Crisp air. Colorful leaves. Crackling fires. Carmel apples and cider. These are the senses of fall. It’s a great time to be outside, and one activity the whole family can enjoy is a visit to a pumpkin patch. Here are a few around the state.
NORTH
Steele Farms is more than just a pumpkin patch. In their huge corn maze, you can solve the mystery of who kidnapped the farmer while you work your way through the labyrinth. Visit their market and enjoy concessions including apples with caramel dip, pretzels and hot chocolate. For an extra fee, kids can enjoy the play zone and barrel train rides, and everyone can take a ride on the big wagon. Find $2 off coupons on the website.
Take a hayride to Coulter’s pumpkin patch and enjoy two different corn maze options: a 4-acre maze for adults and a smaller one for children. They also offer face painting, pony rides and food served by a local church.
If launching a pumpkin from a giant slingshot is on your bucket list, then a trip to Knollbrook Farm in Goshen is in your future. In addition to the slingshot and the pumpkin patch, the farm boasts a corn maze that includes 10 miles of winding paths and is also a scavenger hunt to test your knowledge of colonial America and the Revolutionary War. The farm also has a cow train ($1/person), a bounce pad, a petting corral, concessions, a market, and hay rides—something for everyone.
CENTRAL
Lark Ranch, Greenfield and Loogootee
Lark Ranch’s two locations boast similar offerings, and the nice thing is that the admission price includes most of the activities: a corn maze; a pumpkin patch; a train ride; a slide mountain; wizzer, air extreme, pumpkin swing, and orbitron rides; a jumping pillow; barrel rides; a corn box (similar to a sand box), go karts, and others. For an additional fee, visitors can enjoy pony rides, gem mining and a corn cannon. Each location has a couple unique features: a climbing all and log jam inflatable at Greenfield and a mechanical bull and ziplining ($10 fee) at Loogootee. You can spend an entire day at Lark Ranch and still have more to do.
Pleasant View Orchard, Fairland
Your trip to the pumpkin patch at Pleasant View Orchard begins with a hayride. Pick your own pumpkin, and then visit the orchard to pick a few apples as well. Take a break for lunch or a snack at the concession stand which offers bbq pork sandwiches, hot dogs, nachos, homemade apple cobbler with ice cream, fried biscuits with apple butter, elephant ears, caramel apples, apple cider, cider slushies and more.
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SOUTH
Like many of the pumpkin patches, Goebel Farms has a large corn maze, petting zoo and hayrides. Unlike the others, they also have a play area built inside their 100-year old barn. It includes a hay tunnel, slide and rope bridge. In addition, on select weekend nights they host bonfires where visitors can roast hot dogs and make s’mores.
Billed as “Southern Indiana’s largest corn maze and pumpkin patch attraction,” Farm Life’s pumpkin patch covers 20 acres, and their corn maze is professionally designed. In a twist on the standard corn maze, they offer night-time challenges by appointment. Other attractions include duck and pig races, corn hole games, a bungee trampoline, a corn box, and a corn bale maze. Concessions include apple cider slushies, caramel apple fritters, funnel cakes, hamburgers and hot dogs, brats, pork chops, and giant pretzels.
If you’re craving apple cinnamon donuts, visit Cornucopia Farm in Scottsburg. In addition to a corn maze and pumpkin patch, they have a soybean maze for children, a giant hill slide, a petting farm, and an observation hive of bees. In addition to the standard fare, their concession menu includes fresh-baked pumpkin bread, pumpkin rolls and cookies.
