Top Pumpkin Picking Farms for Families in New Jersey

There is a perfect pick your own pumpkin farm for everyone in New Jersey! If you are looking for a full day of pumpkin picking adventures for preschoolers, a pick your own pumpkin patch that won't bore your 10 year old, or just a quiet old fashioned farm without all the gimmicks, you can find it all in Northern NJ.

Pumpkin Picking with Older Kids: Heaven Hills Farm (Vernon, NJ)
Heaven Hill Farm is known for one of the best haunted hayrides. When pumpkin picking season is near, the farm turns into a Halloween spooktacular with animated Halloween frights like an outhouse that opens up to reveal a skeleton inside, a coffin that opens up with a vampire inside, a haunted shack, and of course the haunted hayride. Heaven Hill Farms has more than just the Halloween spooktacular. There are the standard hayrides to the pumpkin patch, lots of farm animals (every time we've been we have seen some baby animal be it chicks, ducks, pigs, goats, etc), and a cornmaze. The farm also sells playground equipment which means that the kids can spend hours just playing on that alone. Finally, there is plenty of food and halloween costumes for sale.

Full Family Fun at Terhune Orchards (Princeton, NJ)
If Heaven Hill Farm is the place for older kids, Terhune Orchards is the ideal place to take the toddler and preschool set. This farm skips the scary Halloween decors in favor of pumpkin painting, tractor trikes, pony rides, farm animals, mini-hay rides, and outdoor carnival style food. You can take the kids on an easy stroll down their farm trail and catch plenty of picture-perfect pumpkin photos. During the pumpkin picking season they also have weekend concerts. As the ultimate pumpkin picking experience for the preschool set, the farm even hosts a "read and pick" program on Tuesday October 6 where the friendly staff reads a book about pumpkins after which the kids are invited to pick a mini pumpkin from the patch.

"Real" Pumpkin Picking at Riamede Farm (Chester, NJ)
Pick-your-own farms with all the bells and whistles can be fun, but how can you call it pumpkin picking when all you have to do is pick up a precut pumpkin from an already harvested field? For some real pumpkin picking, where you get to cut the pumpkin right off the vine yourself, go to Riamede Farm. The quiet, simple, laid back farm has a hayride to the pumpkin patch and just plain pumpkins! Bring your own shears!