Michigan Pumpkin Patches: 30 U-Pick Farms Worth the Drive

Last Updated: August 2026

Michigan pumpkin season is short and the good farms get crowded fast. The difference between a great afternoon and a two-hour parking queue is usually just knowing which day to go and which farms still only take cash.

Michigan Pumpkin Patches, U-Pick Pumpkins and Farms to Visit This Fall

I spend every autumn driving between Michigan farms, cider mills and pumpkin patches, and I’ve learned that the listings people rely on are usually a year out of date — wrong opening weekends, wrong hours, farms that stopped doing U-pick entirely. Below is my list of Michigan’s best pumpkin patches and fall farms, grouped by region, with 2026 dates where the farm has posted them.

Every pumpkin patch in this state has its own personality. Some are small family operations where the owner rings you up personally and the whole visit takes forty minutes. Others are full-scale fall destinations with corn mazes, wineries, live music and enough for an entire day. Neither is better — but showing up at the wrong one for what you wanted is a common mistake, so I’ve said which is which. If you’re after a simple U-pick field, the big destination farms will feel like a theme park. If you’ve got four kids and a long afternoon, the small ones will run out of things to do in an hour.

Use the Interactive Michigan Pumpkin Patch Map

Explore pumpkin patches and fall farms across Michigan. Zoom in by region, click a pin for directions, and build your weekend route.

What Makes a Good Michigan Pumpkin Patch

A crisp Michigan fall day is best spent outside, and a good farm gives you a reason to stay for three hours rather than twenty minutes. What I look for: a real U-pick field rather than a pile of pre-picked pumpkins by the gate, cider pressed on site, and enough space that a busy Saturday doesn’t feel like a queue.

Most of these pair naturally with a cider mill or an all-day fall festival, and several are farms that do both.

Pumpkin Patches in Southeast Michigan

Three Cedars Farm — Northville

7897 Six Mile Rd, Northville, MI 48168, Wayne County. If you want the classic Metro Detroit pumpkin patch, start here. Hayrides out to a five-acre U-pick field, a seven-acre corn maze, a general store full of old-fashioned candy, a petting farm, and a train ride the kids will insist on. Their 2026 season opens Friday, September 4 at 10 a.m., which makes it one of the earliest openings in the state.

Two practical notes. The cider is pressed on site from Michigan apples and served hot, cold or as a slush — the slush is the one to get. And they take cards now, which wasn’t true a few seasons ago and still trips up returning visitors who stop at the ATM out of habit. You can rent a private bonfire site if you’re organizing a group. Three Cedars posts its current hours before each season.

DeBuck’s Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch — Belleville

50240 Martz Rd, Belleville, MI 48111, Wayne County. DeBuck’s is a fall carnival more than a farm visit: three corn mazes, a U-pick field, a sunflower trail, wagon rides, and a grill house doing cider, kettle corn and caramel apples. Add trike tracks, slides, bounce balls and a goat village and you have a full day rather than an afternoon.

This is the one to pick if you have young kids and need to fill hours. It’s also the one to avoid if you wanted a quiet field and a wagon ride — on an October Saturday it’s loud. Check DeBuck’s admission and activity pricing before you go, since some attractions are ticketed separately.

More Pumpkin Patches in Southeast Michigan

• Bird’s Pumpkin Patch — Romulus
• Bonadeo Farms — Highland
• Wiard’s Orchards — Ypsilanti
• Long Family Orchard & Farm — Commerce Township
• Plymouth Orchards & Cider Mill — Plymouth
• Spicer Orchards — Fenton
• Farmer Charley’s Kackleberry Farm — Monroe
• Denny’s U-Pick at English Gardens — Plymouth

PRO TIP: Southeast Michigan farms are busiest on October weekends. Go on a weekday, or arrive within the first hour of opening — that’s also when the donuts are freshest.

Pumpkin Patches in Mid-Michigan

The Wild Pumpkin — Beaverton

5799 Beaverton Rd, Beaverton, MI 48612, Gladwin County. A family-run patch built around a petting zoo, with bounce houses, hayrides and apple cider donuts. It’s a hands-on farm rather than a scenic one — the draw here is that small children can touch things and run, and there’s space to let them.

