Ridgefield's Complete Fall Guide to Pumpkin Patches & Hayrides
Five farms, five opening dates, one honest rundown of what's actually worth the drive this fall — plus the field tips nobody tells you until your boots are already stuck in the mud.
It's mid-September, which means the group chat has already started. Who's doing pumpkins this year, is anyone driving out to Bi-Zi again, will the littles finally get to go on the hayride without someone crying halfway through. Here's the thing worth knowing before you start planning around a specific weekend — most Pacific Northwest farms are still prepping fields or offering pre-harvest fruit right now. Full pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and festival activities officially start rolling open between September 20 and October 3. Some spots are already open daily for early picking. Others don't flip the lights on until the first weekend of October. Below is exactly which is which.
Fall 2026 Status & Drive Time From Ridgefield
The Closest Options — 5 to 18 Minutes Out
The quintessential family-owned option, farming this same ground since 1912. Gates are open daily right now for fresh seasonal produce, with pumpkin field picking ramping up through mid-to-late September. It's the least commercial pick on this list — no paid admission, no crowds, just wide-open walking lanes and a peaceful u-pick experience that works especially well with toddlers who need room to wander.
Call ahead before you drive out for pumpkins specifically — vine availability changes day to day this early in the season.
Forty-plus scenic acres just across the Lewis River in the Woodland bottoms, and one of the broadest pumpkin selections in the region — 60-plus varieties of pumpkins, squash, and gourds, with free admission and free parking. Fields are being prepped now ahead of an October 1 opening.
Once it's open: two separate corn mazes, a hay pyramid, a straw bale maze, weekend hayrides, pumpkin bowling, and local food vendors. This is the pick if you want a full afternoon out of one stop rather than a quick pumpkin grab.
This is the big one. Bi-Zi is the premier full-scale harvest festival in the county, and the ticketed admission covers almost everything on-site — including a pumpkin you carry straight out of the patch on the vine. A preview weekend opens Saturday, September 20, with full daily operations and night mazes launching Thursday, October 1.
Expect a 7-acre corn maze, wagon hayrides, apple cider sampling, a bale pyramid, farm animals, a pedal tractor track, and corn play-boxes big enough to lose a kid in for twenty minutes of peace. If you're only doing one "big day out" patch this year, this is the one people mean when they say it.
Worth the Drive — 25 to 35 Minutes Out
The storybook option. Pomeroy's mile-long "Pumpkin Lane" features over 100 whimsical, hand-painted pumpkin-headed characters set along a historic pastoral landscape — genuinely one of a kind in the region, and the kind of thing that photographs well for the family holiday card. It opens the first weekend of October (October 3–4) and runs Saturdays and Sundays only, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Grounds are closed beforehand while the display gets built.
Beyond Pumpkin Lane itself: open-air hayrides, historic farm grounds, blacksmith demonstrations, farm animals, and patch picking. It's a longer drive than the other four, so plan it as its own outing rather than a stop on the way to something else.
A low-stress, friendly favorite on the east side of the county. Admission is all-inclusive — full access to the corn maze, the barrel train, and one pumpkin of any size, which takes the guesswork out of budgeting for a family of four. Leashed dogs are welcome, which not every patch on this list can say.
Opens Saturday, October 3, and runs through Halloween, closed Mondays through Wednesdays. Also on-site: tractor wagon tours and farm animal meet-and-greets.
What About Cider?
Honest answer: Ridgefield doesn't have a dedicated hard cider tasting room the way it has wineries — if that's the itch you're trying to scratch, our guide to Ridgefield's wineries is the better starting point. On the fresh-pressed side, though, fall farm stands come through — Bi-Zi's harvest festival includes apple cider sampling as part of the ticket, and most of the farms above sell jugs of fresh-pressed cider at their stands once the season is fully underway. If a dedicated cidery opens near town, we'll be the first ones there and the first ones to update this guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
George Hoffman Farms, about five minutes away, and it's open daily right now for early-season picking. It's also the most low-key option if you're bringing toddlers who need room to roam without a ticket line.
Most farms officially open between September 20 and October 3. Bi-Zi Farms has a preview weekend starting September 20, with full operations October 1. Pomeroy Farm and Waltons Farms both open the first weekend of October.
Bi-Zi Farms Harvest Festival, without much competition — the ticket includes a pumpkin, a 7-acre corn maze, hayrides, and enough activities that it functions as a full day out rather than a quick stop.
Waltons Farms in Camas welcomes leashed dogs. Check ahead with the others before bringing a pet, since policies vary by farm and by how crowded a given weekend gets.
More From Meanwhile in Ridgefield
- The Wineries of Ridgefield, Washington — for the grown-up version of a fall daycation
- Moving to Ridgefield With Kids: A Complete Family Guide — schools, neighborhoods, and parks for families settling in
- Things To Do Near Ridgefield — the full activity and venue guide
- All Guides — everything we've written for people living in and around Ridgefield
- Events — what's happening in and around town this season
Opening dates shift with the weather, so if a farm above pushes their date back a week, we'll catch it and update this guide rather than let you show up to an empty field. If you spot a change before we do, let us know — that's half of how this site stays useful.
