Pumpkin patches and fall farms with kids around Washington DC

Mid-September through Halloween is farm season around DC: the heat breaks, the mosquitoes thin out, and every farm rolls out hayrides, hay bales and pumpkins. These are farms we'd actually take a toddler to: wagon lines under an hour, animals you can touch, and hay slides sized for small kids.

Closest to Rockville and simplest is Butler's Orchard in Germantown, whose Pumpkin Festival weekends have a giant hay slide and a corn pit. Homestead Farm in Poolesville has no admission: ride the wagon out, pick one pumpkin and head home. For animals, Clark's Elioak Farm near Columbia pairs storybook sculptures with pony rides, and Green Meadows in Frederick County includes chick-holding, cow-milking and pony rides in one ticket. For the big production, drive into Virginia: Cox Farms in Centreville is the region's largest fall festival, with a dozen giant slides down the hillside, and Great Country Farms in Bluemont has pig races and a winery lawn overlooking the valley next door.

• 6 places
• 4 stroller-friendly
• closest is 15 min away