New Jersey didn’t pick its nickname at random. The USDA’s 2022 farm census counted 9,998 farms in the state, most of them small and 94% of them family-owned, and blueberries were New Jersey’s number-one crop in 2025. For visitors, the farms in NJ that matter are the ones that let you in: pick-your-own orchards and berry fields, tulip and sunflower farms, corn mazes, cider mills and farm markets, most of them within an hour or two of New York City or Philadelphia. A day at one is about as Jersey as it gets, and it usually ends with a bag of cider donuts.
This year comes with a warning label. A freeze on April 19-22, 2026 destroyed much of the state’s apple, peach and cherry crop, so some of the best-known orchards have nothing to pick this fall while others have plenty. This page sorts that out farm by farm, then gives you the full harvest calendar for a normal year, how pick-your-own works now (timed tickets, containers, the rules), the best farms in North, Central and South Jersey with dated 2026 prices, and where to find flowers, corn mazes, Christmas trees and farmers markets.
Quick answer: For apple picking this fall, go to Melick’s (Oldwick and Califon), Alstede (Chester), Wightman (Morristown), Ort (Long Valley) or Giamarese (East Brunswick); many other orchards lost their apples to the April freeze. For pumpkins, corn mazes and hayrides, almost any farm on this list works through October. In a normal summer, pick strawberries from late May, blueberries from late June and peaches from July.
Last updated September 24, 2026. Crop reports, prices, hours and event dates were checked on September 24, 2026, against each farm’s own website, picking report or ticket page, and every price is dated in the text. Picking conditions change daily, so check a farm’s report before you drive. Drive times are light-traffic routing estimates from Times Square and Philadelphia City Hall.
- Free: farm markets and farm stands everywhere, Donaldson Farms and Two Sisters Farm (no entry fee), Melick’s cut-your-own flower patch, and Whitesbog Village, where the cultivated blueberry was born.
- Book ahead: fall weekend tickets at Alstede, Terhune, Von Thun’s, Johnson’s Corner, Duffield’s and Riamede; apple picking at Demarest and Terhune is by online reservation only.
- Gone or changed: the 2026 apple, peach and cherry crops at many farms; Hill Creek Farms, closed to the public after 2025; Stults Farm, which stopped most pick-your-own in 2014. See What’s changed.
- Costs to expect: $3 to $6 to get in on weekdays, $13 to $33 on fall weekends, $2.99 to $3.99 a pound for apples, and 79 to 99 cents a pound for pumpkins.
On this page: All 27 farms at a glance | The 2026 freeze | Harvest calendar | How pick-your-own works | North Jersey | Central Jersey | South Jersey | Flower fields | Corn mazes and pumpkins | Christmas trees | Farmers markets | What’s changed | What to skip | FAQ
Farms in NJ at a Glance
The 27 farms on this page, ranked within each region for a visit this fall. “Apples in 2026” is each farm’s own report in late September.
| # | Farm | Town | Best for | Apples in 2026 | From NYC | From Philly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melick’s Town Farm | Oldwick, Califon | Apples, cider, easy entry | Yes, good crop | 1 hr 5 min | 1 hr 40 min |
| 2 | Alstede Farms | Chester | Big farm day, train access | Yes | 1 hr 10 min | 1 hr 55 min |
| 3 | Wightman Farms | Morristown | Apples and peaches | Yes | 55 min | 2 hr |
| 4 | Ort Farms | Long Valley | Value, dogs welcome | Yes (Gala, Cortland) | 1 hr 15 min | 1 hr 50 min |
| 5 | Demarest Farms | Hillsdale | Closest to NYC | By reservation | 40 min | 2 hr 20 min |
| 6 | Riamede Farm | Chester | Late-season apples | Partial; some varieties lost | 1 hr 10 min | 1 hr 55 min |
| 7 | Stony Hill Farms | Chester | Mazes, winery | Very limited | 1 hr 10 min | 1 hr 55 min |
| 8 | Hacklebarney Farm | Chester | Cider donuts, nostalgia | Check its social media | 1 hr 10 min | 1 hr 55 min |
| 9 | Donaldson Farms | Hackettstown | Free entry, pumpkins | No (crop lost) | 1 hr 15 min | 2 hr |
| 10 | Two Sisters Farm | Long Valley | Pumpkins, new in 2026 | Pumpkins only | 1 hr 15 min | 1 hr 50 min |
| 11 | Giamarese Farm | East Brunswick | Apples, value | Yes, some limits | 1 hr | 1 hr 20 min |
| 12 | Terhune Orchards | Princeton | All seasons, winery | A few reservation days | 1 hr 20 min | 1 hr 10 min |
| 13 | Von Thun’s | South Brunswick | Big fall weekends | While supplies last | 1 hr 10 min | 1 hr 10 min |
| 14 | Holland Ridge Farms | Cream Ridge | Tulips, sunflowers | No orchard | 1 hr 30 min | 1 hr 5 min |
| 15 | Etsch Farms | Monroe Township | Corn maze | No orchard | 1 hr 10 min | 1 hr 15 min |
| 16 | Battleview Orchards | Freehold | Pumpkins, cider donuts | No (crop lost) | 1 hr 10 min | 1 hr 20 min |
| 17 | Eastmont Orchards | Colts Neck | Peaches (normal years) | No (crop lost) | 1 hr 10 min | 1 hr 30 min |
| 18 | Norz Hill Farm | Hillsborough | Sunflowers, farm meat | No orchard | 1 hr 15 min | 1 hr 30 min |
| 19 | Delicious Orchards | Colts Neck | Pies (a market, no picking) | Market only | 1 hr 10 min | 1 hr 30 min |
| 20 | Johnson’s Corner Farm | Medford | Family hayrides, pie | No | 1 hr 55 min | 35 min |
| 21 | Emery’s Farm | New Egypt | Blueberries | No orchard | 1 hr 40 min | 1 hr |
| 22 | Mood’s Farm Market | Mullica Hill | Long normal-year season | No | 2 hr 20 min | 35 min |
| 23 | Russo’s Farm | Tabernacle | 10-acre corn maze | No (crop lost) | 2 hr 5 min | 55 min |
| 24 | Duffield’s Farm | Sewell | Pumpkin hayrides | Finished for 2026 | 2 hr 10 min | 25 min |
| 25 | Springdale Farms | Cherry Hill | Quick trip from Philly | No orchard | 1 hr 55 min | 20 min |
| 26 | Whitesbog Village | Browns Mills | Blueberry history | No orchard | 1 hr 50 min | 50 min |
| 27 | DiMeo Farms | Hammonton | Blueberries by appointment | No orchard | 2 hr 10 min | 55 min |
Farms in NJ This Fall: What the April 2026 Freeze Changed
If you’re planning to pick apples or peaches in New Jersey this year, read this first. After a warm spell that pushed temperatures above 90 degrees, a hard freeze hit the state from April 19 to 22, 2026, with temperatures in the 20s, just as fruit trees were in bloom. Rutgers’ agricultural extension reported “wide-ranging effects” on peaches, nectarines, cherries, apples, pears and plums statewide. Governor Mikie Sherrill declared a state of emergency in all 21 counties on May 20, with early estimates of the losses at $300 million or more, and on June 8 the U.S. Department of Agriculture made all 21 counties a disaster area. Blueberries mostly escaped; the state says the freeze hit only the early varieties. Damage varied a lot from farm to farm, depending on the crop, the elevation and how far along the blossoms were, which is why one orchard can have apples this fall and the next one none at all.
