Spooky season is right around the corner, and the best spots for pumpkin picking — NYC and beyond — require a visit.
While you’re browsing the best Halloween stores in NYC for a great costume, you can’t forget about dressing up your digs, too. You wouldn’t want your front stoop or apartment window to go without a cute and/or creepy gourd, now would you?
We highly encourage you make a day out of these fun locales below. While you’re at it, stop by an apple orchard and try navigating your way out of a corn maze.
If you have little ones in tow, don’t forget about third-annual Trick or Streets, a.k.a. a safe, car-free trick-or-treating experience for NYC’s little spooky enthusiasts. Now, without further ado, it’s time to go pumpkin picking…
1. Greg’s Pumpkin Patch: Park Slope, Brooklyn
Greg’s Trees is a Christmastime pitstop, but before we ring in those holly, jolly festivities, we have to get spooky. Greg’s Great Pumpkin Patch will make its way to Park Slope’s Greenwood Park this October to delight customers with gorgeous gourds of all types — Cinderella pumpkins, minis, and more — as well as pumpkin carvings and Instagrammable moments.
📍 555 Seventh Ave., Brooklyn
2. Happy Day Farm: Manalapan, NJ
Pick pumpkins to your heart’s desire at this 130-acre farm in New Jersey. Happy Day Farm allows guests to “pay for what they pick” so you can get what you wish! Don’t forget about the venue’s seasonal ticketed attractions, like a corn maze, tractor rides, pumpkin installations, and more.
📍 106 Iron Ore Road, Manalapan, NJ
3. Queens Botanical Garden: Flushing, Queens
Beyond its typical gorgeous blooms, Queens Botanical Garden is ready for fall with its very own pumpkin patch. Find the pumpkin that’s perfect for you and be sure to check out the seed planting, chalk art, costumed characters and more on-site. Get tickets ASAP!
📍43-50 Main St, Flushing
4. Demarest Farms: Hillsdale, NJ
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Photo: Demarest Farms/Facebook
Search for your perfect pumpkin at this expansive farm founded in 1886 beginning September 21st! For $8, your general admission ticket will include free parking, entrance to the pumpkin patch, petting zoo, playground, and hayrides. Once you enter Demarest Farm’s pumpkin patch, you’ll pay a flat rate of $13 for any pumpkin that you please, no matter the size! Reservations are required online.
📍 244 Werimus Rd, Hillsdale, NJ
5. Wilkens Fruit & Fir Farm: Yorktown Heights
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Photo: Wilkens Fruit & Fir Farm/Facebook
This year marks the 108th anniversary of harvest for Wilkens Fruit & Fir Farm. You can find the perfect selection from Wednesdays to Mondays beginning Sunday, September 28th. Don’t forget to visit the Apple Market Farm on your way out.
📍 1335 White Hill Rd, Yorktown Heights, NY
6. Secor Farms: Mahwah, NJ
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Facebook / Secor Farms
7. Queens County Farm Museum: Queens
Queens County Farm will open up its pumpkin patch to the public on October 1st. Once there, visitors can enjoy the crisp fall air as they wander through the patch to scoop up the perfect pumpkin. Pumpkins are priced by size and no reservation is required. While on the grounds, we highly suggesting taking a walk through the Amazing Maize Maze, NYC’s iconic “three-acre living labyrinth.”
8. Dykeman Farm: Pawling, NY
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Facebook / Dykeman Farm
Pumpkin picking will be available at Dykeman Farm starting Sunday, September 28th. Visitors can expect a large selection with over 70 different varieties offered at the farm! Plus they also offer all visitors free hayrides.
📍 31 Dykeman Ln, Pawling, NY
9. Fishkill Farms: Hopewell Junction, NY
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Photo: Fishkill Farms/Facebook
A beloved spot for apple picking, Fishkill Farms also offers pumpkin picking, but the 2024 slots have not been disclosed. Be sure to also make time during your visit for drinks and bites at the Treasury Cider Bar. Keep in mind that reservations are required for this fan-favorite spot.
