Summer is starting to end, which means it's time to turn our attention to Autumn and, more importantly, Halloween. There's so much to do in October to celebrate Halloween, but nothing is more suitable for the whole family than going to a pumpkin patch.
If you’re looking for more family-friendly things to do this Halloween, read my article about Halloween Events in Glasgow for the Whole Family. If you are based towards the East Coast, there are Halloween Events in Edinburgh for the Whole Family or those in Aberdeenshire, Halloween Events in Aberdeen for the Whole Family.
I’ve researched the 15 best pumpkin patches to visit in Scotland, so I can provide you with all the information to help you pick the perfect one for you to visit! It is worth noting that tickets to pumpkin patches in Scotland sell out very quickly. So, if you are hoping to visit one at some point in October, you'll need to buy your tickets ASAP!
This post is an Ultimate Guide to Pumpkin Patches in Scotland.
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15 Best Pumpkin Patches to Visit in Scotland
5 Best Pumpkin Patches Near Glasgow
Arnprior Farm
Arnprior Farm is one of the most popular and well-known pumpkin patches in Scotland, which means that tickets tend to sell out very quickly. Arnprior Farm has been welcoming visitors since 2015 and claims to host ‘Scotland’s original pumpkin festival’. It is conveniently situated in the central belt of Scotland, only 15 minutes from Stirling and 45 minutes from Glasgow and Perth.
Arnprior Pumpkin Picking is only open for three weeks in October. You’ll get a 2-hour allocated time slot to the patch, where you can choose from over 20,000 pumpkins of all shapes, sizes, and colours. If you get bored of pumpkin picking, there’s face painting, a bouncy castle, quad pod rides, a pumpkin cannon, bale mountain, an indoor hay barn, and pop-up local food trucks selling anything from churros to burgers and even gin.
You could even turn your visit into an overnight stay as they also have their own Eco-Friendly, Luxury Glamping Pods with Private Hot Tubs and access to a private indoor heated swimming pool!
Blair Drummond Safari Park
Blair Drummond Safari Park is only 10 minutes from Stirling and 40 minutes from Glasgow. It is an excellent day out for the whole family! Not only does it have over 300 animals for you to visit, including giraffes, lions, and elephants, but at the end of October, it also has a pumpkin patch and other Halloween activities.
In addition to meeting all the animals, you can also pick pumpkins, follow the trick-or-treat trail, climb the giant hale bale spiders, and toast marshmallows on the fire pits at their HalloWILD festival.
Dowhill Farm
Dowhill Farm is located in South Ayrshire, only a 30-minute drive from Ayr, 45 minutes from Kilmarnock, and one hour from Glasgow.
At last year's pumpkin festival at Dowhill Farm, there was pumpkin picking, a Maize Maze Bale Trail, barrel rides, nine-hole mini hand golf, wellie tossing, face painting, and some fun competitions and quizzes. While you're here, you can also pick up some delicious Ayrshire potatoes!
No pre-booking is required, and parking is free, you’ll only need to pay for the entry to the field. Visit their Dowhill Pumpkin Facebook page for any updates on their 2024 pumpkin festival. There's also a restaurant, gift shop, and farm shop, open from 9.30 am to 4 pm (closed on Wednesdays), with lovely views over the Firth of Clyde.
East Yonderton Farm
East Yonderton Farm is located in Renfrew near Glasgow Airport. It's only a 25-minute drive from the city centre. During the summer season, East Yonderton Farm has lots of fresh fruit and vegetables for you to pick, including strawberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries, and peas.
It only opened its pumpkin patch in 2019, but you won't be disappointed with the selection of pumpkins! They mainly operate on their East Yonderton Farm Facebook page, where you can contact them to book a time to visit their pumpkin patch, or they will inform you if you can drop by on a specific day.
M&D's Scotland's Theme Park
M&D's is Scotland's biggest theme park and is located about 20 minutes away from Glasgow city centre in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire.
From Saturday 5th October to Sunday 27th October, M&D's is hosting their Pumpkin Outdoor Festival 2024. There are two ticket options: one option includes a hot drink on the ticket, and one option includes a pumpkin on the ticket. Along with a pumpkin patch, there's lots to keep the whole family entertained, including storytelling by Folksy Theatre, Halloween-themed games, Pumpkin Trail, Halloween Arts and Crafts, and a ride on the Pumpkin Express Land Train.