Here’s where the orchards on this page stood in late September 2026, north to south:
| Farm | 2026 fruit status | What you can still do this fall |
|---|---|---|
| Melick’s Town Farm, Oldwick and Califon | A real apple crop; Califon has the most | Apple picking daily through October |
| Alstede Farms, Chester | Apples rated “excellent”; no pick-your-own peaches | Apples, pumpkins, vegetables, the corn maze |
| Wightman Farms, Morristown | Apples, plus what it calls an “amazing” peach season | Apple picking on weekends through October |
| Ort Farms, Long Valley | Picking Gala and Cortland in late September | Apples, pumpkins, the corn maze |
| Riamede Farm, Chester | Early apples fine; several late varieties lost | Apples into November |
| Stony Hill Farms, Chester | Apples “very limited” | Mazes, pumpkins, flowers |
| Donaldson Farms, Hackettstown | Entire apple crop lost | Pumpkins, raspberries, a 9-acre corn maze |
| Giamarese Farm, East Brunswick | Some varieties limited, “adequate supply” overall | Apple picking Tuesday to Sunday |
| Von Thun’s, South Brunswick | Apples “while supplies last”; crop may be limited | Apples, pumpkins, the corn maze |
| Terhune Orchards, Princeton | No strawberries, cherries or peaches; apples “extremely limited” | Apples on a few reservation dates; pumpkins, flowers, fall weekends |
| Battleview Orchards, Freehold | Entire apple, peach, nectarine and cherry crops lost | Pumpkins, hayrides, cider donuts |
| Eastmont Orchards, Colts Neck | More than 99% of peaches and nearly all apples lost, per the farm’s manager | Pumpkins, sunflowers, a new corn maze |
| Johnson’s Corner Farm, Medford | No apple picking (one pop-up day in September) | Pumpkins, sunflowers, sweet potatoes, the corn maze |
| Mood’s Farm Market, Mullica Hill | No cherries, peaches, plums, pears or apples | Raspberries, the corn maze, pumpkin hayrides |
| Russo’s Farm, Tabernacle | Apples lost; peaches lost too, per 6abc | Pumpkins, sunflowers, a 10-acre corn maze |
| Duffield’s Farm, Sewell | Apples finished after three days in September | Pumpkin hayrides |
Three practical takeaways. First, call or check the farm’s picking report before you drive; this year the difference between “limited” and “none” can change in a week. Second, pumpkins, sunflowers, corn mazes and hayrides weren’t hurt, so a fall farm day is still a sure thing even where the orchard is bare. Third, some farm stores are topping up with apples grown elsewhere this year (Terhune’s store, for one, is selling some New York apples), so ask if it matters to you. And don’t read any of this as a forecast for 2027: the freeze cost this year’s blossoms, and farms will post next year’s crop news as the season comes.
The New Jersey Harvest Calendar
New Jersey’s growing season runs from asparagus in April to Christmas trees in December, and almost every month has something to pick. The dates in the middle column come from the state Department of Agriculture’s Jersey Fresh availability chart. They’re the statewide window when each crop is in markets, not a promise that any one farm is open for picking. Pick-your-own windows are shorter and shift a week or two with the weather, so check a farm’s picking report the day you go.
| Crop | Jersey Fresh season | Pick-your-own in a normal year | 2026 note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asparagus | April 20 to June 15 | Rarely offered; buy it at farm stands | Normal |
| Strawberries | May 15 to June 15 | Mid-May through June | Spotty: none at Terhune; Von Thun’s, Melick’s and Stony Hill picked |
| Cherries | June 5 to June 30 | A few farms, for a week or two in mid-June | Hit by the April freeze |
| Blueberries | June 15 to August 15 | Mid-June to early August | Mostly fine; early varieties hit |
| Sweet corn | June 25 to September 5 | Farm stands; a few farms let you pick | Normal |
| Tomatoes | June 20 to October 5 | Farm stands; some farms offer picking | Normal |
| Peaches | July 15 to October 10 | July to September | Crop cut by the April freeze |
| Apples | August 15 to December 31 | Late August into November | Very limited after the freeze |
| Pumpkins | September 15 to October 10 | Mid-September to October 31 | Normal, and plentiful |
| Cranberries | October 5 to December 31 | Not pick-your-own (see the Pine Barrens bogs) | Normal |
| Tulips | Not on the chart | Mid-April to early May | Holland Ridge ran April 10-26 |
| Lavender | Not on the chart | Mid-June to early July | Normal |
| Sunflowers | Not on the chart | Mid-July to mid-October, depending on the farm | Normal |
| Christmas trees | Not on the chart | Late November to Christmas Eve | Some farms open November 21 |
Two crops deserve their own footnote. The highbush blueberry is native to New Jersey and was first cultivated at Whitesbog, in the Pine Barrens, and it became the official state fruit in 2004. And remember that a lot of what visitors think of as “Jersey fruit,” peaches and apples above all, was scarce in 2026; the freeze section above has the farm-by-farm picture.
How Pick-Your-Own Works at New Jersey Farms
Pick-your-own used to mean pulling into a farm, grabbing a basket and paying at the scale. At the big New Jersey farms near New York and Philadelphia it has become a ticketed event, especially on fall weekends. A few ground rules will save you money and a wasted drive.
Expect an entry ticket on weekends
The popular farms now sell timed entry tickets, and many sell them online only or charge more at the gate. At Alstede Farms in Chester, every picker 2 and older needs a ticket, and buying at the farm’s picking sheds instead of online adds an $8 fee per ticket (online orders carry a $10 transaction fee instead). At Terhune Orchards in Princeton, fall weekend admission costs $19.95 in advance or $24.95 on the day in 2026, and it covers hayrides, the corn and hay-bale mazes and the barnyard, but not the picking itself. Rules vary a lot: Wightman sells its $30 festival ticket only at the farm, Demarest sells apple picking only online, and Melick’s needs no reservation at all ($4.99 on weekdays, $6.99 on weekends in 2026).
Use the farm’s containers, and pay by the pound or the box
Most farms sell their own bags, boxes or pecks and don’t allow outside containers; Johnson’s Corner Farm in Medford says so outright, and Alstede charges $7.99 a pound for produce picked outside its containers. Pumpkins are usually priced by the pound (99 cents a pound at Johnson’s Corner this fall) or by size. A few farms do it the other way around: Mood’s in Mullica Hill asks you to bring your own bucket or box and weighs it before you go out, and Riamede in Chester hands out free paper bags at the gate. Check before you pack.
Check the picking report before you leave home
Crops ripen on nature’s schedule, and a field can be picked clean by noon on a sunny Saturday. Nearly every farm posts a daily or weekly picking report on its website or social media, and it’s the single most useful thing to read before you go. In 2026 it matters more than ever: after the April freeze, several farms canceled apple and peach picking or opened it only on a few ticketed days.
A few more tips
- Go early. Fields are fullest, lines are shortest and parking is easiest in the first hour after opening, especially on fall weekends.
- Weekdays are cheaper and calmer. Giamarese charges $3 to pick on weekdays against $15 on weekends, Ort $5.95 against $13.95, and Riamede $5; Alstede’s Sweet Savings Wednesdays drop admission if you buy a picking container at the farm.
- Dress for a field. Closed shoes, sunscreen and a hat in summer; boots after rain.
- Leave the dog at home. Almost every farm bans pets, including emotional support animals, citing food-safety rules. Ort Farms (in its pumpkin patch, sunflower field and corn maze) and Two Sisters Farm are rare exceptions. Service animals are always allowed.
- Weather refunds are rare. Online tickets are usually final sale, rain or shine.
North Jersey Farms: Morris, Hunterdon, Warren and Bergen
The hill country west of Morristown is some of New Jersey’s best apple country, with a cluster of pick-your-own farms around Chester, Long Valley and Oldwick. It’s also where the orchards held up best in 2026: most of the farms on this page that still have apples to pick this fall are here. From Midtown Manhattan these farms are about an hour away without traffic (Demarest in Bergen County is closer), which makes them the default fall day trip for New Yorkers, and Alstede even runs a free weekend shuttle from the Gladstone train station.
