Maybe somewhere in Louisiana, you’d find a hollowed-out pumpkin serving as a bowl for homemade gumbo. Maybe somewhere else in the state, you’d find a pumpkin decorated with Mardi Gras beads for Halloween. You might even find a jack-o’-lantern carved with a crawfish instead of a scary face.
Pumpkins may not be at the top of the list when it comes to serious agriculture in Louisiana — it ranks 48th among the 50 states for production of the fall-season fruit — but that doesn’t mean pumpkins aren’t taken seriously in this most southern of Southern states.
Pumpkin patches in Louisiana provide a distinctly Southern twist to the seasonal delight of selecting a pumpkin for carving, cooking or decorating. And as you’ll see, each of the pumpkin patches in Louisiana brings its own special flair to a day in the country as Halloween is approaching.
The length of the Halloween festivities and pumpkin seasons, hours of operation and activities vary at each of the pumpkin patches in Louisiana, so you should definitely check their websites and Facebook pages before planning an outing.
But for now, read on to discover the down-home fun you can find in pumpkin patches in Louisiana, and just how easy it is to find a Louisiana pumpkin patch that can become a Halloween tradition for you and your family.
Best Northern Louisiana Pumpkin Patches
Dixie Maze Farms
Shreveport, Louisiana
In northwestern Louisiana, look no farther than Dixie Maze Farms in Shreveport to know that home-grown pumpkins have a revered place among Louisiana pumpkin patches, even if pumpkins don’t necessarily get top billing in the state’s agricultural arena.
Even now, Dixie Maze Farms is using its website to display a large clock marking the days until the Sept. 24 opening of its you-pick pumpkin season.
And no wonder, given that the farm’s annual Fall Festival, which runs through Halloween, includes much more than you-pick pumpkin fun. For more adventurous visitors, the Fall Festival includes a number of “haunted” attractions, such as a haunted maze, to add to the experience at one of the most fun pumpkin patches in Louisiana.
Be warned, though — the haunted attractions at Dixie Maze Farms are presented in the ghoulish spirit of Halloween, and may not be suitable for all visitors. That’s OK, though, because Dixie Maze Farms also offers an “unhaunted” version of its attractions.
Additionally, to make sure the whole family can enjoy an experience at Dixie Maze Farms, whether “haunted” or a more tame visit, this Louisiana pumpkin patch offers free admission to grandparents, as long as the family purchases admission tickets for other members visiting the farm.
Curry Farms
Rayville, Louisiana
Curry Farms, near Rayville in the northeastern Louisiana community of Start, is a fourth-generation family farm that is serious about pumpkin season, securing its high place among Louisiana pumpkin patches.
But there is much more than just picking out a pumpkin to define your seasonal experience at Curry Farms. There are swings, slides, a corn maze, trees to climb, pedal carts to ride and duck races to watch. And, you’re also invited to feed the farm’s goats during your visit.
As an added bonus, you can bring your picnic to Curry Farms to extend your day and your enjoyment of all things pumpkin at a place clearly among the best of the pumpkin patches in Louisiana.
PaPa Simpson’s Farm
Arcadia, Louisiana
PaPa Simpson’s Farm in Arcadia is open weekends in late September through October for all kinds of pumpkin and Halloween fun, including a chance to ride a horse, interact with other animals on the farm, and play on a “hay playground.”
The farm also is marked among the best of the Louisiana pumpkin patches because it grows a wide variety of pumpkins, in an array of sizes and colors, to help even the most discriminating decorator turn their home into a seasonal showplace.
But beyond pumpkin season frivolity, the family behind the six-generation PaPa Simpson’s Farm regularly expresses the hope that it can give visitors a real look at how farm life bolsters family life — not a bad mission for one of the top pumpkin patches in Louisiana.
Best Central Louisiana Pumpkin Patches
Anderson Farms
Leesville, Louisiana
Located in Leesville, Anderson Farms is a great Louisiana pumpkin patch at which to welcome the fall season and to find that just-right pumpkin.
