From corn mazes to pick your own apples and pumpkins, New Jersey has fabulous farms and fall festivals to enjoy with your family during the autumn months. I’ve rounded up a list of 2021 Top Fun Fall Family Activities to help you plan your weekends!
Local Events in Scotch Plains and Nearby Towns
Harvest Festival at the Frazee House, Scotch Plains, NJ
Date: Saturday, October 16 from 12–5 PM
Cost: Free
Enjoy Live Music, Food Vendors, Pony Rides, Petting Zoo, Haunted Trails, Games & Activities and more. For information, visit their Facebook page: Facebook.
New Providence Fall Festival, New Providence, NJ
Date: October 24 from 10 AM-4 PM
This Fall Festival is packed with fun activities for kids and families to enjoy. A Kids Zone with face painting and a climbing wall are just some of the awesome things planned for the festival. There will also be mechanical rides and carnival games. After all the fun, indulge in the delicious food, live entertainment, shopping, and more.
Ralston Cider Mill Museum Tours, Mendham, NJ
Admission: $10.00 per person; Children 7 & under FREE. By appointment only.
Visit the only operational cider mill in New Jersey to tour the museum and learn about the hidden still that allowed this distillery to operate through prohibition.
Learn How to Make Apple Cider, Chester, NJ
Dates: Weekends in September & October
Fall activities include PYO Pumpkins, Twisty Corn Maze, & Cider Pressing Demonstrations at this historic cider mill built in 1860. This farm has over 23 varieties of apples! Bonus: Dogs Welcome on a leash.
Ort Farms Fall Fest, Long Valley, NJ
Dates: September 4 – October 31
Cost: $8
Known as “the most spacious farm in Morris County,” Ort Farms offers its visitors the whole nine yards when it comes to fall family fun. Enjoy a monster truck ride with your family and friends, head to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin, get lost in the corn maze, or take a cow train ride. After you’ve had your fill, be sure to check out the farm store to try out Ort Farms’ delicious fresh apples, apple cider, donuts, pumpkin rolls, local ice cream, homegrown produce, and more.
Northern NJ Events
Great Pumpkin Festival in Vernon, NJ
Dates: Saturdays through Sunday, November 7th. Wednesday through Friday during October, including Columbus Day.
Make a day of this event to enjoy more than 40 fun filled activities. There’s entertainment for all ages, including Pumpkin Picking, Farm Animals, Boo Barn, an old-fashioned hayride, Corn Maze, Hay Maze, Pig Races, Carnival Rides, Gem Mining, Pony Rides, Face Painting, Sand Art, and more. Must purchase tickets in advance.
The Pumpkin Patch Trains, Whippany Railway Museum
Dates for Train Rides: Sept 19th, Oct 3rd, Oct 10th, & Oct 17th
Website/Tickets
Celebrate the Fall Harvest and the Season on the “The Pumpkin Patch Train.” The 10-mile, 45-minute round trip from Whippany to Roseland and return is the perfect way to spend a Fall afternoon with the family. Your ticket entitles you to pick your own pumpkin after the ride at our Pumpkin Patch and enjoy the seasonal fun. Ticket also includes a pumpkin decorating kit. Children of all ages are encouraged to come dressed in their Halloween costumes, where they can mingle with our zombies and ghosts, helping to make the train a spooky sight!
Annual Sussex County Harvest Honey and Garlic Festival, Sussex County
Date: October 9 from 10am – 4pm
Sussex County Fairgrounds
37 Plains Road
Branchville, NJ
Free Admission!
Website
This family festival is a celebration of agritourism, ecotourism and arts & heritage tourism. The Festival will include local artisans, crafters and vendors plus displays highlighting northern New Jersey’s great open spaces and natural history. For kids there’ll be a hay ride, pumpkin painting, face painting and crafts.
Outdoor Fall Festival at Skylands Stadium, Augusta, NJ
Dates: October 1 – November 7
Cost: $19-$24
Over 6,000 pumpkins fill the Halloween Walk-Through, which takes about 45 minutes. While you are there, roast a s’more on the fire pit and sip hot apple cider, or ride the Ferris wheel and carousel and decorate at the pumpkin pick-and-paint. Parents don’t miss the beer garden too!
New Jersey Botanical Garden Harvest Fest, Ringwood, NJ
Cost: Free, parking $5
Date: October 2
Visit the beautiful New Jersey Botanical Garden for hayrides, pumpkin painting, games, face painting, and plenty of kid-friendly fun. Dance to live music, pick up a hearty mum at the autumn plant sale, try applesauce making, and check out the foliage on a garden tour. Rain date October 3.
Central NJ
Sunflower Festival at Holland Ridge Farms, Cream Ridge, NJ
Website/Tickets
Cost: $12.80 per person aged 3 and up. Purchase tickets in advance.
Get ready to see rows and rows of colorful flowers as far as the eye can see, all available to pick at just $1 per stem. Buckets and clippers are provided.
While you are at the farm take the time to stroll through the barns, visit the animals and enjoy some of the charm of Holland in the Good ‘ole Days museum and Holland Shop.
I hope you found this list of fun fall family activities in NJ helpful. I’d love to hear from you in the comments below if you have a favorite activity to recommend! And, if you are looking for my favorite places to pick apples this fall, be sure and check out my most popular post to date on Favorite Farms for Picking Apples in NJ.
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Winner of the Westfield Area Most Loved Family Photographer award by Hulafrog two years in a row, Debbie Camba Photography is a New Jersey Family Photographer based in Scotch Plains. She specializes in capturing candid and meaningful moments that reflect the love and wonder of childhood and family life.
Debbie photographs families outdoors and in homes throughout Scotch Plains, Westfield, Mountainside, Cranford, Summit, Basking Ridge and the surrounding area, including Somerset County, Morris County and Middlesex County. She is available in other locations upon request.
Debbie was awarded Master Photographer Certifications by the National Association of Professional Child Photographers (NAPCP) for demonstrating excellence in the craft of child and family photography.
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