Corn Mazes and Pumpkin Patches Near Toronto This Fall

The apple picking pictures are barely off your phone and the kids are already asking about pumpkins. Fair enough. Corn mazes and pumpkin patches around the GTA start opening in mid to late September, and the good ones book up fast on weekends. Some require online reservations, some are cash-only on weekdays, and a few close entirely if the fields get too muddy after rain. None of that is a reason to skip the season, it just means a five-minute check before you drive out saves you a disappointed carload.

Most families default to the one or two farms they went to as kids, and that's a fine habit, but the GTA has working farms spread across Peel, York, Halton, and Durham that all run their own version of this same fall ritual, with their own quirks in pricing, hours, and what else there is to do once the maze gets old. Below are eight real farms within about an hour or so of Toronto, what each one actually offers this fall, and one thing worth knowing before you load everyone into the car.

Downey's Farm, Caledon

Downey's runs its pumpkin festival from September 19 through October 31, and it's built for a full day rather than a quick stop. The corn maze covers eight acres, and there are pedal carts, wagon rides, and farm animals to fill in the hours between maze attempts. It's one of the bigger operations in the area, which means more parking and shorter lines than some of the smaller family farms, but it also draws a crowd on nice Saturdays.

Tip: go on a weekday morning if your schedule allows it. Downey's gets genuinely busy by early afternoon on fall weekends.

Brooks Farms, Mount Albert

Brooks Farms' Fall Fun Festival returns September 12 and runs weekends through September and October, plus Thanksgiving Monday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with last admission at 3 p.m. The farm's corn maze is a separate long-running attraction here, and the fall festival adds train tours and a zip line on top of it. It's a bit further out than some GTA options, closer to an hour's drive from downtown, but families who've made the trip say it's worth the extra time on the road.

Tip: note the 3 p.m. last admission cutoff. It's earlier than a lot of visitors expect for a fall day out.

Springridge Farm, Milton

Springridge leans into the classic farm visit: wagon rides, a corn trail to wander, a Fun Farmyard with slides and a giant sandbox, and a barn market and bakery for snacks on the way out. The fall lineup adds a pumpkin patch, a full corn maze, and a haunted house for families who want a bit of a scare with their harvest outing. The farmyard side makes this one of the easier picks for a mixed-age group, since younger kids who tire of the maze have somewhere else to burn energy.

Tip: budget time for the bakery. It's a genuine draw here, not an afterthought gift shop.

Andrews' Scenic Acres, Milton

Andrews' offers a corn maze, a small farm animal area, a bonfire pit, and a hay bale climb, with pumpkin picking running through September and October. Admission is $17 for ages 6 to 64, with kids 5 and under free. The farm is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends and holidays, with last admission an hour before closing.

Tip: that last-admission cutoff catches people out on weekends specifically, since the closing time is later than the weekday schedule but the entry window still closes an hour ahead of it.

Chudleigh's Entertainment Farm, Milton

Chudleigh's is best known for apple picking, but the fall season also brings a pumpkin patch alongside the farm's usual lineup of tractor-drawn wagon rides, a petting zoo, a sand pit, a playground, and a nature walk. It's a good option if your group wants to combine a last round of apple picking with an early pumpkin patch visit in the same trip, since both run at the same site through the fall.

Tip: call ahead or check their Facebook page for the exact pumpkin patch dates before you go, since the fall schedule can shift week to week.

Forsythe Family Farms, Greenbank

Tucked about ten minutes from Uxbridge and Port Perry, Forsythe Family Farms runs its corn maze from September through November and offers pick-your-own pumpkins alongside strawberries, peas, and other produce depending on timing. The 2026 Harvest Festival runs select Saturdays and Sundays in October plus Thanksgiving Monday, with a Barnyard Adventure playground and farm animals added to the corn maze on those festival days.

Tip: this is the farthest option on this list from downtown Toronto, so it works best paired with other stops in the Uxbridge or Port Perry area rather than as a standalone trip.

Reesor's Farm Market, Markham

Reesor's is the most straightforward option if you want to stay close to the city. Their pick-your-own pumpkin field and corn maze run September 18 through November 1, with fields open at 9 a.m. and last entry at 5 p.m. They're closed Sundays. Weekday admission is $7 for adults and $3.50 for children 6 to 12, rising to $10 and $5 on Saturdays, and online reservations are required for Saturdays and Thanksgiving Monday to keep the fields from getting overcrowded.

Tip: book your Saturday reservation early in the week. The time slots fill up well before the weekend once the leaves start turning.

Pingle's Farm Market, Hampton

If you're coming from the east end of the city or Durham region, Pingle's is the closer bet, out near Hampton by Oshawa. The farm runs pumpkin picking, apple picking, and a corn maze in the fall, alongside an animal barn, a hay climb, tractor rides, and a play area. The event space and pick-your-own fields operate Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., while the market itself is open daily.

Tip: the farm is closed to pick-your-own visitors on Mondays and Tuesdays, so don't plan an early-week trip around the fields specifically, even though the market stays open.

A note before you head out

Fall farm visits are more weather-dependent than most GTA outings. A dry week makes for solid footing in the pumpkin field; a wet one can mean mud past the ankles or a field closed outright. Several of these farms post updates on social media rather than their main website, so it's worth a quick search the morning of your visit rather than trusting a listing that hasn't been updated since last season. This is exactly the kind of last-minute check DayHop is built for: real venues, live weather, and an honest read on whether conditions are good before you load the car. If you want a running list of family-friendly weekend ideas across the GTA without doing this kind of digging yourself every week, the free GTA Family Weekend Playbook is a good place to start.

It's also worth thinking about which mode of day you actually want before you pick a farm. A big operation like Downey's or Brooks Farms with a zip line and pedal carts is closer to a full adventure day, while a smaller stop like Reesor's or Pingle's is easier to treat as a quick, low-key outing before everyone gets tired and hungry. Neither is the wrong answer, it just helps to decide which one you're planning for before you're standing in a parking lot with three kids and one stroller.

None of these farms are secret. They get busy, prices creep up a little every year, and not every corn maze lives up to its own hype. But picked with a bit of care and a look at the forecast, a pumpkin patch afternoon is still one of the easiest wins of the GTA fall calendar.