# Von Thun Farms Packs a South Brunswick Weekend With Mazes, Hayrides and More Than 30 Fall Activities 2026-10-07 · Von Thun Farms · South Brunswick, New Jersey · Event The Oct. 10-11 Fall Festival Weekend combines a Dogs & Dinos corn maze, pumpkin and apple picking, barnyard animals, all-day games and a hayride-access pumpkin patch at the longtime New Jersey farm. The Oct. 10-11 Fall Festival Weekend combines a Dogs & Dinos corn maze, pumpkin and apple picking, barnyard animals, all-day games and a hayride-access pumpkin patch at the longtime New Jersey farm. --- Some fall festivals give families a hayride, a pumpkin patch and a few games. Von Thun Farms is approaching the season more like an all-day itinerary. The farm's South Brunswick location continues its 2026 Fall Festival Weekends on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 10 and 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a sprawling mix of traditional farm activities and the kind of oversized games that can keep children, and more than a few adults, busy long after the pumpkins have been picked. Admission covers the farm's six-plus-acre corn maze, unlimited hayrides, access to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch, barnyard animals and more than 30 games and attractions. The format is intentionally open-ended: arrive in the morning, work through the maze, ride out to the back fields, pick something, play for a while, eat, take photographs and keep going. This Year's Maze Has Gone to the Dogs, and Dinosaurs The centerpiece for 2026 is the Dogs & Dinos corn maze, a family-oriented theme built into more than six acres of corn. Von Thun Farms says most visitors spend roughly 35 to 45 minutes making their way through the maze, although the farm adds several ways to turn getting lost into part of the game. Themed passports help visitors navigate, while Cornundrums, Simon Says challenges and a Farm Scene Investigation add small missions along the way. The 2026 design also includes themed photo opportunities, and one section brings back Spookley the Square Pumpkin, using a storybook trail to share an anti-bullying message with younger children. The result is less about finding the fastest path to the exit and more about treating the cornfield as its own attraction. For families who decide that one daytime trip through a maze is not enough, Von Thun's South Brunswick location also runs separate Moonlight Maze nights later in October, when guests tackle the field by flashlight. Take the Hayride to the Pumpkin Patch The weekend pumpkin patch is located on the farm's back acreage, which means getting there is part of the experience. Festival admission includes unlimited hayrides, and those rides provide access to a field filled with pumpkins and gourds in a range of shapes and sizes, along with seasonal characters and photo stops. Pumpkins are purchased separately by weight, currently priced at 75 cents per pound with a $2.50 minimum. Visitors who would rather skip the picking can also shop a pre-picked pumpkin section near the farm market. Apple Picking Adds Another Fall Ritual The South Brunswick orchard is also open during the festival while the crop lasts. Von Thun Farms grows a broad mix of varieties that ripen across the fall season, including Gala, Golden Delicious, Mutsu, Nittany, Crimson Crisp, Stayman, Suncrisp, Ambrosia, Fuji, Honeycrisp and Autumn Crisp. Orchard access is included with Fall Festival admission, but apples are purchased by the picking bag. Current bag prices begin at $10 for a quarter-peck bag holding roughly three to four pounds. The farm recommends checking crop availability before visiting because varieties change as the season progresses. Then There Are the Games, Lots of Them The rest of the farm reads almost like someone kept adding another backyard game every time there was an empty patch of grass. The activity lineup includes pedal karts, junior pedal karts, a John Deere trike course, barnyard bouncers, a straw maze, mini golf, pumpkin bowling, rubber duck races, giant pumpkin checkers, giant tic-tac-toe, Connect Four, cornhole, tug-of-war and croquet. There is also barnyard basketball, baseball, football, soccer pool, Farm Pong, Roller Bowler, Wall Ball, Tractor Pull, sand diggers, memory games, Tilt-a-Games, a Bubble Barn, a sandbox and Ollie the Tractor. The Singing Chicken Show and Heehaw Hayride add another layer of farm-themed entertainment, while the barnyard animals and photo areas give families a reason to slow down between games. Some attractions carry an additional fee. The Corn Cannon is priced at five shots for $5 or 12 for $10; the Apple Blaster runs three shots for $5 or 10 for $10; and the paintball shooting gallery sells cups of paintballs at several price levels. Those extras are also bundled into higher-tier admission options. Picking a Ticket October General Admission is $24.99 online or $27.99 at the farm. It includes the corn maze, unlimited hayrides, the festival activity area and access to the orchard and pumpkin patch, with picked produce purchased separately. The $33.99 online Blast Pass adds five Corn Cannon shots and five Apple Blaster shots. The $41.99 online Ultimate Pass adds those shots plus a small quarter-peck bag for apple picking. On-site versions of both passes cost $3 more. Children age 2 and younger do not need admission. The most important planning detail for an October weekend is the ticket itself: Von Thun Farms requires online tickets to guarantee entry. If parking reaches capacity, only guests with prepaid tickets will be allowed into the lot. The final ticket of the day is sold at 4 p.m., one hour before the festival closes. A Full Day Rather Than a Quick Pumpkin Stop Von Thun Farms has been farming in New Jersey since 1913, but its modern fall weekends lean heavily into the idea that a farm visit can be an attraction in its own right. There is still a real orchard. There are still pumpkins growing in a field. The hayride still ends where visitors actually pick them. Around those basics, however, the farm has built something much larger: a corn-maze challenge, an activity park, animal encounters, competitive games and enough small distractions to turn what might once have been an hour-long pumpkin run into most of a Saturday or Sunday. For the Oct. 10-11 weekend, that is really the point. Come for a pumpkin if that is the mission. But between the Dogs & Dinos maze, the orchard, the hayrides and the dozens of activities scattered across the grounds, getting back to the car quickly may be the harder challenge. PLAN THE WEEKEND WhatVon Thun Farms Fall Festival Weekend — South BrunswickWhenSaturday-Sunday, Oct. 10-11, 2026, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; last ticket sold at 4 p.m.WhereVon Thun Farms, 505 Ridge Road, Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852General Admission$24.99 online; $27.99 on-site. Children age 2 and younger are free.Also AvailableBlast Pass: $33.99 online. Ultimate Pass: $41.99 online. On-site passes are $3 more.ImportantOnline tickets are required on October weekends to guarantee entry. Pets are not permitted; ADA-covered service animals are welcome.Official event pageVon Thun Farms South Brunswick Fall Festival Weekends Reporting sources: Von Thun Farms 2026 Fall Festival Weekend listing, South Brunswick Fall Fun page, 2026 Corn Maze page, South Brunswick apple-picking page, pumpkin-patch page and official ticketing page. Information checked Oct. 5, 2026. --- 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.