Entertainment

Best Pumpkin Patches in Southern CA!!!!!!!!


Lombardi Ranch Pumpkin Festival
29527 Bouquet Canyon Road.
Saugus, CA 91390
(661) 296-8697
Hours: 9AM-6PM everyday

The Lombardi Ranch has been selling pumpkins since 1968 and the Pumpkin Festival began in 1989. Each year more than 8,000 school children visit the ranch for a pumpkin tour. Every weekend in the month of October families flock to the ranch for fun, family-oriented activities such as petting zoo, wagon rides and live music (additional fees may apply). Don’t forget to check out the scarecrow contest entries while you’re there. Please visit their website for a calendar of the ranches current amazing weekend events. www.lombardiranch.com

McGrath Street Pumpkin Patch
October 1-31, 2013
5156 McGrath St.
Ventura, CA 93003
805.658.9972
Hours: 9AM to dusk

Families wanting to pick pumpkins off the actual plant can realize their dreams at McGrath Street Pumpkin Patch up in Ventura. It requires a little more of a drive than the typical parking lot full of hay bales and squash in town, but the payoff includes a real, honest-to-goodness pumpkin patch alongside farm animals, games, and hayrides. Most days there is no separate entrance fee; call to confirm.

Tanaka Farms
September 27 - October 31, 2013
5380 3/4 University Drive
Irvine, CA 92612
949.653.2100
Hours: 9PM-6PM

If Orange County sounds closer for you than Ventura, Tanaka Farms has its own sincere patch, with opportunities to pluck one’s pumpkin straight from the vine. A free corn maze is added incentive, as are wagon rides ($5) and a petting zoo ($2). Admission and parking are both free.

Pierce College
September 27-November 3, 2013
6201 Winnetka Avenue
Woodland Hills, CA 91371
818.999.6300
Hours: 10AM-10PM

The Valley’s agricultural college hosts one of the biggest Halloween festivals anywhere, and at the heart of all the corn mazes, haunted houses, hay rides, farm animals, and pony rides is a patch with pick-your-own pumpkins. The corn mazes (yes, there's more than one) are epic; make sure you stay together and be careful of starting one within an hour of sunset! Festival admission costs $5, and activity tickets are sold separately; package deals are available that include the mazes, hayrides, or other attractions with admission.

Underwood Farms
September 28 - October 31, 2013
3370 Sunset Valley Road
Moorpark, CA  93021
805.529.3690
Hours: 9AM-6PM

Ordinarily the ultimate pick-your-own paradise, Underwood Farms does all the picking in advance for its huge Fall Harvest Festival each year. The fresh pumpkins are lined up and waiting to be bought, amidst endless farm fun that includes hay rides, petting zoos, pony rides, pig races, corn mazes, and every other form of agricultural entertainment imaginable. Admission is $3 during the week and $12 on weekend, when activities really ramp up. For discounted tickets, purchase in advance online.

Forneris Farms
October 5-November 3, 2013
15200 Rinaldi Street
Mission Hills, CA, 91345
818.730.7709
Weekdays 2PM-5PM; Weekends 9AM-5PM

Another farm in the Valley sets up its pumpkins in the more urban fashion, lined up between hay bales. Forneris Farms’ pumpkins are nonetheless freshly picked and accompanied by a corn maze ($8), wagon rides ($4), pony rides ($5), and a petting zoo ($5). Admission and parking are free.

Toluca Lake Pumpkin Patch
October 1 - 31, 2013
10601 Riverside Drive
Toluca Lake, CA
818.505.8039
Hours: 10AM-9PM

Valley-dwellers focused more on the pumpkin and less on the rides can generally find an impressive selection at the Toluca Lake Pumpkin Patch. Colors and shapes vary much more widely than we thought possible; and little kids can get up close and cuddly at the covered petting zoo ($4) while adults shop. There's even a haunted maze.