Worth noting that Beaverton is a genuine drive from anywhere. If you’re coming up from Metro Detroit, pair it with something else in the Midland area rather than making it the whole trip. The Wild Pumpkin lists its season dates each year.

The Howling Pumpkin — St. Helen

7201 E West Branch Rd, St. Helen, MI 48656, Roscommon County. A 20-acre corn maze, hayrides, bounce houses and a large playground, without the scale or the queues of the Metro Detroit farms. It’s festive rather than overwhelming, and the owners run it themselves.

This is the pick if the drive north matters as much as the destination — St. Helen sits in good color country, so the route is half the point. The Howling Pumpkin posts hours on Facebook, which is their main channel, so check there rather than assuming weekend hours.

More U-Pick Farms and Pumpkin Patches in Mid-Michigan

• Grandma’s Pumpkin Patch — Midland
• Johnson’s Giant Pumpkins — Saginaw
• Anderson & Girls Orchards — Stanton
• Leaman’s Green Applebarn — Freeland
• Papas Pumpkin Patch — Mt. Pleasant
• Shawhaven Farm — Mason
• Uncle John’s Cider Mill — St. Johns

Pumpkin Patches in Northern Michigan

Fleming Farm Pumpkin Patch — Gaylord

4264 Martindale Rd, Gaylord, MI 49735, Otsego County. Rolling hills, hayrides, a maze and a petting zoo, and a setting that does a lot of the work. Gaylord turns early — this is a good stop if you’re chasing fall color in late September when the southern farms are still green. Details are on the Gaylord visitor bureau’s listing for the farm.

Coveyou Scenic Farm Market — Petoskey

4160 US-131, Petoskey, MI 49770, Emmet County. A long-running family farm with a market in an old barn and a deck looking out over Walloon Lake. The pumpkins are sustainably grown, and alongside them you’ll find local produce, flowers, cider and a shelf of Michigan-made goods. The view from the deck is the reason to come, and it’s the only farm on this list where the setting outranks the activities. Coveyou’s market page lists seasonal hours, which shorten sharply after October.

Pond Hill Farm — Harbor Springs

5699 S Lake Shore Dr, Harbor Springs, MI 49740, Emmet County. Pond Hill is a 200-acre farm five miles north of downtown Harbor Springs, sitting right on the Tunnel of Trees — which makes it the natural stop on the best fall drive in Michigan. Pumpkin smashing, pumpkin bowling, apple cannons, a squash rocket, a giant corn maze, hayrides, a trout pond, live music, wood-fired pizza, and a tasting room pouring their own wine, beer and hard cider.

Read the schedule before you drive up. Fall Fest runs Saturdays and Sundays only, from late September through late October, roughly 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with activity booths closing at 5:30. Admission is free. It’s also one of the very few farms on this list that welcomes leashed dogs, which is worth knowing if you’ve been leaving yours at home all autumn. I’ve written more about the farm in my full Pond Hill guide, and the farm posts its Fall Fest dates each summer.

More Pumpkin Patches in Northern Michigan

• Gallagher’s Farm Market — Traverse City
• Royal Farms — Ellsworth
• Knaebe’s Apple Farm — Rogers City
• AJ’s Berry Farm — Lachine
• Robinson’s Pumpkin Farm — Whittemore

Pumpkin Patches in West Michigan

Ed Dunneback & Girls Farm — Grand Rapids

3025 6 Mile Rd NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49544, Kent County. A century-old farm that turns into a pink tractor operation every fall, with U-pick pumpkins, hayrides, cider and donuts. They’ve added a taproom and restaurant, so you can follow the field with a glass of hard cider looking out over the apple orchard — a combination not many farms offer. Weekends bring live music and family passes bundling hayrides, slides and the rest. Ed Dunneback & Girls publishes weekend hours and pass pricing separately.