5 Best Pumpkin Patches Near Edinburgh
Balgone Estate
Balgone Estate is a family-run farm situated on the east coast of Scotland near North Berwick, approximately a 40-minute drive from Edinburgh. Having only opened their pumpkin patch in 2020, they can be considered relatively new in comparison to other patches on this list. Despite this, Balgone’s Pumpkin Patch is actually the largest in Scotland, containing 60,000 pumpkins of 27 varieties across 10 acres. You're guaranteed to find the perfect one for you!
There's more to do here than just pick your perfect pumpkin, including going for a walk along the 2km haunted trail and to the crooked cauldron, where you can toast marshmallows. There's also a range of food and drink vans serving pizzas, burgers, falafel, and more.
If you want to stay overnight, there's also accommodation for between 8-10 people on the grounds of Balgone Estate called the Granary. It has its own private indoor pool, hot tub, and pool table.
Cairnie Fruit Farm
Cairnie Fruit Farm is only a 20-minute drive from Dundee and St Andrews, a 40-minute drive from Perth and Dunfermline, and over an hour from Edinburgh. This Halloween, they are celebrating 25 years of PYO Pumpkins! To commemorate this milestone, this year, they have over 20,000 pumpkins of all shapes, sizes, and colours to pick from. In addition to Cairnie Fruit Farm’s Pumpkin Patch, they also have a Halloween Torchlight Maze, which is only recommended for children over eight years old as it can be pretty scary. As the sun sets, bring a torch, and beware of the spooky creatures lurking in the shadows of the maze.
There's a kid's funyard with a 6-acre mega maze, trampolines, crazy swings, a go-kart track, and more. However, you need to buy a separate ticket for the funyard as it is not included in your ticket to the pumpkin patch.
During the summer season, you can also pick strawberries, raspberries, cherries, gooseberries and more at Cairnie Fruit Farm. You can even go sunflower picking in August-September! When you get peckish, there's an onsite farm shop and cafe to pick up some fresh local produce or some tasty home baking.
Conifox Adventure Park
Conifox Adventure Park is a 30-minute drive from Edinburgh city centre. During the last three weekends in October, they are holding Halloween Days. Included in your ticket price for these Halloween days are entry to the pumpkin patch, entry to the adventure park, themed photo opportunities and games, and a disco. There will also be funfair rides and the Conifox indoor activity centre, but these cost extra. There will be food vendors and a licensed bar on-site, as well as a firepit for toasting marshmallows.
They are also running a Halloween Fireworks Night on certain days, where you can visit the Witch's Labyrinth, the Funhouse of Fear, and the Broomstick Flying School and watch fire performances and a fireworks display.
Craigie's Farm Deli and Cafe
Craigie's Farm Deli and Cafe is only 20 minutes from Edinburgh. Every year, they grow thousands of pumpkins for their Craigie’s Pumpkin Festival. In addition to pumpkin picking, they also have a monster bale trail and lots of Halloween-themed photo opportunities. There’s also a paintball target shooting and barrel ghost train, both of which are available at an additional cost.
There's also a lovely restaurant on-site, where you can get delicious breakfast and lunch options and a deli, where you can buy some local produce to take home. The restaurant does get really busy during October, so you might be waiting a while to get your food!
As the night draws in, Craigies Pumpkin Festival After Dark starts up. At this event, you'll have access to their haunted maze, pumpkin patch, monster bale trail, and the haunted harvest.
South Ardbennie Farm & Pumpkin Patch
South Ardbennie Farm & Pumpkin Patch is located near Crieff and is around one hour from Edinburgh city centre. They first opened their pumpkin patch in 2019 and have over 1,500 pumpkins of all colours, including the typical orange ones to the more unusual green and striped ones, for you to choose from. Alongside the pumpkin picking, there's also other entertainment, including tractor train rides and delicious pizza from Delevino Wild Kitchen. Tickets for their pumpkin patch will be available on Eventbrite, and they will be sharing updates on their South Ardbennie Farm Facebook page.
If you don’t want to make a 2-hour round trip from Edinburgh in one day to visit this patch, why not book an overnight stay at their gorgeous glamping pods called 'the Pigsties'. It’s the perfect place to escape for some peace!
5 Best Pumpkin Patches Near Aberdeen
Ethiebeaton Farm
Ethiebeaton Farm is located only 15 minutes from Dundee and over an hour from Aberdeen. They have a very Instagrammable pumpkin patch with pumpkins of all varieties.