1. Melick’s Town Farm, Oldwick and Califon
Paid entry for apple picking ($4.99 weekdays, $6.99 weekends in 2026). If you want to pick apples in New Jersey this fall, start here. Melick’s, which says its family has farmed since about 1725 and calls itself the largest apple grower in the state, came through the freeze with a real crop. In late September its Califon orchard was picking Honeycrisp (its last weekend), Macoun, Ambrosia, Fuji, McIntosh, Empire, Cortland and Gala, and the farm said Califon had more apples than its Oldwick Cider Mill, which was picking Macoun, Crimson Crisp, Empire and Cortland. It’s also refreshingly simple: no reservations, a small entry fee that includes the tractor wagon rides, and apples by the pound. The Oldwick market bakes pies and cider donuts and sells the farm’s own hard cider and wine, and the cider mill presses unfiltered cider from September into January.
Plan it: Both orchards are open daily, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (last entry 5 p.m.), with apples through October. Apples cost $2.99 a pound, or $3.49 for Honeycrisp. The Califon orchard (472 County Road 513) adds a free corn maze, a tractor-tire playground and 200 acres to roam, and pumpkins from the vine from October. At the Oldwick market (170 Oldwick Road) you can cut your own sunflowers, zinnias and gladiolus with no entry fee. Hard cider is poured on weekends at the Cider Mill (19 King Street). No pets, and no outside food at the Cider Mill. In a normal year: strawberries in June, peaches from over 5,000 trees in July to September. Drive: 1 hr 5 min to 1 hr 20 min from NYC, 1 hr 40 min from Philadelphia. Best for: actual apple picking in 2026, cider, an easy, low-cost day.
2. Alstede Farms, Chester
Paid ($26.99 to $32.99 per person for fall 2026, container included). Alstede is pick-your-own on a big, organized scale: a 378-acre farm toured by tractor-drawn wagons, with something to pick from late May (strawberries) through December (cut-your-own Christmas trees) and more than 50 apple varieties. It fought the freeze with overhead irrigation on its blueberries and frost candles and fans in the orchards, and it has apples this fall: on September 24 it rated Honeycrisp, Red Cortland, Macoun, Liberty and Red Jonaprince “excellent.” Peaches were the casualty, with no pick-your-own peaches in 2026. The fall ticket includes a 5- or 10-pound produce box (or a $9.99 pumpkin credit), the corn maze, hayrides, a sunflower trail and the giant hay pyramid, and the Farmhouse District has pizza, a donut shop, farm-made ice cream and a weekend hard cider garden.
Plan it: Buy timed tickets online; prices vary by day and slot (from $26.99 on a September Friday to $32.99 on October Saturdays for the 5-pound box), early weekend “Sunrise Special” slots are cheaper, and buying at the picking sheds adds $8 a ticket. On Sweet Savings Wednesdays, entry is free if you buy a produce box or pumpkin credit at the farm. Produce picked outside the farm’s containers is $7.99 a pound, pumpkins are 89 cents a pound, and all sales are final, rain or shine. Picking runs daily through November, weekdays 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. Harvest Moon Nights (flashlight maze, night hayrides, campfires) run Fridays and Saturdays through October 31 ($19.99 to $22.99). No pets, drones or outside food. You can come without a car: the farm’s free Courtesy Coach meets NJ Transit trains at Gladstone station on weekends (reserve 24 hours ahead). Set your GPS to “Alstede Farms,” not “1 Farm Lane.” Drive: 1 hr 10 min from NYC, 1 hr 55 min from Philadelphia. Best for: a big, organized farm day, car-free trips from New York.
3. Wightman Farms, Morristown
Paid ($30 Fall Festival ticket in 2026). Farmed by the Wightman family since 1922 and just off Route 202 south of Morristown, Wightman is the frost’s great exception: the farm says its crew worked through the April nights keeping the trees and blossoms warm, and it had an “amazing” 2026 peach season. For the last weekend of September it listed Fuji, McIntosh, Jonathan, Cortland and Honeycrisp apples plus the season’s final yellow and white peaches, with apple picking every weekend through October. Pick-your-own now requires the Fall Festival ticket, which includes unlimited hayrides, a pumpkin from the hayride field, a giant corn maze and a collection of smaller mazes.
Plan it: The Fall Festival runs weekends only, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (last ticket); tickets are sold only at the booth in the front lot, all sales are final and cards carry a 3% fee. Picked apples are $3.79 a pound and peaches $3.99. The market (donuts, pies, prepared meals) is open daily, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. No outside food, coolers, drones or pets (not even in the car). The farm’s website is wightmanfarms.com; the old wightmansfarms.com address now shows an unrelated blog. Drive: 55 min from NYC, 2 hr from Philadelphia. Best for: apples and peaches close to New York.
4. Ort Farms, Long Valley
Paid on fall weekends ($13.95 in 2026); $5.95 on weekdays. A sixth-generation family farm in the hills of western Morris County, Ort is one of the better-value fall farms and one of the few that welcomes leashed dogs in its pumpkin patch, sunflower field and corn maze (not on the hayride or in the fruit fields). Its orchard, more than 5 acres, was picking Gala and Cortland in late September, open daily. Fall weekends add hayrides, a 5-acre corn maze, farm animals, food trucks and live music, and the market bakes cider donuts daily and scoops homemade ice cream until 8:30 p.m.
Plan it: 2026 fall admission is $13.95 on weekends, or $19.95 with a quarter-peck picking bag; weekdays it’s $5.95, or $11.95 with the bag, and seniors 65 and up pay $6.95. Picked apples and vegetables are sold only in quarter-peck and half-peck bags ($12 for a half peck). Military members and veterans get in free. In November, weekend admission drops to $4.95 and pumpkins are “all you can carry” for $10. Ort also has a spring tulip field (April and May) that it calls the largest pick-your-own tulip field in the area, and summer sunflowers. Drive: 1 hr 15 min from NYC, 1 hr 50 min from Philadelphia. Best for: families on a budget, dog owners, weekday picking.
5. Demarest Farms, Hillsdale
Paid by online reservation ($9 entry plus $20 for a bag of apples in 2026). About 40 minutes from Midtown without traffic, Demarest is one of the closest orchards to Manhattan. It has farmed in Bergen County since 1886 and sells its “famous” cider donuts and pies at a busy market open daily, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Apple picking this fall is by online reservation only, on September and October weekends and holidays (in late September the next open slot was September 26), and a 10- to 12-pound bag costs $20. Pumpkin picking starts September 26 ($9 entry, $13 for any pumpkin), and after dark the farm runs a drive-through Halloween light show across 32 acres (September 26 to November 1, $35 a car).
Plan it: Book everything online; tickets aren’t sold at the market, and booking fees apply. No backpacks, outside food or sampling in the orchard, no dogs, and no buses. The petting zoo is cash only (there’s an ATM). Its peach picking closed for the season by mid-August 2026. Drive: 40 min from NYC, 2 hr 20 min from Philadelphia. Best for: New Yorkers who want apples without a long drive.
6. Riamede Farm, Chester
Paid ($12.50 to $15.50 online in fall 2026); $5 on weekdays. Riamede calls itself New Jersey’s oldest pick-your-own apple orchard (Battleview in Freehold makes the same claim for all fruit), and it publishes an unusually detailed picking report: a public spreadsheet listing each variety’s status. This year it shows the freeze’s pattern. Early apples like Jonafree and Golden Delicious were ripe in late September, while some later varieties were badly hit (“nearly 100% freeze loss” on Red Chief, most of the Braeburn lost), and others, like Rome, Gold Rush and Suncrisp, came through fine for mid-October to early November. Its young peach trees won’t bear until next year.
