Heaven Sent

Pumpkin picking is only the beginning.

You haven’t experienced fall in New Jersey until you visit Heaven Hill Farm in Vernon. For its annual Pumpkin Land Festival—which runs from mid-September through October 31—the 150-acre Sussex County farm is decked out with cornstalks, hay bales, and arrangements of Indian corn, mums, sunflowers, and zinnias. Heaven Hill also boasts a market and garden center, a bakery, and a showroom selling outdoor furniture and other country-style wares.

At the 24th annual festival, Heaven Hill’s signature crop—pumpkins—takes center stage. This year, a whopping 20 acres of pumpkins were planted, with an expected yield of thousands of pulpy potbellies ready for pickin’. “There’s nothing like seeing that sea of vibrant, orange pumpkins,” says the farm’s Phyllis Emmerich.

The Pumpkin Land Festival runs 10 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday and 10 am to 6 pm on weekends, and includes carnival rides, pony rides, a ten-acre corn maze, and treats like kettle corn and funnel cake. On the weekends, there’s also a Pigtucky Derby. Admission to the festival is $6.50 on weekends, and $4.50 on weekdays; children under 3 free.

On Friday and Saturday nights in October, the farm presents its annual Haunted Acres Hayride until 10 pm (for age 6 and older). The tractor-pulled hayride—said to be the longest-running such attraction in the state—raises funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Even with all these attractions, it might be the fresh baked-goods that keep people coming back. The homemade pies, jams, and honeys are enticing. And the old-fashioned apple cider doughnuts would be churlish to resist. The store’s fall hours are 9 am to 8 pm. (973-764-5144; heavenhillfarm.com.)

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