Fruit Ridge Hayrides — Kent City

11160 Red Pine Dr NW, Kent City, MI 49330, Kent County. A horse-drawn hayride rather than a tractor-pulled one, which is rarer than it sounds and the reason this farm is on the list. Add a big Michigan corn maze, a petting zoo and apple picking and it’s a full day in one place. Get the cider and the homemade caramel apples before you leave — they’re the thing people come back for. Fruit Ridge sells timed hayride tickets on busy weekends, so book ahead in October.

More Pumpkin Patches in West Michigan

• Bethke Farms — Grand Haven
• Gull Meadow Farms — Richland
• Gene the Pumpkin Man — Kalamazoo
• Moelker Orchards — Grand Rapids
• Lewis Adventure Farm & Zoo — New Era
• Crane Orchards — Fennville

PRO TIP: Bring cash. Several smaller farms — Gene the Pumpkin Man among them — have historically been cash-only, and the nearest ATM is rarely close.

Pumpkin Patches in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Getzloff Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch — Wilson

N15891 Co Rd 551, Wilson, MI 49896, Menominee County. The UP has very few pumpkin patches, which makes Getzloff’s the default for anyone road-tripping the Upper Peninsula in October. Seven acres with a corn maze, hayrides, hay bale sculptures and red barns worth photographing. It sits near Escanaba, so it slots neatly into a Delta County weekend.

Set expectations honestly: this is a local farm, not a destination on the scale of Pond Hill or DeBuck’s, and its season is short because the UP gets cold early. Getzloff’s posts opening weekends ahead of each season.

Plan Your Fall Road Trip

Pumpkin patches are spread across the whole state, so it’s easy to build a weekend around one. A few ways to do it:

• Combine a patch, a cider mill and a color drive. Pond Hill sits directly on the Tunnel of Trees, which makes that the easiest version of this plan in the state.
• Time it with my Michigan fall color guide. Northern farms and northern color peak together in late September; southeast Michigan runs two to three weeks behind.
• Go on a weekday if your schedule allows it at all. The difference in crowds between a Tuesday and an October Saturday is not small.
• Call ahead for U-pick specifically. Plenty of farms run hayrides and mazes long after the field itself has been picked clean.

Michigan Pumpkin Patch FAQ

When do Michigan pumpkin patches open?

Most open the first or second weekend of September and run through October 31. Three Cedars Farm in Northville opens September 4 in 2026, which is among the earliest. Northern Michigan farms often start slightly later but line up with earlier fall color.

What’s the best time to avoid crowds?

Weekday mornings, without question. If a weekend is your only option, arrive within the first hour of opening. The two middle Saturdays of October are the busiest days of the season at almost every farm in southeast and west Michigan.

Are Michigan pumpkin patches dog-friendly?

Most are not — farms with livestock and food service usually exclude pets. Pond Hill Farm in Harbor Springs is a notable exception and welcomes leashed dogs. Always confirm with the individual farm before bringing one, since policies change between seasons and some allow dogs in the market but not the fields.

Do pumpkin patches charge admission?

It varies. Some, like Pond Hill’s Fall Fest, are free to enter with activities priced individually. Others charge general admission or sell activity passes bundling hayrides, mazes and slides. Pumpkins are almost always priced separately by size or weight. Check the farm’s own page rather than a listing site, because pricing changes yearly.

Which Michigan pumpkin patches take cards?

Most of the larger farms do now, including Three Cedars, which switched in recent seasons. Smaller operations are still frequently cash-only, so bring some regardless — it’s also useful for hayride tickets and donuts, which are sometimes handled at separate stands.

Can you pick pumpkins straight from the field in Michigan?

At true U-pick farms, yes — you ride out to the field and cut your own. Many farms marketed as pumpkin patches actually sell pre-picked pumpkins from a display near the entrance. If cutting your own matters to you, ask specifically about U-pick when you call, and go earlier in the season before the field is thinned.

If you find a farm worth adding — especially a small one that never makes these lists — tell me in the comments. Several of the best ones here got on the list because a reader sent them in first.