Plan it: Fall Fest runs through November 1, 2026, Wednesday to Monday (closed Tuesdays), 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Weekend admission is $15.50 online ($19.50 at the gate) from September 19 to October 25, and $12.50 other days; the $5 Midweek Picking Pass covers weekdays. Admission is entry only: apples cost $3.99 a pound, and the weekend hay wagon, grill, donuts and live music run Saturdays and Sundays. Bring a reusable bag (paper bags are free at the gate). No pets, no outside food and no picnicking. Drive: 1 hr 10 min from NYC, 1 hr 55 min from Philadelphia. Best for: apple connoisseurs, late-season picking into November.
7. Stony Hill Farms, Chester
Paid ($15.99 to $21.99 in fall 2026, plus picking bags). Stony Hill is Chester’s all-in-one farm park: a farm market (the farm says it’s certified organic by the state), pick-your-own fields, a 10-acre corn maze (themed “NJ 250” this year for the country’s and state’s 250th anniversaries) plus a 1-acre maze for small children, and Rebel Sheep Wine Co., which the farm calls Morris County’s first winery. Its apples are the weak spot this year. The farm says the April freeze left the crop “very limited” and expected to be picked out before October, so treat apples here as a bonus and come for the mazes, pumpkins and flowers.
Plan it: The Maze Fun Park is open daily through November 1, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.: $15.99 for general entry (playground, hayrides on weekends and holidays) or $21.99 with the mazes, children 2 and under free, and online tickets save up to $4. Picking needs a ticket plus a bag ($10 for a half peck); no outside containers, and no outside food on fall weekends. Flashlight Nights run in the corn maze on select October Saturdays, 6 to 9 p.m. The winery’s tasting room opens Thursday to Sunday. In a normal year: strawberries in June, blueberries in July and August, sunflowers in August. Drive: 1 hr 10 min from NYC, 1 hr 55 min from Philadelphia. Best for: families with young kids, mazes, wine for the grown-ups.
8. Hacklebarney Farm Cider Mill, Chester
Free to visit; picking priced at the farm. On a back road near Hacklebarney State Park, this is the smallest and most old-fashioned of the Chester farms: a family place where Robert Pitney built the house and barn in 1850-1851, the farm store opened in the early 1970s, and the cider donut ice cream float became, in the farm’s words, TikTok-famous. In fall it offers pick-your-own apples, pumpkins and sunflowers and a corn maze; it doesn’t post crop reports on its website, so check its Facebook or Instagram before you go.
Plan it: Open Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., until Thanksgiving week, then weekends only into December (last day December 23). The hot dog and ice cream stand opens weekends. Dogs are welcome on the farm but not in the orchard or store. Pictures with Santa are listed for late November and early December weekends. Follow the farm’s own directions (Route 513 west from Chester, then State Park Road) rather than your map app. Drive: 1 hr 10 min from NYC, 1 hr 55 min from Philadelphia. Best for: nostalgia, cider donuts, a quieter farm stop.
9. Donaldson Farms, Hackettstown
Free entry; pay per activity. Donaldson is celebrating 120 years of farming in 2026 on more than 500 acres in Warren County, and it’s one of the easiest farms on the wallet: no entry or parking fee, with activities priced one by one. The freeze took its entire apple crop (“we look forward to our 2027 apple crop,” the farm says), but late raspberries were still being picked in late September, and pumpkin picking runs daily from September 26 through Halloween.
Plan it: Fall Harvest Weekends run Saturdays and Sundays from September 26 to October 31, 2026, plus Columbus Day, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with $3 hayrides to the pumpkin fields (children 4 and under free) and a 9-acre corn maze ($10, open daily). On weekdays there are no hayrides, but you can borrow a wheelbarrow for the walk to the pumpkins. The market is open daily, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and sells cider donuts, pies and, on October weekends, local beer. Cards carry a 3% surcharge. No dogs. The farm’s website is donaldsonfarms.net (the .com is a duck-hunting farm in Tennessee). Drive: 1 hr 15 min from NYC, 2 hr from Philadelphia. Best for: free-entry farm days, pumpkins, raspberries.
10. Two Sisters Farm, Long Valley
Free admission; pumpkins by the pound. New this year and too new for older guides: two Alstede co-owners, Rebekah Alstede Modery and Sarah J. Alstede, opened this pick-your-own pumpkin farm on September 19, 2026, on 100 acres of preserved farmland atop Schooley’s Mountain. There’s no admission ticket, the wagon rides to the patch are free, and well-behaved, leashed dogs are welcome.
Plan it: Open Saturdays and Sundays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., plus a few Friday afternoons and Columbus Day. Pumpkins cost 89 cents a pound ($4.29 minimum), and the farm stand sells local apples, cider and cider donuts. Drive: 1 hr 15 min from NYC, 1 hr 50 min from Philadelphia. Best for: a relaxed pumpkin patch, families with dogs.
Central Jersey Farms: Princeton to the Monmouth County Orchards
Central Jersey is the farm belt between New York and Philadelphia, with big family farms around Princeton and South Brunswick and old orchards in western Monmouth County. It’s roughly equidistant from both cities, about an hour to an hour and a half. The freeze hit the Monmouth orchards hard, so in 2026 this region is better for flowers, mazes and pumpkins than for fruit, with Giamarese the notable exception.
11. Giamarese Farm and Orchards, East Brunswick
Paid on fall weekends ($15 in 2026); $3 on weekdays. Family-owned since 1941, Giamarese is the best bet in Central Jersey for real apple picking this fall. The farm says the freeze trimmed its crop but that it expects “an adequate supply of apples throughout the season,” and in late September it was picking Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji and McIntosh, along with tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, green beans and pumpkins. New for 2026, the $15 weekend admission includes parking, a picking pass, the hayride, the corn maze and two sunflowers or a sugar pumpkin (the produce you pick is extra).
Plan it: Fall Harvest Weekends started September 19; weekend admissions stop at 4:30 p.m. Weekday picking (Tuesday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) costs $3 a person. Check in at the market for bags and carts; small or unripe produce is charged at three times the price, and there’s no eating in the fields and no pets. The market is open Tuesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. In a normal year, strawberries and peas run from late May through June, and choose-and-cut Christmas trees are sold from Thanksgiving week to Christmas Eve ($99 for trees 6 to 20 feet). Drive: 1 hr from NYC, 1 hr 20 min from Philadelphia. Best for: actual apple picking in 2026, good value.
12. Terhune Orchards, Princeton
Paid on fall weekends ($19.95 in advance, $24.95 at the gate in 2026). The Mount family has run this 250-acre farm since 1975, and it’s the Princeton area’s all-season farm: tulips in mid-April, strawberries from late May, blueberries from late June, cut flowers all summer, apples and pumpkins in fall, plus a winery and a bakery that makes apple cider donuts every day with the farm’s own cider. It also shows exactly what the April freeze did. Terhune had no strawberries, cherries or peaches to pick in 2026, and its apple crop was so small that picking this fall is by reservation only, on a few “pop-up” dates; the first two, September 25 and 26, cost $11.30 for a bag that holds about 3.5 pounds. Co-founder Gary Mount died in December 2025, and the family carries on.
Plan it: Fall Family Fun Weekends run Saturdays and Sundays through November 1, 2026, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine. Admission ($21.91 online with fees) covers the corn maze (themed “Out of this World” this year), wagon rides from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the barnyard and live music, but not picking; a pass for all eight weekends costs $52.94. On weekdays you can pick pumpkins and flowers without a festival ticket, and new this fall are pick-your-own tomatoes and corn. The winery opens Friday to Sunday from noon (a festival ticket is required on weekends). No pets, and no outside food at the orchard. Pie Tasting Weekend is November 14-15. Drive: 1 hr 20 min from NYC, 1 hr 10 min from Philadelphia. Best for: families, all-season visits, cider donuts and a glass of wine.
