Whether you’re looking for a bright orange and beautiful Halloween decoration or the ideal baking pumpkin, you’ll be pleased with the options available at New Mexico’s spectacular farms and ranches. And picking pumpkins is a lovely way to enjoy the great outdoors in the autumn. Here are the best spots to pick up a pumpkin in the state!
Get out to this family farm in October for a riotous good time the entire family will enjoy. The Farm’s annual fall festival is chockfull of activities. A pick-your-own pumpkin patch bumps heads with cow milking, duck races, pumpkin toss, corn shucking, pony rides, potato pitch and hay rides. Four generations of Graves’ have farmed this region—they know a thing or two about growing pumpkins. A great selection and good value.
You only have two days in October to snatch a pumpkin out of the scarecrow guarded patch during the annual Harvest Festival that takes place at this living history museum venue. Since 1972, activities here have helped to inspire learning and preserve the traditions and culture of New Mexico. USA Today voted this the second best fall harvest festival in the country. In addition to the pumpkin purchase, stomp some grapes, make cornhusk dolls, hand-crank a traditional apple press and taste syrup from the sorghum mill. Kids under 12 get free admission.
Put on your boots and overalls and take a ride out to this 12-acre pumpkin patch populated by orange orbs of all shapes, sizes and varieties. Load up a wheelbarrow and pay by the pound. Before you checkout, thought, don’t miss the other activities: pedal cars for kids, tube slide, kids swings, horse-walk go-round, bounce house. Try your hand at corn hole and teeter ball. Find your way through the flower mini-maze for toddlers and parents. Special events on the last weekend include a pumpkin smash, wagon and cow train ride and the run-of-the-pigs races. Open last weekend in September through the first week of November.
This farm is a 50-acre parcel in the 140-acre Los Poblanos Fields Open Space that also harbors community gardens and wildlife habitat. Pumpkins have been growing in the farm’s fields for months, just in time for pumpkin picking the last two weekends in October. Part of the day’s fun includes a pumpkin painting activity—come prepared to give your pumpkin a new identity. Also on hand, an eight-acre maze, scavenger hunt and educational activities and birding tours with the Audubon Society’s top-notch birders. Food, a beer garden, fun run and live music round out the event.
Down-to-earth activities, that’s what you’ll find, plus an incredible assortment of pumpkins grown right here. You take a hayride to the pumpkin patch and then can wander the field until you spy that pumpkin you just can’t live without. So much else to do, too. Get lost in the corn maze, feed the farm animals, race a pedal cart, scoot down the giant slide, take a cow train and mine for gemstones. Bring a picnic or eat here. Open weekends in October.
Imagine, 20 acres filled with tens of thousands of pumpkins. No, not imaginary. It’s reality. You’ll find pumpkins, from mini to giant-sized in a variety of colors and shapes, gourds and squash, as well as dozens of other fun things to do here every weekend in October. Admission includes a trek through the corn maze, hayrides, farmer golf, giant slides, pumpkin princess story time, corn boxes and a bucket-full of games. Free parking and a picnic area—so pack a lunch and spend the day.
Don’t be a pumpkin head … get to this patch and have some fun! All pumpkins are locally grown and come tall, short, round, oblong, smooth or covered in warts, perfect for fall decor, Halloween jack-o-lanterns or your best pumpkin pie recipe. After the pumpkin hunt, catch some fish in Papa’s pond, grab a seat on a hayride, look for magical sprites in the fairy garden, slingshot a pumpkin, race a duck, ride a cow train, try for a strike in pumpkin bowling or do the pumpkin bounce. Don’t miss the yummy caramel apples, roasted corn or homemade pumpkin pie. Open the last weekend in September through the end of October.