For their pumpkin patch last year, they were only open on select days and times. However, on the days the patch was open, it was free to visit and park, and no pre-booking was required. They also had a hay bale maze with a pumpkin hunt and other kids' activities to keep the little ones entertained.
They haven’t released any information about their pumpkin patch for 2024, but just keep an eye on their Ethiebeaton Farm Facebook page for any updates.
The Fairy Woods at Fedderate
The Fairy Woods at Fedderate is a fantastic outdoor learning centre located 40 minutes north of Aberdeen that specialises in school trips and family events. In addition to their year-round events, they also run seasonal events for Easter, a pumpkin patch for Halloween and a winter woods event for Christmas.
A 2-hour ticket to the Fairy Woods at Fedderate pumpkin patch includes a pumpkin, a goody bag, campfire snacks, and fairy finding or orienteering. They are also holding separate events at their pumpkin patch for children with additional support needs. These events are quieter and more relaxed.
The Pumpkin Ranch
The Pumpkin Ranch is based in Inverurie, only 20-25 minutes from Aberdeen. It's the new kid on the block, having only opened in 2021. They started planting 700 pumpkin seeds by hand back then, and this year, they've upped it to 10,000 seeds due to its increasing popularity.
The Pumpkin Ranch is the only pumpkin patch on this list which is undercover, meaning even if the weather is awful, you can rest assured that you will be protected from the elements. They also have fun events and games to keep kids entertained and some great autumnal photo opportunities.
They haven’t released any information about their pumpkin patch for 2024, but just keep an eye on The Pumpkin Ranch's Facebook page for any updates.
Udny Pumpkins
Udny Pumpkins is only a 25-minute drive from Aberdeen and has over 8,000 pumpkins of 20 different varieties with colours ranging from blue and green to the more typical orange ones. Whilst you're at Udny Pumpkins, you can also visit some of the friendly animals, take part in a colouring competition, climb the hay bales, enjoy pumpkin soup and hot chocolate, and much more! Tickets for their pumpkin patch go on sale in early September.
Udny Pumpkins likes to remind you that pumpkins aren't just for carving, there are also some delicious pumpkin recipes. So, in addition to selling traditional carving pumpkins, they also sell culinary pumpkins, and they have a pumpkin cookbook to inspire you.
Udny Pumpkins also offers Pumpkin Planting Sessions, which take place every April, and at this time of the year, they also have baby chicks for you to hold!
Westerton Farmers
Westerton Farmers is a family-run farm in the North East of Scotland, only 35 minutes south of Aberdeen. Every October, they have a pumpkin patch that you can visit. They haven’t released any information about this year's event yet, but you can sign up for the mailing list on their website to hear any updates about the Westerton Farmers Pumpkin Patch for 2024.
You can also pick your own vegetables or visit the farm shop on-site that sells fresh produce, including potatoes, carrots, turnips, locally sourced beef, fresh bread, jams, marmalades, and chutneys. They also have a small cafe where you can go to heat up next to the log burner and enjoy a hot drink with some home-baked goods. There’s also a playpark outside if the little ones get bored of pumpkin picking.
Is it Worth Visiting a Pumpkin Patch?
A visit to a pumpkin patch is a wholesome day out for all the family. By visiting a pumpkin patch in Scotland, you are supporting local farms and homegrown produce rather than supermarket chains. Plus, pumpkin patches usually have additional things to do to keep the whole family entertained, from bouncy castles and face painting to mazes. So, a visit to a pumpkin patch is definitely worth it!
That being said, don't be fooled by all the cute Instagram pictures. In reality, pumpkin patches in Scotland can be cold and quite expensive for what they are. Also, as you get further into October, pumpkin patches tend to get muddier and muddier due to the amount of people traipsing over the ground every day. Try to go earlier in the month or mid-month to avoid this.
Just be prepared for the weather, get your welly boots on and a big, comfy jacket to brace for the cold, possible rain, and, very likely, mud.
If you are on a budget, I’d stick to visiting your local supermarket as you can get some really cheap deals for pumpkins. Then, you can spend more time on the carving stage while you watch some spooky Halloween movies with your family!
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In Scotland, you can find a multitude of events on the run-up to Halloween, from ghost tours to a Halloween movie night. If you’re looking for inspiration for things to do, I’ve created a variety of Halloween posts that cover activities for just adults and activities for the whole family throughout Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen.
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This post is all about Pumpkin Patches Scotland. Thanks for taking the time to read through this blog, it’s very much appreciated!
Kirsty x
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