fork Road in Smyrna and began selling pumpkins in 1999 after they planted a few plants for themselves. When they wound up with over 500 pumpkins, they put them out by the barn and people came to get them. The pumpkin farm began after that and they open from late September to October 31st annually. Due to COVID, they are open for pumpkin and fall item sales only. Unfortunately, there are no activities available this year.
Their hours are Thursdays and Fridays from 2pm-6pm, Saturdays 9am-6pm, and Sundays 12p-4pm, starting September 25th and ending October 31st. Parking and admission to shop for goodies is free.
Normally, my family enjoys the pumpkin train, hay mountain to climb on, 40 foot tunnel slide, corn and wheat bins, face painting, sand art, corn crib, duck races, farm animals, and hayride. We are sad to see that all these are closed this year, but if you need a place to get a pumpkin with very low risk of COVID, this is the place to go!
In 1995, a hobby farm of 12 acres began at 1765 Martins Chapel Church Road in Springfield, Tennessee about 40 minutes North of Nashville. It started out with a crop of corn and pumpkins. Eight years later, the first Fall festival for church friends and family was held. It was then that Honeysuckle Hill Farm began and now covers over 200 acres. In the Fall, it is known as Middle Tennessee’s largest outdoor Halloween attraction, Nashville’s Music City Corn Maze, and features Zipline Adventure Park. They advise that masks are recommended and have several handwashing stations throughout the farm.
Their hours and days vary so be sure to see when you may want to go here.
General admission varies from $15.95-19.95 depending on when you go. They do recommend buying tickets online in advance but they are also offered at the gate for more cost. Season passes range from $44.95-49.95.
This farm is expansive and has so much for everyone to do. Upon entering, there is a farm store with goodies to purchase, a huge pumpkin patch, large rocking chairs and other Fall decor for awesome Fall pictures. The farm is hilly so be sure you come with lots of energy and give yourself plenty of time to explore. There is a cow train, playground area, sand and construction play zone, farm animal area with faux cow milking stations, singing chicken show, piglet racing, and gem mining on one side of the farm. On the other there are jump areas, apple shooters, large and fast slides, a corn maze, hayride, and swings. Since the farm is over 45 minutes away from us, we normally go one time and make the most of it by spending all morning and leaving at lunch when we are worn out. You could definitely spend even more time if you like and also enjoy the weekend evening bonfires and fireworks.
As for all of these Fall farm visits, I recommend the following 5 tips to make your outing successful and frustration free:
I hope the information about these farms is helpful in providing a wonderful time of making memories for you with those you love. I would love to see your pictures from any of these or other patches that you visit! You can tag me in your pumpkin patch posts @glorybethatsme. Happy Fall Ya’ll and may the Lord reap a bountiful harvest in your life this season.