📍 9 Fishkill Farm Rd, Hopewell Junction, NY
10. Decker Farm: Richmond Hill, Staten Island
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Photo: @historicrichmondtown Pick your pumpkin while learning about this 19th-century Staten Island staple that has been providing autumnal festivities for generations! In fact, it’s considered NYC’s oldest continuously working family-style farm. Make sure to check out the pumpkin chucking, hay maze, and peruse all of the Halloween décor once you’ve picked your pumpkin!
📍 441 Clarke Ave, Richmond Hill, Staten Island
11. Alstede Farms: Chester, NJ
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Photo: Alstede Farms/Facebook
Offering an extensive list of pick-your-own produce from, peas and apples, to peppers and pumpkins, you can expect a wide range of colorful choices at Alstede Farms. Along with your PYO entry ticket, you’ll get to experience a scenic hay wagon ride through the farm and get access to the evergreen maze and hay pyramid.
📍 1 Alstede Farms Ln, Chester, NJ
12. Outhouse Orchard: North Salem, NY
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Facebook / Outhouse Orchards
From hay rides to a corn maze, Outhouse Orchards offers all the fall activities you could have hoped for! Scour through the large selection of pumpkins (all vine-free) and grab whichever takes your liking!
Once you find the one, you’ll simply bring it over to the staff tent to get weighed for payment and you’ll be off. But make sure to stop at The Barn before you head out to pick up all sorts of fall goodies like apple cider doughnuts, local honey, and seasonal produce. For more details on pumpkin season at Outhouse Orchard, head to the attraction’s website.
📍 139 Hardscrabble Rd, North Salem, NY
13. F&W Schmitt’s Family Farm: Melville, NY
For decades, this Long Island farm has been celebrating autumnal traditions perfect for the whole family. From mini golf, hayrides, petting zoo, sunflower picking, a haunted house, and pumpkin picking, you’re sure to be feeling the seasonal spirit!
Should you want something a little scarier, the Schmitts Farm Haunt is full of screams. The farm will reopen for the season on Saturday, September 14th.
📍 26 Pinelawn Rd, Melville, NY
14. Pumpkin Point: Governors Island
The annual Pumpkin Point extravaganza in Nolan Park is one of our favorite events on Governors Island!
A beloved annual tradition, the pumpkin patch will offer over 10,000 pumpkins of all shapes and sizes that visitors can hand-pick and take home! Visiting the patch is free, but you can purchase a pumpkin for a small suggested donation that benefits the Friends of Governors Island. The event will run the last weekend of October (26th and 27th) from 10 am to 5 pm. Check out the site for more info. Any pumpkins left over at the end of Pumpkin Point will be composted on the Island’s composting center.
📅 October 26th and 27th from 10am to 5pm
📍 Nolan Park on Governors Island
15. The William Vale, Williamsburg
A pop-up pumpkin patch is coming to Brooklyn’s The William Vale hotel on October 13, where New Yorkers and their furry friends are invited to come pick pumpkins! From 12 – 3 pm, the hotel will transform into an autumn wonderland, complete with delicious fall treats and beverages from Leuca, a kid & pet costume contest, face painting, balloon artistry, live portraits and more!
📅 October 13, 12 – 3 pm
📍 The William Vale / Vale Park (111 N 12th St, Brooklyn)
16. Harvest Moon Farm & Orchard
No one can resist a visit to New York’s beloved spooky town, Sleepy Hollow, once October rolls around. While you’re enjoying the best of the town, be sure to make a pitstop at the neighboring Harvest Moon Farm & Orchard just 30 minutes away. Here you’ll be able to enjoy a pumpkin patch (naturally), apple orchards, food vendors, Oktoberfest activities, hayrides, and more.
📍130 Hardscrabble Rd, North Salem, NY
With contributions from Danielle Valente, Corey Fuller