Tapia Bros.
October 5-31, 2013
5251 Hayvenhurst Ave
Encino, CA 91316
818.905.6155
Hours: 9AM-6PM

The other side of the Valley greets the Great Pumpkin at the decades-old, family-run Tapia Bros. urban farm stand. The competitively priced pumpkins, squash, and gourds are accompanied by a big climb-on pumpkin, hay rides, a petting zoo, and a haunted trailer. Non-fans of Monsanto will be glad to know that Tapia Bros. has non-GMO crops.

Palisades YMCA Pumpkin Patch
September 30 - October 31, 2013
15601 Sunset Boulevard
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
310.454.5591
Weekdays 2PM-6PM; Weekends 10AM-6PM

A favorite place to many has long been the unpretentious and inviting patch at the front of Temescal Gateway Park in the Palisades. Simon Meadow, as the grove is called, is a corner of the park controlled by the Palisades YMCA, and the pumpkin patch there is large, tree-filled, and fenced in – in short, perfect for a playdate. There is a big old rope swing hanging from a big old tree, inviting kids to swing out over rows and rows of pumpkins; no one counts how long or how often your kids visit the bounce house, and the annual scarecrow competition makes for great photo ops - as does the late afternoon sun filtering through the trees. Admission and parking are free, and pumpkin purchases support the YMCA.

Shawn's Pumpkin Patch

October 5-31, 2013
12403 Washington Blvd.
(corner of Washington and Centinela Blvd).
Culver City, CA 90066
310.341.4181
9:30AM-7PM

October 9-October 31, 2013
2300 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310.315.0900
10AM-7PM

Whoever Shawn is, we crown him king of the parking lot pumpkin patches. With locations in Culver City and Santa Monica, this pumpkin impresario has the Westside covered. Admission is free, with charges for the various forms of entertainment: petting zoos, pony rides, a little train, bounce houses. The Culver City location is larger with more attractions; we recommend calling ahead to check on animal-related activities, as the hours on these are shorter than Patch opening hours (e.g. ponies only work Thu-Sun, and not all day). Parties are available at the Culver City location.

Mr. Bones

October 4-30, 2013
702 North Doheney
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310.276.9827
Sun-Thu 9AM-7PM; Fri-Sat 9AM-8PM

Another popular seasonal lot is Mr. Bones, on the West Hollywood/Beverly Hills border. Pumpkins are augmented by classic patch activities like pony rides, face painting, a hay maze, a petting zoo, a super slide, and a giant bouncy pumpkin. Parties are available here, too.

Pa's Pumpkin PatchSeptember 28-October 31, 2013
6701 E. Pacific Coast Hwy.
Long Beach, CA 90803
562.596.7741
Hours: 10AM-9PM

There are pumpkins at this patch. It seems necessary to state that because one could forget - in the midst of the carnival rides, animal attractions, games, etc - that one came here to buy a piece of fruit. The pumpkins are, indeed, plentiful, and the accompanying entertainment and Halloween celebrations have been getting Long Beach families in the holiday spirit for years.

Cottone and Sons

October 10-30, 2013
3720 Pacific Coast Hwy.
Torrance, CA 90505
310.370.2708
Hours: 9AM-8:30PM

Cottone and his sons have been selling pumpkins in Torrance since 1959. The family sets up its pumpkins, hay bales, straw, and gourds along with animals for petting, ponies for riding, and big stuff to bounce upon at Del Amo Fashion Square.

Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch
Daily September 21 - October 31, 2013
1 Irvine Park Road
Irvine, CA 92862
714.997.3968
Hours: Weekdays 10AM-5PM; Weekends 10AM-6PM

Kids can ride the Pumpkin Train, jump in a moon bounce, go on a hay ride, play carnival games, get their faces painted, and pick pumpkins at Irvine Park Railroad (most activities $4). Be sure to check the coupon page before heading over.

The Pumpkin Patch is located just behind the train station, and admission is free, but the County of Orange charges a gate entrance fee ($5) to drive into Irvine Regional Park.