Pumpkin Patches & Corn Mazes in the 209: The 2026 Guide

Fall in the Central Valley doesn't arrive all at once. It arrives in three waves spread over three weeks, and if you know the order you can get a pumpkin before anyone else has thought about it. A craft fair in Modesto on September 12. R.A.M. Farms opening its Turlock pumpkin patch on Friday, September 25 — a full week ahead of the field. Then Friday, October 2, when the corn mazes open and Dell'Osso's month-long operation in Lathrop switches on. That middle date is the one worth circling. Here's the verified 2026 calendar, the real prices, and the new rule at Dell'Osso that will stall you at the ticket booth if you show up cold.

Fall 2026: The Verified Calendar

Three of the four big fall farms in the 209 have published 2026 dates. Here's the whole season in order:

Dell'Osso Family Farm — The Big One

If you grew up here, you know Dell'Osso. It's the 501 S. Manthey Road operation off I-5 in Lathrop that turns into a full-scale amusement park every October — corn maze, haunted castle, train, pig races, the works. It is also the only farm on this list where you should read the fine print before you leave the house.

What the wristband covers is genuinely a lot: corn maze, haunted castle, the Dell'Osso Express train, pumpkin treehouse, slide hill, Teeny Town, hay ride, the new Thrill Hill, goat walk, duck races, tire pyramid, the speedway, animal zoo, ball shoot arena, tire play area, lawn games, mini golf, low obstacle course, kiddie play land, spinning pumpkins, pillow jumping, the children's interactive parade, and pig races.

What it doesn't cover, à la carte: gem mining $10, blasters $10 per bucket, carousel $5, pony rides $15, pumpkin painting $7. Budget accordingly — a family of four can add $60 in extras without trying.

R.A.M. Farms — Free Patch, Real Maze

Going on two decades in, R.A.M. Farms on North Daubenberger Road in Turlock still runs the model most people wish every farm ran: there has never been an admission fee to the pumpkin patch itself, and most activities are free with the purchase of a pumpkin. The patch dates to 2007, the corn maze to 2010, and the maze design changes every year — past themes include The Cow Jumped Over the Moon, Day of the Dead, The Spider Web, Frankenstein, and an alien spaceship.

It's also where the varieties get interesting. Alongside the classic orange shapes, R.A.M. grows French heirlooms, warty showpiece gourds, pink pumpkins bred to promote breast cancer awareness, and a cooking lineup that runs Sugar Pie, Long Island Cheese, Butternut, Crystal Star, Jarrahdale, and Kabocha. If you actually intend to eat the thing, ask which one.

Dutch Hollow Farms — Modesto's Fall Season

Dutch Hollow on Santa Fe Avenue in Modesto is the highest-rated of the group and it does two seasons a year: tulips in the spring, pumpkins in the fall. Right now it's closed while the crew preps, which is normal for August.

Fantozzi Farms — The $5 Haunted Maze

Fantozzi Farms sits at 2665 Sperry Avenue in Patterson — still Stanislaus County, still the 209 — and it's been a family farming operation for more than four decades. In summer it's an apricot fruit stand; in fall it's a corn maze and pumpkin patch with a 4.5-star average across 160 reviews. It's also, by a wide margin, the cheapest ticket in this guide.

Fantozzi also hosts school field trips built around the life cycles of corn and pumpkins, plus community events like scarecrow and costume contests.

One gap worth flagging: the farm publishes its haunted maze schedule but not a general opening date for the daytime pumpkin patch and corn maze. Given the haunted maze starts October 3 and everyone else opens October 2, early October is the reasonable assumption — but it's an assumption, not a published date. Call ahead if the daytime visit is the point.

Pumpkins Without a Ticket

Not everyone wants a corn maze. Sometimes the assignment is just a good pumpkin, ideally one that didn't ride a truck from Oregon. The 209 has an entire network of established farm stands — the same ones we covered in our guide to the 209's freshest produce — and most of them pivot to fall inventory in late September.

One honest caveat before the list: these are verified, well-reviewed farm stands, but fall pumpkin inventory varies year to year and we didn't confirm it stand by stand. Call before you drive.

Do This Weekend, Before Pumpkin Season Even Starts

Here's the sleeper. R.A.M. Farms' u-pick flower field is open right now, daily from dawn to dusk, next to 625 N. Verduga Road in Turlock. Zinnias, sunflowers, and statice. Bring your own clippers or scissors. It's the same family you'll be buying a pumpkin from in October, it costs nothing to walk in, and dawn-to-dusk daily is about as low-commitment as an outing gets. If you've got a weekend between now and October and you're tired of waiting for fall, that's the move.

Know Before You Go

Google will tell you these farms are "temporarily closed." They're not. Seasonal operations get flagged that way when they're between seasons, and in August that's most of the fall farms in the valley. Dell'Osso and Fantozzi both show up closed right now. Trust the farm's own site over the map pin.

Weekends cost more and cover less. At Dell'Osso the Saturday–Sunday price is $10 higher than Monday–Thursday for the same wristband. If your schedule has any flex at all, a Wednesday in mid-October is the single best value in 209 fall.

Bring a physical card. Dell'Osso doesn't take Apple Pay and doesn't take online payment. Cash or plastic, plus ID.

Sign waivers at home. One waiver covers a season pass. Daily tickets need one per visit.

The first two weekends of October are the crush. Three farms open on October 2, which stacks opening-weekend traffic across the whole region. Late October — after the novelty wears off but before Halloween week — is quieter, and the fields still look great.

There are two ways to do a maze after dark, and they're nothing alike. R.A.M.'s Freaky Flashlight Nites start at dusk on Friday and Saturday and hand you the job of lighting the place yourself. Fantozzi's haunted maze runs a fixed 7–10 p.m. Friday and Saturday window for $5 and is actively trying to scare you. Neither is a great idea for small kids — R.A.M. says under 5 isn't recommended, and "haunted" means what it says.

Beat it entirely by going September 25. R.A.M.'s patch is open a week before anything else in the 209, with no admission fee and no opening-day crowd to share it with. It's the single easiest scheduling win of the season.

The calendar starts in Modesto on September 12, the first pumpkins come off in Turlock on September 25, and the rest of the 209 catches up on October 2. Pick your farm, pick your Wednesday, and go get a pumpkin that was grown within twenty miles of your house.