13. Von Thun’s Country Farm Market, South Brunswick
Paid on fall weekends ($21.99 to $27.99 in 2026); $3 field entry on weekdays. Von Thun’s is a big, busy family farm between New Brunswick and Princeton, known for sweet corn and Jersey tomatoes at the barn market it opened in 1986, and for full-scale fall weekends: a 6-acre corn maze (“Dogs & Dinos” in 2026), unlimited hayrides to the pumpkin patch and more than 20 activities. Its apple orchard is planted with dwarf trees, so nobody needs a ladder. Von Thun’s is selling picking “while supplies last” this fall, and NorthJersey.com’s September roundup warned its crop may be limited, so call before you drive. The same family runs a second farm in Washington, in Warren County, which hosts its tulip and sunflower festivals.
Plan it: Fall Festival Weekends run Saturdays and Sundays from September 19 to November 8, 2026, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $21.99 online ($24.99 at the gate) in September and $24.99 ($27.99) in October, when an online ticket is the only guaranteed way in. Apples and pumpkins cost extra: $10 for a quarter-peck bag of apples, $16 for a half peck and $26 for a peck, and pumpkins are 79 cents a pound. On weekdays, picking costs $3 a person plus produce (1 to 5 p.m.), and the maze is $9.99. Moonlight Maze nights with campfires are October 16, 17, 23, 24 and 30. No outside food, no picnics and no pets; food vendors take cash only, and there’s no ATM. In a normal year, strawberries run mid-May to early June ($6 a pint in 2026) and blueberries mid-June to mid-July. Drive: 1 hr 10 min from NYC or Philadelphia. Best for: a full fall day with kids, ladder-free apple picking.
14. Holland Ridge Farms, Cream Ridge
Paid ($17 on weekdays, $20 on weekends for the 2026 sunflower festival). A 350-acre farm with what it calls an authentic Dutch windmill, Holland Ridge runs two of the state’s showiest flower-picking events: a spring tulip festival planted with more than 8 million tulips (April 10-26 in 2026) and a fall sunflower festival (September 10 to October 12, 2026). You pay to get in, then by the stem: 50 cents to $1 for sunflowers, dahlias, gladiolus and wildflowers this fall, half price on weekdays, and $1 a tulip on spring weekends. Climbing the windmill to its viewing deck is free. In winter the fields become an evening light walk with more than 50,000 illuminated tulips.
Plan it: Sunflower tickets are sold by arrival hour (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and everyone 3 and up needs one. There are no refunds, but you can change the date until 9 a.m. on the day. Parking is free, you can bring a picnic (but not alcohol), and dogs aren’t allowed. During the tulip festival a bus runs from New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal on weekends. The farm announces tulip dates on social media once it has checked the fields; 2027’s aren’t set yet. Drive: 1 hr 30 min from NYC, 1 hr 5 min from Philadelphia. Best for: flower photos, a spring or early-fall day trip.
15. Etsch Farms, Monroe Township
Paid ($20 wristband in 2026). The Etsch family has farmed in Monroe since 1931, and each fall part of its hay and grain land becomes an 8-acre corn maze, themed “Camping in the Corn” this year, with a new GPS map that runs in your phone’s browser and games along the way. The $20 wristband (ages 3 and up; tax included) covers the maze, a hayride and the corn train, there’s a pumpkin patch, and the Bakery Barn sells cider donuts and pies.
Plan it: Open Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 6 p.m., from September 19 through October 25, 2026, plus Columbus Day (October 12). Flashlight Night is Saturday, September 26, 6 to 10 p.m. No pets. Military members, police and first responders get 10% off. Drive: 1 hr 10 min from NYC, 1 hr 15 min from Philadelphia. Best for: corn maze fans, families with school-age children.
16. Battleview Orchards, Freehold
Pumpkins only this fall; the Country Store is open all year. Farming since 1908 next to Monmouth Battlefield, Battleview calls itself New Jersey’s oldest pick-your-own orchard, and in a normal year it offers strawberries, sour cherries, peaches, nectarines, apples and pumpkins. Not in 2026: the April freeze destroyed its entire cherry, peach, nectarine and apple crops, so there’s no fruit picking at all this year. What’s left for fall is what the farm calls a “bountiful” pumpkin crop, ready from about September 19 with weekend hayrides, and the Country Store, which makes cider donuts every day of the year and presses its own cider from mid-September.
Plan it: The Country Store opens 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from May through December, and is closed on Tuesdays. The picking areas take cash only, and so does the donut trailer. No pets, no picnics (the state battlefield park next door is the spot for lunch), no big bags or baskets in the fields, and no buses or large vans. Seniors 62 and up and military members get 10% off on Mondays and Thursdays. Strawberries are the only crop with an entry fee ($5, credited toward your berries). Drive: 1 hr 10 min from NYC, 1 hr 20 min from Philadelphia. Best for: cider donuts, pumpkins, a Revolutionary War battlefield next door.
17. Eastmont Orchards, Colts Neck
No apple or peach picking in 2026; pumpkins and a corn maze on fall weekends. The Barclay family has owned this orchard since 1923 (its first apple trees went in in 1911), and in a normal year it’s one of Monmouth County’s best places to pick peaches, from July into September, and apples, from Honeycrisp in early September to Stayman Winesap and Arkansas Black at closing. One piece of trivia prevents a lot of wrong turns: Eastmont used to be called Delicious Orchards, and it’s a different business from today’s Delicious Orchards market on Route 34. The farm’s manager told The Two River Times in August that the April freezes wiped out more than 99% of the peaches and nearly all the apples, so fall 2026 is about pumpkins, sunflowers, hayrides and a new corn maze.
Plan it: Open Fridays to Sundays from September 18 to October 25, 2026, plus Columbus Day: Friday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and weekends until 5:30 p.m. Everything is sold by the pound, and prices are on the farm’s daily phone message rather than its website. No pets, picnics, drones or large bags. Drive: 1 hr 10 min from NYC, 1 hr 30 min from Philadelphia. Best for: peach picking in a normal summer, a low-key fall weekend.
18. Norz Hill Farm, Hillsborough
Paid for events; the market is free to visit. A working livestock farm in Somerset County that sells its own beef, pork, lamb, goat and eggs, Norz Hill is best known for its sunflower field and its fall festival, which opened September 12, 2026 with a five-acre corn maze and a pumpkin patch of more than 60 varieties of pumpkins, gourds and squash. The sunflowers peak in late August; in 2026 the farm held evening sunflower walks on August 25-27 during Hillsborough’s first Farm Week. After dark the farm turns into Scare Farm, a haunted hayride and trail attraction that is billing 2026 as its final season.
Plan it: The farm posts market hours of noon to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. Check its ticket page for 2026 fall festival prices before you go. Scare Farm runs Fridays to Sundays from September 25 to November 1, 2026, starting at 7 p.m., and is not for small children. Drive: 1 hr 15 min from NYC, 1 hr 30 min from Philadelphia. Best for: sunflower photos, farm-raised meat, one last Scare Farm.
19. Delicious Orchards, Colts Neck
Free to shop. Not a pick-your-own farm, despite the name, but a pilgrimage anyway: a 60,000-square-foot country market that began as the Barclay family’s orchard stand in 1959 and moved into its Route 34 building in 1966. People drive from all over for its pies and apple cider donuts, baked daily without preservatives, and its own fresh-pressed cider, and the Cider Cafe has seats outside in an apple orchard.
