Beltway Bambinos

It’s that time of year when the weather is beginning to cool, cute fall outfits await, PSL’s are back and kids are hoping to start jumping in leaves soon. It also means making memories at local apple orchards, fall festivals and picking pumpkins. Have a favorite place to add to our list? Let us know in the comments!

Larriland (2415 Woodbine Rd., Woodbine, MD 21797)
Open – November 5
Gaze across the fields dotted with thousands of orange pumpkins, each one waiting to become a jack-o-lantern for your porch. The farm is decorated for Halloween with ghosts and goblins to delight and scare you. The fields are laden with crisp, succulent vegetables. The orchards are bent down with apples. It’s the last harvest to reap before the cold winter sets in. And fall is the perfect time to enjoy a tall glass of freshly squeezed sweet apple cider. 20 minute hayrides available on Saturdays and Sundays in late September and October. The Straw Maze, built in a confusing pattern with large round bales of straw, is a delightful place to get lost. The Straw Maze is open every day the farm is open in late September and October. The Boo Barn is for children ages 4 – 6. It is a dark passage in the bottom of the Red Barn and is filled with animated, not too scary ghosts and goblins. The Boo Barn is open every day the farm is open in late September and October. Apple fritters and Food trucks on Saturdays and Sundays in October.

Great Country Farms (18780 Foggy Bottom Rd., Bluemont, VA 20135)
Open – November 5
Open daily for apple picking and corn maze from Sept 1-30. They also have flashlight family nights through the corn maze September 29 & 30. On Saturdays & Sundays, they add in live music, marshmallow roasting, pig races & cider pressing demonstrations. Check out the Zurschmeide Family’s antique 1865 Cider press. Sample freshly pressed cider and see how it used to be produced! Apple picking is October 1-8. Fall Pumpkin Harvest Festival is from October  1-31, adult cornmaze & pumpkin chunkin taking place November 4 & 5. Purchase tickets online.

Gaver Farm (5501 Detrick Rd., Mount Airy, MD 21771)
Open – October 31
The Fall Fun Fest is home to over 65 farm attractions including a corn maze, farm animal barnyard, mini mazes, games, playgrounds, bike tracks, educational opportunities and family fun. 

Clark’s Elioak Farm (10500 State Rte 108 Ellicott City, MD 21042)
Open – November 5
Petting farm animals, hayrides, cow train rides, pony rides, birthday parties, educational tours, enchanted pine tree forest, special weekend events, enchanted forest attractions (from an old theme park) and fall season pumpkin patch. You can purchase tickets when you arrive.  

Homestead Farm (15604 Sugarland Rd., Poolesville, MD 20837)
Open 7 days a week
Pick your own apples and pumpkins, live animals to see and browse market goodies such as apple cider, mums and honey.

Summers Farm (5620 Butterfly Ln. Frederick, MD 21703)
Open – October 31
Admission includes 45+ fall fun activities. For a full schedule of special events, visit the entertainment page. For a complete listing of activities available at Summers Farm, visit the attractions page.

Leesburg Animal Park (19270 James Monroe Hwy., Leesburg, VA 20175)
Open – November 5
Enjoy the giant hill slides, hay wagon rides, pet and feed animals, free apple and cider snack with admission, free mini-pumpkin, kids maze and live entertainment, pedal carts, bounce pillow and live music. Specials on weekends include camel rides and entertainment.

Cox Farms (15621 Braddock Rd., Centreville, VA 20120)
Open- November 7
The Fall Festival is filled with family-friendly entertainment and TONS of attractions including slides, cornmaze, swings, animals, hayrides and more.

Butlers Orchard (22200 Davis Mill Rd., Germantown, MD 20876)
Open – October 29
Admission to pick your own pumpkins, hayrides, hilltop hop jump pads, tractor pull, jump in the hayloft, visit barnyard buddies, twisted corn maze, live music on weekends, playground, spiderweb, play in the corn box, straw maze, swoop down the giant slides, corn hole games & pedal tractors. Open Wednesday-Sundays, reservations are highly recommended.

Wayside Farm (5273 Harry Byrd Hwy., Berryville, VA 22611)
Open-October 29
Watch the pig races, get lost in the maze or sit under the tree, head to the playground or animals and play pumpkin checkers. There is a hay mountain and hayrides too. Get lost in the 10-acre corn maze. This year the maze is baby Yoda themed.

Loudoun Fall Farm Tour
October 21 & 22
Over two dozen locations are part of this exciting tour through rural Virginia. 

Readers also recommend:
Montpellier Farm
Weber’s Cider Mill
Pumpkin Playground at Burke Nursery

Fall festivals:
Maryland Renaissance Festival: Weekends, August 26 – October 22
Frederick Oktoberfest: September 29-30
Oktoberfest at The Boro: September 30
PIKEtoberfest: October 1
Takoma Park Street Festival: October 1
Taste of Bethesda: October 7
Adam’s Morgan Porchfest: October 14
Bethesda Row Arts Festival: October 14-15
Volta Park Fall Festival: October 21

Date Night:
Markoff’s Haunted Forest
Field of Screams
Ebe Haunts Trail of Terror
Fields of Fear
Six Flags Fright Fest
Shocktober