Master Guide to Fall Fun in Greater Rochester, NY

Stokoe Farms has good, old-fashioned family fun on the farm, especially with their Pumpkin Patch & Harvest Fest.  A low-cost, noncommercial way to spend an afternoon creating wonderful fall memories with your family.  With over 35 exciting activities, including; famous bee zip lines, bounce pillows, hayrides, giant slides, corn and soybean mazes, pedal kart track, nature trail, sports center, games and so much more.  Be sure to check out the NEW low ropes course!  Don’t forget to meet all the animals, including Essa and Dune the camels, plus wallabies, goats, emus, and two new baby kangaroos! 

Be sure to grab some of their legendary donuts or fresh popped kettle corn.  Don’t worry if the kiddos get hungry, The Old Barn Grill has lots of offerings! Activities are September 12-October 31, weekends and Columbus Day. (Later, Christmas trees!)

Wayne County's 2020 Apple Tasting Tour is packed with new options for visiting and celebrating the apple! NEW Virtual experiences to include an on-line passport with trivia and NEW features like curbside pickup at some stops. Ten locations, each unique, as is the taste and texture of apples. Plus we added 5 parks and the restaurant sponsors this year. With so many places and options, U Pick your stops, U Pick the Way!

The last weekend in September through the last weekend in October, The Garden Factory, on Buffalo Road in Gates, invites you to join our Fall Family Fun activities, 11:00am to 4:00pm. Our activities are kid friendly and include rides, games, arts & crafts and rotating special guests each weekend! With animal visitors, carnival rides, delicious foods, and more, there is sure to be something to please everyone!

All aboard for the Halloween Trolley Express on Saturday, October 19!  Ride the vintage trolley car to the Pumpkin Patch where you'll decorate a free baby pumpkin and enjoy delicious cider and donuts.  In the museum there's trick-or-treating in Halloween decorated trolley cars!  Special prices prevail and reservations are required.  

What better way to enjoy the beauty of autumn in western New York State than from the window of an authentic 90-year-old electric trolley car!  Rides operate every half-hour, starting at 11:30 a.m., and are included with admission to the museum ($8 adults, $7 seniors 65+, $6 youths age 3 – 12).  No reservations are required for Fall Foliage Trolley Rides, operating Sundays only, September 15 through October 27.

The Great Pumpkin Farm’s Fall Festival will celebrate its 23rd year as Western New York’s favorite fall destination when it opens on September 15 at 10:00 a.m.  For seven consecutive weekends, the Fall Festival offers something for every age, including amusement rides; hayrides and corn maze; “Zillions”of pumpkins and “Huge” mums; pumpkin cannon; shooting gallery; homemade donuts, pies, cookies and pastries; Halloween decorations and special events, such as the World Pumpkin Weigh Off and Pie Eating Contests, Oinktoberfest, New York State’s BBQ Cook-off, a Trebuchet Competition – and so much more!

At Long Acre Farms, we are experts at getting people lost, and we know how to provide fun for the whole family once you are found! With wagon rides, corn mazes, wine tastings, jumping pillow, great food and more. there is something for everyone to participate in. Kids love our pumpkin jump pad, tug of war, corn hole games and a kids obstacle course. And if daytime adventure isn’t enough, you can come to the moonlight mazes on Friday and Saturday nights. Our wood-fired pizza oven adds to the great food selections. With cider slushies, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin fudge, candy apples and kettle korn – all is complete. All of the special events are listed on our website – Hope to see you soon!

One great way to get your kids to eat more fruit -- and introduce them to the subtleties of sweet/tangy tastes -- is by taking them apple picking to a local orchard. This link has places to go and things to do for a day in the orchard all around Rochester and the Finger Lakes.

Fun or scary: You take your pick! It's easy to evaluate all of your options with the KidsOutAndAbout.com big list of Halloween events and activities. This includes the scary stuff that my kids will probably not venture into until they're too cynical to enjoy it, and the wonderful gentle trick-or-treat parties that the towns, museums, and farms provide. (The number of fun stuff outweighs the scary activities by a margin, but there's something for everyone.) We divide the list into a scary section and a fun section so you know exactly what you're getting into!

Buy your fall pumpkins at a boring old grocery store? Not when you can head to a farm or roadside stand and pick the perfect pumpkin for a less money and more fun! Here is KidsOutAndAbout's list of places to pick pumpkins in our area.