Charmingfare Farm Pumpkin Festival

Charmingfare Farm in Candia, New Hampshire, builds its Pumpkin Festival around an expansive pumpkin patch, a Market Stand, and a run of farm rides. Kids can hunt the patch or choose a pumpkin at the stand, then take a horse-drawn hayride, a tractor train, a barrel train through the kiddie patch, or a pony ride. A cornstalk maze and a hay bale maze are sized for little explorers, with a corn play area of dried kernels nearby. Families can stuff a scarecrow, try Ol' Bessie in a milking contest, or decorate a sugar pumpkin while the petting zoo and North American wildlife displays stay open. Plan on about an hour and a half, and arrive ahead of your check-in.

Our take: Arrive ahead of your check-in, then start with the horse-drawn hayride before the kids head for the corn play area.