If you’re in a decorative frame of mind, Anderson Farms has cornstalks and bales of hay available to dress up your home for the fall, or even just for Halloween night.
On that note, if you’re a little nervous about taking a knife to your pumpkin to carve a suitably scary face into it, visitors to Anderson Farms can try their hand at painting their pumpkin to transform it into a suitably ghoulish creation.
One visitor to Anderson Farms recently noted its ability to produce a real feeling of fall — quite an achievement in an area where there might not be a deep seasonal chill. Other reviews of Anderson Farms routinely note its very family-friendly atmosphere, marking it a favorite among all the Louisiana pumpkin patches.
Barn Hill Preserve
Ethel, Louisiana
Located in the southeastern corner of central Louisiana, Barn Hill Preserve in Ethel offers a truly unique experience among the pumpkin patches in Louisiana, giving visitors a chance to interact with the exotic animals that call the preserve their home.
Each year, a visit to Barn Hill Preserve during its Pumpkin Patch season includes a look at its zoological park and its petting zoo. In years past, visitors to the preserve’s Pumpkin Patch events have had the chance to get up-close with kangaroos and alpacas.
And there’s more fun, too — the price of admission includes a corn maze, playing in the corn pit — like a ball pit, but with dried corn — as well as hayrides, face painting and animal shows. Plus, you can take a free small pumpkin from the patch to your front porch, a seasonal memory of one of the great pumpkin patches in Louisiana.
Best southern Louisiana pumpkin patches
Mrs. Heather’s Farm
Albany, Louisiana
With the spirituality that infuses the culture of New Orleans, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that southern Louisiana pays homage to the Halloween season with pumpkin farms.
Mrs. Heather’s Farm, north of New Orleans in Albany, is one of the places where the Halloween season can be properly observed — in a properly family-friendly fashion, that is.
The list of things to do at Mrs. Heather’s Farm during pumpkin time is astounding among the impressive list of Louisiana pumpkin patches. In addition to learning how pumpkins grow, visitors young and old can race along a zip line, whip through a tunnel slide, watch duck races, walk along a nature trail and even milk a cow.
LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
In Baton Rouge, fall and Halloween have a home at the Louisiana State University AgCenter and Botanic Gardens, open for the Halloween season from late September through October.
Pumpkins are sold in the center’s shop and farmstand, so you might not get that full you-pick experience. But that is more than made up with the range of activities available, which place the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens among the best of the pumpkin patches in Louisiana.
There are a couple of corn mazes, including a mini-maze so that even the youngest visitors can have a fun time. You can also check out a fall festival, take a tractor-pulled hayride, visit the petting zoo and farm animals, and before you go, take a stroll through the gift shop.
CM Farms
Dry Creek, Louisiana
Located in the southwestern Louisiana community of Dry Creek, CM Farms boasts a “pumpkin barn” to make it easy for you to select a perfect pumpkin.
But your visit doesn’t have to stop with just a trip to the barn. CM Farms is open on weekends for the fall season beginning in October, and boasts more than three dozen activities sure to provide fun for everyone.
There are several mazes to challenge visitors, a paintball shooting gallery, and even a chance to try your hand at gemstone mining at this great Louisiana pumpkin patch.
And don’t miss the chance to play Barnyard Bing-Oh, a variation on bingo specific to CM Farms. Just get a bingo card and match its pictures with items seen on the farm, and maybe you’ll be a winner.
CM Farms also offers an educational component for your visit, introducing you to Louisiana’s farming heritage. Exhibits include vintage tools and a special wall marked with working brands used at the area’s livestock farms.
More Pumpkin Fun
Again, Louisiana may not be particularly known for its pumpkin cultivation, but it does celebrate the venerable fall fruit — and the Halloween season — with the flair that makes the state a unique and marvelous place.
Excited for more pumpkin content? Keep learning all about pumpkin plants to become an expert on pumpkin planting, growing, harvesting, cooking, and more!