# Hawk Ridge Farm Brings Its Fall Festival Back to Lake Hopatcong Oct. 17 2026-10-05 · Hawk Ridge Farm · Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey · Event Free admission, cider pressing, pumpkin decorating, candle making, face painting and farm animals fill a five-hour autumn afternoon in Jefferson Township. Free admission, cider pressing, pumpkin decorating, candle making, face painting and farm animals fill a five-hour autumn afternoon in Jefferson Township. --- Hawk Ridge Farm is bringing its annual Fall Fest back to Lake Hopatcong on Saturday, Oct. 17, with a five-hour lineup built around the simple pleasures of a fall day on a working local farm. The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the farm’s 283 Espanong Road property in Jefferson Township. Admission is free and no ticket is required to enter, making the event an easy family outing for visitors who want to spend a few hours on the farm without committing to a full-day attraction. Once inside, the day mixes hands-on seasonal activities with the farm’s regular cast of animals. Visitors can decorate pumpkins, make candles, have their faces painted, create apple-stamp crafts and press their own apple cider using the farm’s antique cider press. Tickets for individual activities will be available for purchase on-site. The cider pressing is one of the more distinctive parts of the lineup. Rather than simply serving cider as another seasonal concession, Hawk Ridge Farm gives visitors a chance to take part in the process themselves, fitting the festival neatly into the farm’s broader emphasis on practical agriculture and hands-on learning. There will also be time to meet some of Hawk Ridge Farm’s familiar residents, including Walter the mini pig and Suga the mini horse. The animals are more than festival-day scenery: animal rescue has been part of the farm’s identity since its earliest days. Hawk Ridge Farm was founded in 2020 on a ten-acre ridge in the New Jersey Highlands, originally as a haven for the owner’s goats. The property has since grown into a working farm and rescue home for animals that include alpacas, mini horses, sheep, chickens, pigs and honeybees. It also produces organic fruits and vegetables, free-range eggs and raw honey while offering CSA subscriptions, gardening education and other farm-based classes throughout the year. That makes Fall Fest less of a standalone seasonal attraction and more of an open-house version of what the farm does year-round. The activities are intentionally simple and tactile: make something, press something, decorate something, meet the animals and leave with a better sense of where food and farm products come from. Visitors looking to bring a little of the day home can also purchase farm-grown pumpkins and fresh apples during the festival. With admission free, families can decide on-site which activities they want to add rather than buying a bundled festival pass in advance. Hawk Ridge Farm’s Fall Fest takes place Saturday, Oct. 17, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 283 Espanong Road in Lake Hopatcong. Admission is free; individual activity tickets will be sold on-site. IF YOU GO WhatHawk Ridge Farm Annual Fall FestWhenSaturday, October 17, 2026 | 11 a.m.–4 p.m.WhereHawk Ridge Farm, 283 Espanong Road, Lake Hopatcong, NJ 07849AdmissionFree; tickets for individual activities available on-siteHighlightsDIY apple cider pressing, pumpkin decorating, candle making, face painting, apple stamping and farm animalsMore Info2026 Fall Fest listing | Hawk Ridge Farm --- ProbleMattic is written and maintained by Matthew Kulcsar, a software engineer, project manager, technologist, platform builder, emergency-services-trained helper, grandfather, and lifelong collector of broken systems, odd behaviors, and useful nonsense.