5 Pumpkin Patches Around Los Angeles We've Actually Tried With Kids

Every October, going to a pumpkin patch somehow ends up on our family calendar.

And if I'm being completely truthful, I don't think my kids care that much about the actual pumpkins. 😂

They'll pick one eventually, sure. But walking around admiring pumpkins of different shapes, colors and sizes? Not exactly their idea of a fun afternoon.

They want slides. Games. Animals. Things they can climb on, ride, bounce in and do over and over again. 

Over the past few years, we've tried 5 different pumpkin patches around Los Angeles, starting in 2021 when our boys were just barely 3 and not quite 1 yet. Since then, we've tried everything from the bigger, more polished pumpkin patches to smaller neighborhood ones -- and we've definitely figured out what works for our family.

For us, it really comes down to 2 things: Are there enough activities to keep the kids entertained, and can we let them actually enjoy those activities without constantly pulling out more tickets?

Here are the five we've tried, what we liked (and didn't), and the 2 we keep coming back to.

Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch -- 2021 & 2022

Our boys were 3 and almost 1 on our first visit

Mr. Bones was actually our very first pumpkin patch with the boys, back in 2021.

At the time, our kids were 3 and not even 1 yet, so our requirements for a pumpkin patch were pretty simple: somewhere festive, somewhere the kids could enjoy, and most importantly, somewhere that didn't require us to drive forever with 2 very small children in the car.

Driving more than 30 minutes for a pumpkin patch wasn't even something we would've considered back then.

Mr. Bones was close enough to home, well known, and had plenty going on, so that's where we went. And honestly, at that stage of parenting, convenience won.

We ended up returning again in 2022, probably for exactly the same reason.

Mr. Bones is definitely well done. There are pumpkins everywhere, cute photo opportunities and plenty of activities for kids. But as our boys got a little older - and started actually wanting to do all those activities - we began noticing something we hadn't paid as much attention to the first time around: 

Tickets. So many tickets.

You pay for admission, parking can cost extra depending on when you visit, and then many of the kids' activities require additional tickets.

That might work perfectly well if your child wants to try each activity once.

My kids don't work that way. 😂

If they find a giant inflatable slide they love, they don't go down once and say, Well, that was delightful. Let's see what else they have.

They go down. And then again. And again. And Again.

And every trip down means another ticket.

So instead of sitting back and watching them play, we found ourselves keeping track of how many tickets were left and eventually buying more.

Then, in 2022, we tried Shawn's Pumpkin Patch for the first time.

And I think that was basically the end of our Mr. Bones era. 😂

Once we realized there were other pumpkin patches nearby that had plenty for the kids to do without making the outing feel quite so expensive, we just didn't have much reason to go back.

I completely understand why Mr. Bones is popular. It's polished, festive and has plenty going on. And when our boys were babies and toddlers, having a well-known pumpkin patch relatively close to home was exactly what we needed.

But as they got older and became much more interested in the activities than the pumpkins themselves, it stopped making as much sense for our family.

We said goodbye to Mr. Bones after 2022 -- and started exploring what else was out there.

Shawn's Pumpkin Patch -- 2022 & 2025

Our boys were 3 and 1 on our first visit, and 6 and 4 when we returned

So in 2022, while we were still in our Mr. Bones phase, we decided to try Shawn's Pumpkin Patch too.

And this was probably when we first realized: Oh. We have other options. 😂

Shawn's was very close to home for us, which was a huge plus when the boys were still so little. But unlike choosing Mr. Bones mainly because it was familiar and convenient, we actually really liked what Shawn's offered for the kids.

There were plenty of activities - bouncy slides, games, rides and cute photo areas - but the biggest hit with our boys was definitely the little train that goes around the patch. They loved it so much that, naturally, one ride was not going to be enough.

We rode that train several times.

Shawn's does use a pay-per-activity system, so yes, every train ride meant paying again. When we visited in 2022, the train cost $4 per ride, and by 2025 most activities were around $5.

Normally, this is exactly the kind of setup that starts bothering me at pumpkin patches. But somehow Shawn's has always felt much more reasonable to us overall. Admission was either free or very inexpensive during the years we've visited, there were plenty of things for the boys to do, and we never walked away feeling like we'd spent a ridiculous amount of money just to keep them entertained.

And apparently we liked it enough to keep paying for that train. 😂

We didn't make it back for a couple of years because by then we had started trying other pumpkin patches around LA. But in 2025, when the boys were 6 and 4, we returned to Shawn's.

And they still loved it.

That was actually a good test, because what entertains a 1- and 3-year-old and what entertains a 4- and 6-year-old can be completely different. Three years later, there was still enough there to keep both boys happily occupied.

Shawn's has become what I'd call our easy, close-to-home pumpkin patch. If we want the full farm atmosphere and don't mind driving farther, we'll choose DeLuca. But if we want somewhere nearby with plenty for the kids to do, reasonable pricing and a fun fall outing without making a whole day of it, Shawn's is an easy choice.

For our family, it's definitely our second favorite of the pumpkin patches we've tried.

Torrance Pumpkin Patch at Del Amo - 2023  

Our boys were 4 and 2

If I were choosing purely based on the number and variety of activities, the Torrance Pumpkin Patch we visited at Del Amo might actually win.

There was a LOT for kids to do.