Plan it: Open Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Mondays; it’s also closed on Columbus Day (October 12) and Thanksgiving Day, with longer hours the two days before Thanksgiving (8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on November 24 and 25). Pair it with Eastmont Orchards or Battleview Orchards, both a short drive away. Drive: 1 hr 10 min from NYC, 1 hr 30 min from Philadelphia. Best for: pies, donuts, stocking up on the way down the shore.
South Jersey Farms: Philadelphia’s Backyard
The farms across the river from Philadelphia, in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties and down into blueberry country around Hammonton, are the Philadelphia area’s fall tradition, most of them 20 minutes to an hour from Center City. South Jersey’s orchards took the April freeze worst: none of the South Jersey farms on this page has normal apple picking in 2026, but pumpkins, corn mazes, hayrides and bakeries are all running. In summer, this is the heart of New Jersey blueberry country: Atlantic County alone had more than 8,000 acres of blueberries in the 2022 farm census.
20. Johnson’s Corner Farm, Medford
Paid for hayrides ($11 to $40.95 per person in fall 2026); free to shop. For more than 70 years Johnson’s has been South Jersey’s all-purpose family farm, and its calendar shows it: tulip-picking hayrides in April, strawberries from mid-May, cherries and blueberries in June and July, ten varieties of peaches in July and August, sunflowers from August 1, apples in September and pumpkins in October, plus a bakery famous for its pies, cider donuts and chicken pot pies. This fall is the exception. The farm says that because of the spring frost there’s no apple picking in 2026 (it held a single pop-up picking day on September 21), so the Fall Harvest is about hayrides to pick pumpkins, gourds, sweet potatoes, popcorn and sunflowers, a 5-acre corn maze you reach by hayride, and the Discovery Barnyard play area. The farm took the hay off its hayrides because of allergies, which is either progress or heresy.
Plan it: Fall Harvest runs daily through November 1, 2026, with Harvest Festivals on October weekends. Hayride and barnyard tickets cost $11 for adults and $14 for children on weekdays, $18 and $22 on weekends; with the corn maze (Friday to Sunday only) it’s $21 and $24 on Fridays, $28 and $32 on weekends. Buy online; walk-ins get in only if timed tickets haven’t sold out, and weather cancellations earn a voucher. Pumpkins are 99 cents a pound, sunflowers $2 each or 10 for $15. No outside containers, and only service animals. The market is open daily, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. In November, hayrides go out to pick broccoli and cauliflower. In a normal year apples cost $2.99 a pound. Drive: 35 min from Philadelphia, 1 hr 55 min from NYC. Best for: Philadelphia families, pie, a fall day that doesn’t depend on apples.
21. Emery’s Farm, New Egypt
Paid ($3 a pound plus $4 per person for blueberry picking). Older lists call it Emery’s Berry Patch, but the farm’s own name is Emery’s Farm, and it’s one of the best places in the state to pick blueberries: 20 of its 60 acres are blueberry bushes in five varieties, picked from mid-June through July. The country bakery turns out more than twenty kinds of pie and apple cider donuts, and in fall there’s a 2-acre corn maze, a straw-bale maze and weekend hayrides.
Plan it: Blueberry fields open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in season, and the farm sometimes closes them for a few days to let fruit ripen, so check the latest post pinned to its Facebook page before every trip. No bags, backpacks, strollers or wagons in the fields, and no pets anywhere. The market is open daily, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Check the farm’s site for its 2026 fall dates. Drive: 1 hr from Philadelphia, 1 hr 40 min from NYC. Best for: blueberry picking, pie.
22. Mood’s Farm Market, Mullica Hill
Paid by the pound; bring your own container. Mood’s is the old-school South Jersey orchard, and its normal-year picking calendar runs longer than almost anyone’s: sweet cherries in mid-June, blueberries from mid-June into August, peaches from late June to mid-September, plums, nectarines, pears, grapes, raspberries and apples from mid-August until Thanksgiving. Unusually, it asks you to bring your own bucket, box or flat-bottomed bag (no plastic bags), and to check in at the market first so your container can be weighed. In 2026 the April frosts took its cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines, pears and apples. In late September the fields still had late red raspberries and the last Concord grapes, and 6abc reported the farm was setting out apples brought in from other farms so children could still pick a few on its hayrides.
Plan it: The market is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and picking 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Sundays. The corn maze runs through October 31, Monday to Saturday. October pumpkin hayrides (Fridays and Saturdays, plus Columbus Day) include a small pumpkin, a cup of cider and a cider donut; buy tickets at the market about 15 minutes before the ride. Mood’s makes its own cider from mid-September. No dogs in the market or orchards. Drive: 35 min from Philadelphia, 2 hr 20 min from NYC. Best for: serious pickers in a normal year, raspberries into October.
23. Russo’s Fruit and Vegetable Farm, Tabernacle
Paid wagon ride (price posted at the farm). At the edge of the Pine Barrens, Russo’s runs a farm market on Medford Lakes Road and pick-your-own at a separate annex on Flyatt Road, with apples in September and October in a normal year. The freeze hit it hard: the farm says it lost its apple crop, and 6abc reported that it lost its entire peach crop too. For fall 2026 it has pumpkins, popcorn and, new this year, a sunflower field, with a 10-acre corn maze included in the wagon ride.
Plan it: Fall pick-your-own runs Friday to Sunday from September 18 to October 31, 2026, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last wagon 4:30), plus Columbus Day, at 299 Flyatt Road. The Fall Harvest Festival is October 3, and a free Fall Food Truck Festival is October 24 (both 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Service dogs only. The market is open until Christmas Eve. Drive: 55 min from Philadelphia, 2 hr 5 min from NYC. Best for: a big corn maze, a Pine Barrens day out.
24. Duffield’s Farm, Sewell
Paid ($8.99 pumpkin hayride in 2026). A Gloucester County market that started with Mary Duffield selling strawberries from the family porch (the farm dates to 1930), Duffield’s is known for white sweet corn, tomatoes and peaches in summer and pick-your-own apples and pumpkins in fall. Apples are finished for 2026: after what it calls extreme crop loss from the spring frost, it held just three apple-picking days, September 17-19. Pumpkin hayrides continue.
Plan it: Pumpkin-picking hayrides run through October 31, 2026, weekdays noon to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed Sundays): $8.99 for the ride or $17.99 with a pumpkin, bought online in advance ($2 more in person). Fall Fun Saturdays add a corn maze and other extras at $5 each, cash only. Drive: 25 min from Philadelphia, 2 hr 10 min from NYC. Best for: Philadelphia families with small kids.
25. Springdale Farms, Cherry Hill
Free to shop; pumpkin hayrides on fall weekends. Surrounded by the suburbs, Springdale calls itself “Cherry Hill’s last working farm,” and the family has grown and sold produce on Springdale Road since 1949. It grows more than 35 fruits and vegetables for its market, where the bakery makes apple cider donuts every morning and the strawberry shortcake appears only in May and June. The public picking is in fall: weekend hayrides to the pumpkin patch, with a Halloween walk-through included.
Plan it: 2026 pumpkin hayrides run Saturdays and Sundays from September 26 to October 25, about every half hour from 10 a.m. (last ride 3:30 p.m.); book online, and pumpkins cost 89 cents a pound. Weather cancellations are refunded. No dogs. The market is open daily, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Drive: 20 min from Philadelphia, 1 hr 55 min from NYC. Best for: a quick farm fix from Philadelphia, cider donuts.
26. Whitesbog Village, Browns Mills
Free; blueberry picking by donation ($5 per person). This is where it all started. Whitesbog, a cranberry village founded in 1857 inside what is now Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, is where Elizabeth Coleman White grew the first cultivated blueberries in 1916. Today it’s a preserved village with trails open from sunrise to sunset every day of the year, a 1924 general store and blueberry fields you can pick for a donation from the last week of June into early August. In late September and early October you can watch the cranberry harvest in the working bogs from a distance.
