Boulder County’s Fall Festivities Get a Magic Touch

Experience magical rides, harvest delights and eerie adventures

By Chloe-Anne Swink

As the leaves turn, so too should your heads toward Boulder County’s local farms, which tediously tend to their fields of cauldron-shaped gourds, craft tasty seasonal treats and host spooky showcases guaranteed to give you chills and thrills. 

From hayrides and pony rides to flower fields and farm stands, this season’s cornucopia of autumnal delights offers something for everyone. Revive your fall spirit with a visit to these local pumpkin patches.

Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Ranch
Longmont, Colorado
2024 Season: September 26 – October 31
Hours of Operation: Daily, 9am–6pm

Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Ranch isn’t just “Colorado’s largest certified organic vegetable farm,” as General Manager Lauren Frease proudly notes—it’s also a family-owned and operated business for over 32 years.

Its annual October Festival and Carnival caters to families with young children ages ten and under. The farm is open to visitors every day of the week. Admission is free, but some activities require a fee to participate. Weekend activities include face painting, a petting zoo, a corn stalk tunnel, pony rides, food trucks, obstacle courses, and so much more. During the weekdays, activities are limited, but the pick-your-own-pumpkin patch remains open. You can also grab goodies from the farm stand, stocked with organic farm-fresh honey, apple cider, pumpkin bread, jams, roasted chilis and fall decorations like straw bales, corn stalks and Indian corn. 

Anderson Farms
Erie, Colorado
2024 Season: September 25 – November 2
Hours of Operation: Open Wednesday through Monday; hours vary

Anderson Farms, located just off County Road 3 ¼, features a sprawling pumpkin patch, set against a backdrop of stunning blue peaks. With 70 varieties of pumpkins, squash, gourds and hybrids, there’s a perfect pick for every member of the family—ranging from two to 12 dollars, depending on size.

During the day, visitors can hop in a red-framed wagon to explore the pumpkin patch. The last wagon leaves at 5:30pm, and the patch shutters at dusk. Beyond its assortment of pumpkins, the farm also offers a plethora of family-friendly activities: pedal karts and trikes, grain bin basketball, a petting zoo, a 25-acre corn maze, a barrel train and the Kiddie Koral, which features sand diggers, a treasure pit, tractor totters and more. There’s also live music on the weekends.

As the sun slips away, darkness extinguishes the festivities of the fall fest and summons something far more chilling: Terror in the Corn, a mile-long haunted corn maze and ghost town that only older teens and adults can unlock. “It is rated number one in the nation—the top in the nation as far as haunts go,” says Crystal Sutherland, Anderson Farms’ Marketing Manager. “It’s a mile long. A mile of mayhem.” 

7th Generation Farm
Louisville, Colorado
2024 Season: September 27 – November 3
Hours Of Operation: Tues–Thurs, 12pm–6:30pm; Fri–Sun, 9:30am–6:30pm 

For the past decade, 7th Generation Farm’s Fall Festival and U-Pick Pumpkin Patch, led by co-owners William Fulenwider and Keith Bateman, has come to life each season with vibrant autumnal festivities.

Visitors can choose one of the many pumpkins on display or wander the patch to pick a pumpkin straight from the vine. “We charge for pumpkins. So whatever pumpkin you take you just pay for whatever size you pick. They range from $1 to massive, huge 100-pounders that are anywhere up to $25,” says Fulenwider. 

Families with kids will be thrilled by the array of farm animals, including Belgian draft horses, a donkey, chickens, pigs and more. Children can scale the Big Bale Hay Mountain and explore the new Kid’s Town. For an additional fee, enter a rubber duck race, try your hand at gem mining to find a keepsake or savor a delicious snack from the food truck, with dishes crafted from fresh meat and produce from 7th Generation Farm.

The Bee Hugger Farm
Longmont, Colorado
2024 Season: September – October
Hours of Operation: Daily, 8am–Dark 

With six acres of open land, The Bee Hugger Farm welcomes you to a spellbinding realm of unicorn and pony rides. Much like a knight’s quest, guests navigate their own adventure on a self-guided, self-service honor system, where families can pick sunflowers, buy honey from a yellow VW bus, and visit with over 44 farm animals (including peacocks!). If you’re keen on feeding the animals, too, food is a small additional cost.

The farm is open to the public seven days a week for U-Pick pumpkin pickin’ through the month of October. Pumpkins are priced individually based on size, and payments can be made via cash or Venmo. “Our whole thing is to be accessible and reasonably priced for families,” says L.J. Werner, co-owner of The Bee Hugger Farm, alongside her husband Scott Schrobilgen. 

You’ll find fall photo-ops and hayrides during the weekends, and families can pack a picnic lunch and enjoy one of the many picturesque picnic tables. “We’re subtly spooky,” says Werner. But above all, “People leave happy [after a day celebrating the harvest season at The Bee Hugger Farm.]”