It’s no secret that Bates Nut Farm is one of the best Pumpkin Patches in San Diego, and our recent trip over the weekend solidified that thought. So what has made Bates so popular for so many families? Maybe it’s the picturesque landscape of the Big Macs, which seem much bigger, and more plentiful this year. Maybe it’s a fall craving for that down-to-earth, simple farm feel, where you can wear your cowboy bots and eat corn on the cob on a hay bale. Whatever it is, Bates has got it. For over 30 years, families have made a tradition of visiting the Bates Pumpkin Patch during the month of October, and you should too!
Bates started out as a walnut farm back in 1921, and although they don’t grow walnuts anymore, they do sell a variety of quality nuts in their retail store, along with homemade fudge, old-fashioned candy, farm antiques, collectibles, and other seasonal items. Their little shop really is the cutest!!
Visitors to Bates Nut Farm can enjoy SEVERAL activities, providing you with a full days worth of fun. The little zoo is open daily from 9a-5p, and you can visit and feed donkeys, goats, pigs, chickens & ducks, sheep, a tortoise, an alpaca, and more! Bags of feed can be purchased for $0.50, or you can get a handful of corn for a quarter from the dispenser.
During the week, Bates offers Hay rides, a straw maze, pony rides, a petting zoo, and of course, the pumpkin patch. On the weekends, families can also take advantage of live music, face painting, animal encounters, food trucks, and kids inflatable slides.
This October, make sure Bates Nut Farm is on your fall family bucket list, so pack a picnic, or grab some BBQ on site, and dress those kiddos in their farm best! We want to help you get started in making Bates a new family tradition, so to do so, we are giving away a family package of 4 tickets to use for either the straw maze, hay ride, kids slides, or petting corral, as well as tickets to collect 2 jack-o-lantern pumpkins from their patch!
To be entered to win our Bates Nut Farm Pumpkin Package, just comment below with what your favorite fall activity is! A winner will be selected Friday evening, October 5th!
Never been to Bates Nut Farm, but our favorite is pumpkin carving!
Thanks for the opportunity.
Sorry forgot to mention…We love eating soup and making apple pie!
We’d love to visit Bates!
Our favorite Fall activity is having a pumpkin decorating party!
We love decorating and carving pumpkins. We also love visiting Bate’s!
Fall is definitely a time to hit the pumpkin patch and participate in the many activities available. I like that October is kids free month and I definitely take advantage, as much as I can. I haven’t visited Bates Nut Farm yet, I would love to take my kids.
We love the changing of the leaves. Fall was a big thing for me growing up in Indiana. Now with my own family I’ve had to switch up certain traditions to SoCal weather. We go out every year to see all the different fall colors. Find our perfect leaf, that is the color that fits them best. It’s so much fun, and a great way to have a small in town adventure.
My favorite fall activity is finding a place with lots of trees and colorful fall leaves, and taking a stroll with a cup of hot chocolate in hand.
Our favorite fall activity is going to the pumpkin patch while daddy is home!
Our children are very young, so we are still learning what traditions we will do together year after year. We love trick or treating in our neighbohood because we meet so many people along the way that we may not normally get to talk with. We are talking about doing apple picking annually, and hope to try this season for tbe first time!
Our family loves to pick a family costume to match , go pumping picking , carving them and eating pumpkin pie with ice cream ! This year will be extra special because my husband just got back from deployment !!! Good luck everyone and thank you for the chance!!
We love picking out and making costumes as a family!! And pumpkin carving – my kiddos want to carve some already!
Decorating the house with the kids and looking for costumes for Halloween!
We love all Halloween events whether it’s trick or treating at Seaworld or the local school carnivals!
Fall is my favorite season and I absolutely love decorating inside and out. The best compliment I ever got from a child was that they loved my Halloween decorations the year prior and were looking forward to the next ones! I think it should be an absolute magical time of year for kids and I am thrilled to have a beautiful little daughter who will be celebrating her First this year!
Thanks for all the info!
I love watching the leaves turn and Halloween!
When we lived in Wisconsin my favorite fall activity was taking a road trip up to north county to see the beautiful changing leaves. So many vibrant colors!
Pumpkin Patch with the kids or watching Charlie Brown – The Great Pumpkin
Absolutely love Bates! We go every year!!!
Just laying in the middle of the field/patch and listening to the fall nature sounds. This year will be a tad bit different because San Diego is not a grassy place. We just relocated from Japan on September 15th and we are so excited to add to our tradition and start new ones.
We have started a tradition of having a campfire on Halloween in our front yard to roast marshmallows with neighbors as we give out candy! 🙂
My favorite fall activity is the one I started with my own little family of planning and making our costumes all month. In addition we decorate our house and take our own memorable family photos!
My mom started the tradition of making chili and cornbread on Halloween night, before trick or treating. We’ve always loved it, and I’ve carried it on with my kiddos too!
Can my favorite activity be eating all things pumpkin flavor? ? Besides that, we love carving/painting pumpkins as a family. I also enjoy when the weather starts to cool down ? Fall is definitely a favorite!
Our favorite thing is to go an apple orchard and have a picnic. Our family has been doing this my whole life and it’s so fun to do with my boys.
The kids love pumpkin station and ima’s, but we have yet to go to bates nut farm. I’m hoping to make it there this year!!
We don’t celebrate Halloween, so we have a tradition of taking autumn pictures while sitting on pumpkins. Hayrides are also fun.
It most definitely is going to the pumpkin patch with the whole family. Grandparents and uncle included. We love watching the twins running around the wide open space and picking their pumpkins. They have such a blast and I look forward to it every year with a camera in hand! =D Cannot wait to go to Bates Nut Farm again this year!
I love going to pumpkin patches with my kids! Even if we don’t pick out a pumpkin there are animals, jumpies, and many fun things to explore! Always great weather to get out and discover all the great patches around town!
My favorite activity is carving pumpkins and crafts with my kids
My favorite fall activity is carving pumpkins with the kids
My favorite fall activity is to decorate the house with my kids carve pumpkins and do crafts.