One of the biggest hits was an activity where the kids climbed inside giant inflatable balls floating on water and tried to move around inside them. Our older son loved it.

Our younger one especially loved the little track with battery-powered ride-on cars. At 2 years old, this was obviously very serious business.

There were also inflatable slides and plenty of other games and activities. Of all the pumpkin patches we've visited, this one probably felt the closest to a little carnival.

The downside?

Those tickets again.

You purchased tickets and then handed over a certain number for individual activities. Even the inflatable slides required tickets -- and another trip down meant paying again.

For kids like ours, that adds up very quickly.

I don't mind paying for activities. What I don't particularly enjoy is having to tell my child, "Okay, you can go down 2 more times," because I'm actually calculating how many tickets we have left.

We had a really fun time here, and there was certainly no shortage of things for the kids to do. But by the end, it felt like we had spent quite a bit because nearly everything was individually priced.

Best way I'd describe it: tons to do, but be prepared for the activities to add up.

DeLuca Farm - 2023, 2024 & 2025

Our boys were 4 and 2 on our first visit

And then we found DeLuca.

We've gone back three years in a row, which probably tells you everything you need to know.

It's actually the farthest pumpkin patch from our home out of all the ones on the list. So the fact that we've repeatedly driven farther to go there instead of choosing one of the many patches close to us says a lot.

For me, part of it is simply the atmosphere.

DeLuca feels more like going to a small farm in the fall and less like walking into a temporary attraction where everything has been assigned a ticket value.

There's plenty for the boys to do, but the experience feels more relaxed.

One of the biggest differences for our family has been the inflatable area. Instead of paying every single time your child goes down a slide, we've been able to purchase a wristband and let the kids play during the allotted period.

That sounds like a small difference.

It is not a small difference when you have my children. 😂

They can climb up and go down the same slide 15 times if they want to, and I don't have to stand at the bottom rationing tickets.

Everybody wins.

The Petting Zoo Is Another Favorite

There's another little thing at DeLuca that I've always appreciated.

The animals are very accessible.

You can purchase food to feed them, but you don't necessarily have to buy something just for your child to get close enough to see and interact with the animals.

The fence runs right alongside the area where people walk, and over the years our boys have spent plenty of time standing there petting the goats and picking up little scraps of food from the ground to offer them through the fence.

Nobody seemed bothered by it.

Again, it seems like such a tiny detail. But after visiting places where the petting zoo itself can feel like another attraction you need to pay to access, I found it really refreshing.

Not every interaction felt like it needed another ticket.

And I think that's ultimately why DeLuca has become our favorite.

It's not that everything is free -- it isn't.

We still spend money.

But somehow, we don't spend the entire visit thinking about spending money.

There's a difference.

Mr. Jack O' Lanterns Pumpkin Patch -- Torrance, 2024

Our boys were 5 and 3

Mr. Jack O' Lanterns has multiple locations, so I want to be very specific here: we visited the Torrance location in 2024.

And unfortunately, this one just wasn't a good fit for our family.

Compared with the other pumpkin patches we'd visited, it felt quite small, and there simply wasn't enough to keep our boys (and our older son's friend) interested.

There were pumpkins and cute fall displays, but as I've already established, my children aren't exactly pumpkin connoisseurs.

"Wow, Mom, look at the shape of this heirloom pumpkin!"

Said neither of my children, ever. 😂

They wanted activities.

We walked around, looked at everything, took some pictures, and I think we were done within about 15-20 minutes.

That doesn't necessarily mean it wouldn't work for another family. If you're mainly looking to pick out pumpkins, take some cute fall photos and have a quick outing, a smaller patch might actually be exactly what you want.

But if your kids are like mine and arrive expecting things to DO, this particular location didn't have enough for us.

We didn't return the following year.

Quick Comparison: 5 LA Pumpkin Patches We've Tried

So Which Pumpkin Patch Would We Choose?

After 5 years of pumpkin patches, our answer is pretty easy.

DeLuca Farm is our family favorite.

It's farther away, but we've still gone three years in a row because we like the atmosphere, the amount of activities available and - maybe most importantly - the way those activities are set up.

We can actually let the kids play without constantly saying:

"That's 3 tickets."

"You have 2 left."

"No, if you go again, then your brother won't have enough."

Nothing destroys a festive fall afternoon quite like turning Mom into an accountant at the bottom of a bouncy slide. 😂

Shawn's comes in as our other go-to, especially because it's much closer to us. It's reasonably priced, has plenty for the kids to do and is an easy pumpkin-patch outing without making an entire day out of it.

Torrance had probably the biggest variety of activities we experienced, but the pay-per-activity setup became expensive for the way our kids play. Mr. Bones was polished and had plenty going on, but similarly felt too commercial and pricey for us. And the Torrance Mr. Jack O' Lanterns location simply didn't have enough activities to keep our boys entertained when we visited. 

Ultimately, I've realized that the "best" pumpkin patch depends a lot on what your kids actually like to do.

If yours will happily wander though rows of pumpkins and pose for adorable fall pictures, you have many more options than we do.

If your kids see a pumpkin patch and immediately start scanning the horizon for a giant inflatable slide...

Well.

I apparently have 5 years of research for you. 😂

Wondering what we actually did with all those pumpkins? In 2024, we got together with friends for a [pumpkin carving afternoon with the kids]—pumpkin guts, questionable jack-o’-lantern designs and all. 😂