WHEN A POPULAR STRAWBERRY FIELD TURNS FALL ORANGE

Plenty of time left this month to catch the fun at Carlsbad Strawberry Company.  And, the speakeasy, too.  Yes, it has the feel that your Uncle Billy created this in his backyard, but homemade is part of the charm.

 [Carlsbad, CA--PillartoPost.org]--Each fall, the Carlsbad Strawberry Company exchanges its famous berry fields for a sea of orange. The farm’s annual pumpkin patch has become one of North County’s most beloved seasonal stops, drawing families, photographers, and romantics who still believe October should smell like hay and cinnamon. 

The I-5 pumpkin patch goes well beyond pumpkins, unfolding into a full fall-festival landscape with marigold and sunflower rows blazing along the walkways, rustic photo backdrops, tricycle races, picnic tables shaded by canvas tents, and pens of goats, sheep, and rabbits tended by patient farmhands.  

From the moment visitors roll off Cannon Road, the scene feels both cinematic and homemade. Children scatter toward the pumpkin rows while parents line up at the corn maze entrance or the tractor ride that loops the property. The air carries a trace of sea salt and straw—reminders that this is still a working coastal farm at heart, not a pop-up attraction imported for the season. 

By late afternoon, sunlight glows off the marigolds, and couples queue for portraits against the towering “pumpkin house,” one of the property’s signature installations.  

General admission, currently fifteen dollars, covers entry to the fields, flower rows, games, and shaded picnic zones. Extras—like the mile-and-a-half corn maze, petting pens, or the evening haunted maze—are ticketed separately, and costs can rise quickly for a full day’s immersion. But few visitors seem to mind. 

The variety keeps the experience fresh: one moment you’re lost among the a-mazing corn stalks, the next you’re sharing caramel corn at a picnic table or watching toddlers chase tricycles across the dirt lanes. Fridays and Saturdays in October extend into the night, when strings of Edison bulbs turn the entire farm into a lantern-lit carnival.  

The Carlsbad patch earns points for atmosphere more than spectacle. It’s festive but never forced, rural without feeling remote. What’s impressive is how well the site balances its multiple audiences—parents, photographers, couples, and school groups—without losing its easygoing charm. 

Crowds are inevitable on weekends, and some activities close half an hour before the posted time, but the staff keeps things moving with an efficiency that suggests they’ve done this for years.  

Carlsbad’s pumpkin patch isn’t the largest in Southern California, nor the most elaborate, but it remains one of the most authentic. There’s something quietly rewarding about watching a toddler hoist a pumpkin half their size while surf winds ripple through the corn. The place feels earned, the way local traditions should.  

For those seeking a genuine fall outing—one that trades synthetic haunted-house thrills for sunlight, laughter, and a faint scent of straw—the Carlsbad Strawberry Company’s pumpkin fields deliver. It’s a short drive, a long memory, and one of those small-town pleasures that keep San Diego’s northern edge grounded. 

On balance, call it a four-and-a-half-star experience for ambiance, family fun, and authenticity. AND, a speakeasy for adult refreshments.  

Open daily through October, 1050 Cannon Road, Carlsbad. carlsbadstrawberrycompany.com/pumpkin. 

It's farmy and a-mazingly corny.