Irons Mill Homestead – Fall Festival & Pumpkin Patch

You may remember my goal to hit as many Pittsburgh pumpkin patches as possible before Halloween this year (2019)?? Well we kicked off this year with Irons Mill Farmstead near Grove City this past Sunday… well…

Somehow we spent the ENTIRE DAY at the Fall Festival and we left without a PUMPKIN!! There is just THAT MUCH to do there. Seriously.

I admit that after hitting up some more Pittsburgh – central farms the past handful of years, my expectations were pretty standard: hayride, pick a pumpkin, go through a corn maze, maybe play a couple of games, and then head home. Maybe 2 hours of entertainment and some pricey pumpkins out of it.

People, Irons Mill is NOT your standard pumpkin farm. These people have created a farm-themed CARNIVAL.

It’s a good thing they hand out a map of the venue when you walk in, so my kids could devour all the options and scheme out our plan of attack. Immediately we noticed how well everything seemed to be laid out, and we decided to plan around the 4:30 Candy Cannon and 5:30 Pig Races, circling around the farm as we go.

I was especially curious about the candy cannon. I couldn’t imagine they would ACTUALLY shoot tons of candy out into the crowd???

Yup, they did. And the kids LOVED IT. Well, most of them did! Turns out that cannons are LOUD and gravity makes for some hard hits on the head. At least everybody loved the candy!! It was definitely an event to try at least once!

According to my kids, some highlights of the trip are the jumping pillows, bat glide (zip line!), the rolling tumbleweeds, and the obstacle course. Of course my littlest one was a fan of the farm animals! We didn’t try the apple blasters this time, but will add that on to the list for next year.

MY favorite part of the trip was that the entrance fee covered pretty much everything at the farm. No need to nickel and dime our way around the place! The only extra costs are of course food, pumpkins, and the apple blasters (which we did not try). At $15/head it was a little on the pricey side, but definitely worth it for a whole day of fun.

PLEASE note that some of the food (funnel cake!) and the corn maze close at least a half hour before the rest of the farm shuts down. My son was SO incredibly disappointed to miss out on the Corn Maze- the thing he was most looking forward to- because we walked up there a half hour before close. We had no idea, and had been saving the corn maze for last, so we could do it at dusk.

(He says it might be okay, though, if I promise him that next year we will go back on a Saturday for fireworks. HA!)

Anyway here are some of my favorite photos from our day at the farm (yes, we were one of the last to leave!)… and afterward some more thoughts to help you plan your visit to Irons Mill Farm.

Some quick thoughts:

• Parking was very convenient and well marked.
• Benches were conveniently located alongside almost every attraction, for tired parents or those with mobility challenges.
• We had to use the First Aid tent for some urgent band aid requests, and it was conveniently located in the center of everything.
• If you need a stroller, try to bring a jogger. Some of the rocks and gravel areas were a bit tough to maneuver through- though manageable.
• Food was spread throughout the venue and was your typical festival fare.
• I have heard more people call this farm “Iron Mills” than “Irons Mill”… but Irons Mill is the correct term.

Of course if you decide to take your own kids out to a patch to pick out a pumpkin- whether it’s Irons Mill Farm or otherwise- do let me know! I would love to get YOU in the pictures, too, as you make memories with your kids!