5 Virginia Pumpkin Patches and the One Thing You Must Do at Each

It may be hard to say goodbye to the lazy days of summer, but it’s easy to say yes to crisp fall weekends filled with football, cozy blankets, bonfires, and of course pumpkins. 

It just isn’t fall without these bright orange gourds—you know it and we know it. Lucky for us, we live in a state with an abundance of pumpkin patches to choose from.

The number of pumpkin growers in our state has doubled from 200 in 2018 to 400 growers in 2021, according to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. That year, 5,400 acres of pumpkins were planted and harvested with an estimated value of $17.6 million. 

That’s a lot of pumpkin bread and pumpkin-spice cake. 

So, if you are looking to get some fresh air, a little sun, and a lot of fun, now is the time to visit one of Virginia’s many pumpkin patches before farms close down for the winter. Whether you are looking for nice decoration for your front porch, or the filling for your pumpkin pie, you are bound to find what you are looking for in our state. 

Temple Hall Farm Pumpkin Patch & Sunflower Fields

15855 Limestone School Road, Leesburg
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Leesburg is beautiful in the fall, and we highly recommend visiting this time of year. It’s an easy trip from the DC suburbs and a nice break from the beltway hustle. If you are headed that way, make sure you stop by Temple Hall Farm Pumpkin Patch & Sunflower Fields. You won’t be disappointed. Visitors can take self-guided tours. You can pick your own pumpkins, take a hayride, slide down on their hillside slides. But you must go to the farm on the weekend and try the pumpkin cannons. That’s right pumpkin cannons. They are only available on the weekends. 

Temple Hall Farm Pumpkin Patch & Sunflower Fields is open daily from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. through Oct. 31. Tickets are $15 per person. Children 2 and younger get in free. 

Cox Farms

15621 Braddock Road, Centreville
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There are so many reasons to visit Cox Farm in Centreville—including the fact that the farm is where a full-scale styrofoam replica of Stonehenge, called Foamhenge, is located. But Cox Farm also hosts a fall festival, corner market, and Fields of Fear. Plus, you’ll find giant slides, hayrides, rope swings, a goat village, straw tunnels, and live entertainment—and of course pumpkins.

If you are interested in the Fall Festival or Field of Fears, tickets are sold in advance online, ranging from $25 to $35. 

Critzer Family Farm 

9388 Critzer Shop Road, Afton
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If farm-to-table cuisine is up your alley, you are going to love Critzer Family Farm. Yes, you can pick your own pumpkins and apples, but the best reason to make the trip is for the ice cream: pumpkin ice cream that is made from their own harvest. It does not get much more farm-to-table than that. Yum. 

If you want to spend a fall afternoon on this fifth-generation farm located across the road from Blue Mountain Brewery, you’ll need to hurry because come the end of October, they will close for the season. You know, sort of like Cinderella’s carriage turning back into dare we say, a pumpkin?

Holly Fork Farm

4901 Holly Fork Road, Barhamsville 
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A fall-field trip favorite for Virginia schools, Holly Fork Farm is about 40 minutes from Richmond and about 20 minutes from Williamsburg. The farm offers pumpkin-picking, of course, hayrides, and a tractor-tire course for kids and adults to climb and enjoy. The LOVE sign near the pumpkin patch also makes it pretty perfect for family photo opportunities. 

The farm is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. The last day of fall season is Oct. 31.

Pumpkin Village at Leesburg Animal Park 

19246 James Monroe Highway, Leesburg
Website | Facebook

Sure, they have pumpkins at Pumpkin Village at Leesburg Animal Park, but you also must stop by the animal park itself to see the lemurs, zebras, and sloths. It is what makes this pumpkin patch one-of-a-kind. While you are there, enjoy wagon rides, hill slides, a hay maze and more.

Tickets during prime weekends are $20.95 for adults and $17.95 for children and seniors. The fall festival activities continue until Nov. 8.

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