Plan it: No admission fee. The general store and the buildings open on Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and a guided tour leaves at 1 p.m. on the first Saturday of each month. The 2026 Blueberry Summer Fest was spread over three days (June 19, June 28 and July 11); 2027 dates aren’t posted. The lot holds about 80 cars, and the roads are sandy. Leashed dogs are welcome. Drive: 50 min from Philadelphia, 1 hr 50 min from NYC. Best for: history, blueberries, a quiet Pine Barrens walk.
27. DiMeo Farms, Hammonton
By same-day appointment in blueberry season. Hammonton calls itself the Blueberry Capital of the World, and New Jersey’s Department of Agriculture explains why: at the height of the season the state can pack 250,000 to 300,000 crates of blueberries a day. DiMeo, which describes itself as a 110-year-old family blueberry farm and nursery, is a Hammonton farm where you can pick your own, from June into August. Hammonton’s Red, White & Blueberry Festival is already set for Sunday, June 27, 2027.
Plan it: Call on the day (the farm asks visitors to check that it isn’t “all picked out”) and book a time; picking prices aren’t posted online. Drive: 55 min from Philadelphia, 2 hr 10 min from NYC. Best for: blueberry lovers, a stop on the way to Atlantic City.
Flower Fields: Tulips, Sunflowers and Lavender
Flowers are the farm product that didn’t care about the April freeze, and New Jersey grows three big flower seasons you can walk into and cut yourself.
Tulips: mid-April to early May
The showiest tulip farm is Holland Ridge Farms in Cream Ridge, which plants more than 8 million bulbs; its 2026 festival ran April 10-26, with admission from $17 to $25 and a weekend bus from New York’s Port Authority. Ort Farms in Long Valley has a tulip field it calls the largest pick-your-own field in its area, Terhune Orchards’ tulips bloom in mid-April, Johnson’s Corner Farm runs tulip-picking hayrides in April, and Von Thun’s holds its tulip festival at its Warren County farm in Washington. Dates depend on the weather, and farms announce them only once the fields are ready, so none of 2027’s are set yet.
Lavender: mid-June to early July
New Jersey’s lavender farms are small and seasonal, and the purple peaks for only a few weeks. Mad Lavender Farm in Milford, near the Delaware in Hunterdon County, says its lavender is in full bloom from mid-June through the first week of July, opens Fridays to Sundays (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and books pick-your-own sessions online; a 30-minute second-bloom session costs $15, with children free. Hidden Spring Lavender and Alpaca Farm in Skillman grows 15 varieties, blooms from mid-June to mid-July, distills lavender oil on site in July and charges no entry except on event days (open weekends, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Princeton Lavender opened weekends from April 18 to July 19 in 2026 for strolling and cutting bundles; it no longer does animal visits and now focuses on events and weddings.
Sunflowers: July to mid-October
Sunflower season is long if you pick your farm right. The Sussex County Sunflower Maze at Liberty Farm in Sandyston, which says it created New Jersey’s first sunflower maze, blooms from mid-August to mid-September (its 2026 season ended September 21; admission was $10 for adults and $6 for children). Norz Hill Farm in Hillsborough and Stony Hill Farms in Chester peak in August, Johnson’s Corner Farm starts its Sunflower Celebration on August 1 and keeps picking all fall, and Russo’s in Tabernacle added a sunflower field for 2026. The latest show is Holland Ridge’s fall festival, which runs daily until October 12 this year ($17 on weekdays, $20 on weekends, plus 50 cents to $1 a stem). For a cheap handful, Melick’s in Oldwick lets you cut sunflowers, zinnias and gladiolus with no entry fee.
Corn Mazes, Hayrides and Pumpkin Patches
Fall is when New Jersey’s farms turn into weekend destinations, and in 2026, with apples scarce, pumpkins and mazes are carrying the season. The good news is that pumpkins were planted long after the April freeze and the crop is fine; Battleview calls its pumpkin crop “bountiful.” Picking prices run from 79 cents a pound at Von Thun’s to 99 cents at Johnson’s Corner, with Alstede, Two Sisters and Springdale at 89 cents. For the cranberry festival, the haunted hayrides and the rest of the fall calendar, see our month-by-month guide to events in NJ.
The corn mazes worth planning around, by size: Stony Hill Farms‘ 10-acre maze in Chester (themed “NJ 250” this year) and Russo’s 10-acre maze in Tabernacle; Donaldson’s 9-acre maze in Hackettstown ($10, open daily); Etsch Farms’ 8-acre “Camping in the Corn” in Monroe Township, with a GPS map on your phone; Von Thun’s 6-acre “Dogs & Dinos” maze in South Brunswick; and 5-acre mazes at Johnson’s Corner (reached by hayride), Ort Farms and Norz Hill. Several run after dark in October: Alstede’s Harvest Moon Nights (Fridays and Saturdays through October 31), Stony Hill’s Flashlight Nights on select Saturdays, Von Thun’s Moonlight Maze with campfires (October 16, 17, 23, 24 and 30) and Etsch’s Flashlight Night on September 26.
Up in Sussex County, Heaven Hill Farm in Vernon runs its Great Pumpkin Festival through November 8, 2026, with an “America 250” corn maze ($24.99 online on weekends, $15.99 on Wednesdays to Fridays from October 1). Haunted hayrides and scare attractions are a separate world; Norz Hill’s Scare Farm, for one, says 2026 is its final season.
Christmas Tree Farms
Cutting your own tree is a New Jersey tradition that’s slowly shrinking: the 2022 farm census counted 883 farms growing Christmas trees and 58,817 trees cut, down from 85,781 in 2017. The New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers’ Association keeps a county-by-county “Find a Farm” map at njchristmastrees.org, and its advice holds everywhere: no axes or chainsaws, most farms open only in daylight, some let you tag a tree early, and it’s worth calling ahead late in the season.
A few farms have posted their 2026 plans. Hidden Pond Tree Farm in Mendham opens on November 21, 2026, daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Thanksgiving), and takes only cash and checks; its home page says cut-your-own is sold out while its FAQ still offers it, so call first. Alstede Farms reopens its cut-your-own Douglas firs in late November, Giamarese in East Brunswick sells choose-and-cut trees from Thanksgiving week to Christmas Eve (listed at $99 for 6 to 20 feet), and Evergreen Valley in Washington, Warren County, prices trees by species rather than height. For light shows instead of trees, Demarest Farms runs a drive-through Orchard of Lights from late November, and Holland Ridge fills its fields with illuminated tulips in winter.
Farmers Markets and Farm Stands
You don’t need a picking bag to eat well here. Look for the Jersey Fresh logo, which the state Department of Agriculture started in 1984 and calls the longest-running state farm-marketing program in the country; growers are licensed to use it, and it means the produce meets quality standards at least equal to U.S. No. 1. The department’s finder at findjerseyfresh.com maps farm markets, community markets, pick-your-own farms, wineries and Christmas tree farms, and it says New Jersey farmers run more than 2,000 on-farm markets. Farm markets here range from big country stores like Delicious Orchards to a card table of tomatoes at the end of a driveway, and both are worth stopping for.
The community markets worth a detour, with their 2026 schedules:
- West Windsor: Saturdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., May 2 to November 21, then the first and third Saturdays of the month through the winter, in the lot at the Princeton Junction train station.
- Collingswood: Saturdays 8 a.m. to noon, from the first Saturday in May to the Saturday before Thanksgiving, under the PATCO tracks, a short train ride from Center City Philadelphia.
- Montclair: Saturdays at the Walnut Street train station, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. from June to November and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in winter; it started in 1993.
