Bates Nut Farm Pumpkin Patch

Bates Nut Farm has drawn families to its century-old Valley Center property since 1963, and the pumpkin patch is billed as one of San Diego's most picturesque. Patch days include a wheelbarrow run at the pumpkins, tractor hayrides, a straw maze, and a corn pit, with a giant slide on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and pony rides plus a petting zoo through October. The Bates Farm Zoo, nut store, and Farmer's Daughter Boutique stay open year-round beside the patch. October weekends add live music, a mechanical bull, and a butterfly encounter, and the last three Fridays of October become a Fall Friday Festival with extra vendors. Dogs may come on a leash at the patch, on the hayride, and in the straw maze.

Our take: Stay into a Fall Friday Festival evening if you want the extra vendors and later hours.