Talk to me, East Bay. Do you like to head out to the country to pumpkin fields on genuine farms? Do you prefer little patches within your part of town? Or do you just head to the grocery store for your gourds?
Over the years, I have noticed that the range of Bay Area pumpkin patches are all over the map (as are the patches themselves). My preference is to get in, get out, and get a perfect pumpkin picture so I only head out to the farm if I have a whole day to kill (like I have this coming Monday thanks to BUSD teacher work day).
First, the fabulous farms:
A drive out to the (925) and you can enjoy the Clayton Valley Farm near Walnut Creek. Train rides, hay maze, activity zone for kids, and a few farm goodies as well. Super fun. Open Oct 1 – 31, 2010 from 9am – 8pm (playland closes at dusk). Playland with straw maze and play structures costs $6 for kids, adults and babies under 12 months are free. Barnyard play area costs $5 per child. Pumpkin train costs another $2.50 per person. Live scarecrow contest is on Oct 13th. Pumpkins cost extra.
Out in Livermore, G&M Farms will get you lost in a corn maze. Weekends feature pony rides, pedal carts, a face painter and the special cow train. Voted best pumpkin patch and corn maze by Diablo Magazine, hours and prices vary.
Also in Livermore, Joan’s Farm comes highly recommended by our new Parent Posse member, Rebecca. She tells us that the pony rides and wagons made it tons of fun for her little ones. Open daily 9am-6pm. Cash only.
Down in Fremont, Ardenwood Farms is worth the trip (patch part of the JE Perry organic farm) to visit a working farm. Ride on a tractor and climb the haystack mountains. And more pumpkins! Open Oct 1 -31 Tue-Fri noon-7pm Sat&Sun 9am-7pm.
A drive to Brentwood is rewarded at the Smith Family Farm, which is old school in a good way. October harvest activities include a hayride to the pumpkin patch, where each person can pick their own pumpkin, live music, a corn maze, an animal area, and a picnic area. Open to the public year round. Hours are 12:30pm-5:00pm Mon-Fri and 9:00am-5:00pm Sat-Sun. Admission is $8 on weekdays and $9 on Weekends (price includes a pumpkin).
Meanwhile back in the near East Bay:
Closer to home is the carnival-inspired Speer Family Farm patch adjacent to Bay Street. A la carte and combo price plans can get you into a petting zoo, a jumpy house, an inflatable slide, and a hay maze. Fairly expensive once you add it all together but you don’t need to drive far and you trade off running errands with your partner. Open Oct 1 – 31, 2010 from 10am – 6pm.
Some urban patches take over a few blocks in the near (510). We’ve seen pop-up pumpkin patches on Piedmont Ave and across from Bakesale Betty’s in the old Global Video lot (51st/Telegraph).
So, where do you get your pumpkins?!
[All photos by Heather and Whitney, All rights reserved]
Thanks for putting this info together! My mom was just asking me about pumpkin patch options in the Bay Area. Problem solved.
You’re welcome @Felicity. I don’t think we did anything like this when I was a kid. All these farms are pretty special.
[...] arts programming, micro-retail shops featuring local artisans, Oakland-based food trucks, a pumpkin patch, and a tented creative [...]
Hi! I run the pumpkin patch on Piedmont Avenue. We’ve been on Piedmont Avenue for over a dozen years. We have a Halloween store and a haunted house. Come by and check us out. We’re right in Oakland so you don’t have to spend $20 in gas to get here. We’re at 4414 Piedmont Avenue. Our website is http://www.pumpkinpatch.info. Like us on Facebook and receive free fangs. We’ll see you here.
Thanks Jonathan, yours is the one we knew about but we listed your fb page. If I’m not mistaken, the bottom picture of my 2 sons was taken at your patch about 4 years ago. Happy Halloween!
Thanks for the info! I was wondering if you knew which of the farm pumpkin patches let you go out into the actual fields where the pumpkins where grown and cut from the vine, or which ones lay the pumpkins out on an open field, similar to a pumpkin patch you could find in the city? I.e. Are those actual pictures from Clayton Valley Farm above the description, and Smith Family Farm below it’s description? I don’t want to drive all that way for us to just see the pumpkins sitting on some straw. Thank you!
@Shari, These are great questions and I might need to bounce it to the greater community to get the most current info. I’ve personally been to Smith family farms, Ardenwood, and Clayton Valley and in all cases, the pumpkins were already cut. Though the first two offer a pretty genuine farm experience… the pumpkins were just laying around.
The top photo shows Scarlett carrying her pumpkin. She has been driven out to a “field” in which the pumpkins are just laying around. She has to carry it and ride back in an open truck but not cut it.
The second photo shows Milo standing among the many pumpkins at Clayton Valley (good eye!). There was no illusion of heading out to the vines in that case.
My kids and I spent 2.5 great hours at Peter Pumpkin Patch (Spring Hill Road in Petaluma) on Friday afternoon. I know it’s not in the East Bay (about 1 hr away) but it really is a wonderful farm and you are able to cut your own pumpkins in the field!
We went last weekend with some friends out to Adobe Pumpkin Farm in Petaluma. It was BAD. There were too many separate vendors so the tickets you buy at one place aren’t good for anything else. (The pony ride was cash, the tractor ride used their own tickets you bought when you got on, the train ride was a different type of ticket you had to buy at a booth and the bouncy houses/slide used another kind of ticket sold at a different booth.) I had to haul my 20 month old around the whole time because he couldn’t keep up on the uneven, plowed dirt (no good for strollers either.) Too far, too big, too much carnival, and not enough farm. I don’t recommend it.
We have gone to Clayton Valley for the last three years, and loved it. We will be going again this year, too.
On Sunday, we attended the Pumpkin Festival at the Western Railroad Museum in Rio Vista. http://wrm.org/events/upcoming_events.htm
It was awesome! Super low-key, it felt more like a New England harvest festival than one of those megalopolis pumpkin patch extravaganzas. We rode a restored train to get to the festival which is sponsored by the Rotary Club. Activities include a tractor-pulled hay ride, smallish hay maze/fort, pony rides, baked goods, bounce house and small stage with fun music, puppets etc. There was one fee for the train ride and some of the other activities like the pony rides had additional charges (not more that $3 I think) . The pumpkin patch was pretty minor, but the activities were perfect for us and our toddler.
@RP Where is Rio Vista? And I can tell that you work for this festival so … I bet you can also answer whether pumpkins are still on the vine. Thanks!
Actually, the museum’s address is in Suisun, near Fairfield. Pumpkins were not on the vine. I don’t work for the festival, I just had a great time.
Thanks for all the input!! So many farms, so few days!
Hello Shari — we have a new Facebook page that your folks can visit at: http://www.facebook.com/PerryFarmsOrganic. We’d love to hear from everyone about the farms they visited and to pass on any useful information — please come visit and “Like” our Facebook page and leave your comments.
The Perry family would like to invite everyone to visit their family farm and Pumpkin Patch in Fremont. The Pumpkin Patch is open Tuesday thru Friday 12 Noon to 7pm and weekends 9am to 7pm. Bring the family and explore the Patch, climb the Haystack Pyramid and navigate the Maze. The farm is open daily Tuesday through Sunday (closed Monday) 10:00am to 7:00pm
[...] Visit an extensive pumpkin patch like the one at Clayton Valley Farms or closer to home. [...]