- Morristown: Sundays 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., June 21 to November 22, behind the post office.
- Summit: Sundays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., April 19 to December 20, in its 33rd season, with only New Jersey farmers and makers.
- Princeton: Thursdays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hinds Plaza on Witherspoon Street.
- Rutgers Gardens, New Brunswick: Fridays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. through November 20.
- Cowtown, Pilesgrove: Tuesdays and Saturdays year-round, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., a farmers and flea market with more than 400 vendors that has run since 1926.
Some farms that older guides list for picking are now farm stands only. Stults Farm in Cranbury, farmed since 1915, stopped pick-your-own in 2014 except for pumpkins in October, and its stand sells what it grows (sweet corn at 70 cents an ear in 2026). For more ways to fill a weekend around a farm visit, see our guide to the best things to do in New Jersey, region by region.
What’s Changed at New Jersey Farms
Farm listings go stale fast, and 2026 was a year of big changes. These are the ones most likely to trip you up.
| Farm or topic | What changed | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| The April 2026 freeze | A freeze on April 19-22 destroyed apple, peach and cherry crops at many farms; the state and the USDA declared emergencies for all 21 counties. | Check each orchard’s picking report; this page’s freeze table has the late-September status. |
| Hill Creek Farms, Mullica Hill | Closed to the public after the 2025 season; the owner retired. | Try Mood’s or Duffield’s nearby instead. |
| Stults Farm, Cranbury | Stopped pick-your-own in 2014, except pumpkins in October. | It’s a farm stand now; buy, don’t pick. |
| Eastmont Orchards, Colts Neck | Once called Delicious Orchards; a separate business from the Delicious Orchards market on Route 34. | The market sells pies and cider; the orchard is where you pick. |
| Two Sisters Farm, Long Valley | A new pumpkin farm from the Alstede family, opened September 19, 2026. | Free admission, and dogs are welcome. |
| Scare Farm, Hillsborough | Billing 2026 as its final season after 20 years. | Last chance this fall, through November 1. |
| Sussex County Sunflower Maze | It’s at Liberty Farm in Sandyston, not in Augusta, and its 2026 season ended September 21. | Plan for mid-August to mid-September next year. |
| Whitesbog’s Blueberry Festival | Became a “Blueberry Summer Fest” spread over three dates in 2026. | Watch for 2027 dates; none are posted yet. |
| Princeton Lavender | No longer offers animal visits; now focused on events and weddings. | Go for the lavender in June and July. |
| Farm websites | Wightman’s, Donaldson’s and Melick’s old web addresses now show unrelated sites. | Use wightmanfarms.com, donaldsonfarms.net and melickstownfarm.com. |
What to Skip
- Driving to an orchard without checking its picking report. In 2026 the difference between “excellent” and “picked out” is one bad week, and several famous orchards have no fruit at all.
- Buying tickets at the gate when you could buy online. It costs $8 more a ticket at Alstede, $3 at Von Thun’s, $2 at Duffield’s and $4 at Riamede.
- A 1 p.m. arrival on an October Saturday. That’s peak crowd, peak parking lot and the most picked-over fields. Come at opening or on a weekday.
- Bringing the dog. Almost every farm turns pets away at the gate, and leaving a dog in the car is banned outright at Wightman.
- Treating Delicious Orchards as a pick-your-own farm. It’s a market, a very good one, and there’s nothing to pick.
- Old “best farms” lists. Hill Creek has closed, Stults stopped most picking more than a decade ago, and 2026’s fruit gaps aren’t in anyone’s older list.
Farms in NJ FAQ
Where can I go apple picking in NJ in 2026?
In late September 2026, Melick’s (Oldwick and Califon), Alstede (Chester), Wightman (Morristown), Ort (Long Valley) and Giamarese (East Brunswick) all had apples to pick, and Demarest (Hillsdale) was taking reservations. Riamede had some varieties, Stony Hill very few, and many other orchards lost their crop to the April freeze, so check a farm’s picking report first.
When is apple picking season in New Jersey?
In a normal year, from late August into November, peaking from mid-September to mid-October; the state’s Jersey Fresh chart lists apples in season from August 15 to December 31. Early varieties like Gala and Honeycrisp come first, and Fuji, Pink Lady and Stayman Winesap last. Picking at most farms winds down in late October or early November.
Why is New Jersey called the Garden State?
The state credits Abraham Browning of Camden, who is said to have called New Jersey the Garden State at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, comparing it to a barrel of good things open at both ends. The State Library notes the phrase was in print earlier, in 1862. It went on license plates under a 1954 law and became the official state slogan only in 2017.
What fruit is New Jersey known for?
Blueberries above all: they were the state’s top crop in 2025, the highbush blueberry was first cultivated at Whitesbog, and it has been the official state fruit since 2004. New Jersey also ranked third in cranberry acres and fifth in peach acres in 2024, and its tomatoes and sweet corn are summer staples at farm stands statewide.
Do you have to pay to pick your own fruit in NJ?
Usually yes, twice: an entry fee (free at a few farms, $3 to $6 on weekdays and $13 to $33 on fall weekends at the big ones) and then the fruit itself, sold by the pound or by the container. Some farms fold a box of fruit into the ticket, as Alstede does. Weekdays are almost always cheaper.
When is strawberry picking in New Jersey?
From mid-May through June in a normal year; the Jersey Fresh chart gives May 15 to June 15. Von Thun’s in South Brunswick picks from mid-May to early June and Johnson’s Corner Farm in Medford from mid-May to the end of June. Fields get picked out fast, so go early in the day and early in the season.
Can you bring dogs to farms in NJ?
Mostly no. Nearly every farm bans pets, including emotional support animals, citing food-safety rules; service animals are allowed. The exceptions include Ort Farms (in its pumpkin patch, sunflower field and corn maze), Two Sisters Farm, Whitesbog Village and the Sussex County Sunflower Maze, all with dogs on a leash.
Related New Jersey Guides
- The 101 best things to do in New Jersey: the state’s top attractions, region by region, with farms, gardens and day trips from New York and Philadelphia.
Sources and How We Checked
We checked every crop report, price, schedule and closure on this page on September 24, 2026, on the farms’ own websites, picking reports and ticket pages, and on state and federal agriculture sources; where a farm’s own site didn’t say, we name the news report we relied on. We did not visit the farms for this update, and nothing here is sponsored. Picking conditions change daily in fall, so treat the crop notes as a snapshot. Drive times are light-traffic estimates from the OSRM routing engine (Times Square and Philadelphia City Hall to each farm’s town), rounded to five minutes.
- NJ Department of Agriculture: Jersey Fresh “What’s Available” chart and farm finder
- USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service: 2022 Census of Agriculture, New Jersey profile
- Rutgers NJAES Plant and Pest Advisory: orchards after the April 2026 freeze
- Office of the Governor: Executive Order No. 18, the May 2026 agricultural state of emergency
- New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers’ Association: Find a Farm
- The farms’ own websites and picking reports, including Melick’s Town Farm, Alstede Farms’ “What Can I Pick Today” and Terhune Orchards’ pick-your-own schedule
New Jersey Tourism Guide is an independent publication. We are not affiliated with Visit New Jersey or the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, NJ Transit or any farm listed here, and no one paid to be included.
Photo Credits
- Apple picking at Melick's Town Farm: photo by Curlyrnd, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- An old apple tree at Terhune Orchards: photo by Famartin, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Delicious Orchards, Colts Neck: photo by Tinton5, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Hammonton blueberries: photo by Famartin, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Sunflowers at Fernbrook Farms: photo by Zeete, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- A pumpkin patch at Terhune Orchards: photo by Famartin, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Highland Park Farmers Market: photo by Curlyrnd, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)