Where to go pumpkin picking near London this Halloween

If you're a southwest Londoner, why not head out to Surrey for this pumpkin bonanza? The fields at Crockford Bridge Farm are often too muddy for visitors to pick their own in early October (check before you go), but their annual outdoor Pumpkin Market is a much cleaner, still thrilling trip. Pumpkins and gourds of every shape, size and colour are piled up on haybales in a display which runs from mid-October until Halloween, or whenever its bountiful crop sells out. Plus, there's family fun galore laid on at the weekend as Hallowe'en approaches, including kids' entertainers and spooky games.

Garsons in Surrey is sprouting another 10,000 pumpkins for the public to snaffle. The fields are open seven days a week in October and pickers need to have pre-booked a farm pumpkin pass online in order to access the spoils. Once all pre-release early Pumpkin Passes have sold, additional ones may be released on a daily basis, which means it tends to not be totally sold out like other farms. 

Winterdown Rd, KT10 8LS. Oct 1-31. £4 adult, £1 child, book here.

Run by brothers Toby and Max Williams, this 150-acre Kent farm grows 20 to 30 varieties of fruit and vegetables, including a huge patch of pumpkins in various shapes and sizes. Pick up individual specimens from £1, or grab a wheelbarrow and fill it with as many squashes as you can carry for a very reasonable £37. Just bear in mind that you’ll be living off pumpkin soup until at least Christmas.

Birchwood Rd, DA2 7HD. Oct 15-28 definitely and Oct 29-31 if there are pumpkins left by then. £3.50 for one vehicle of up to seven people, book your slot here.

Each year, Kent's Four Winds Farm holds a bonanza of squash-harvesting and spooky fun in the run up to Hallowe'en, including a scarecrow hunt, face-painting and tea and cakes. Pickers are reminded to bring wellies and a strong bag for their spoils.

Hounslow adventure park Hobbledown Heath has had an autumnal makeover complete with a huge pumpkin patch. Great bulbous orange orbs have taken over an expansive meadow on the River Crane, right beside the Hounslow Heath nature reserve. Grab a wheelbarrow and wend your way through the rows of brightly-coloured gourds and take your favourites with you. Book a combined ticket and you can make your pumpkin-picking sesh into a full day out, by sticking around to enjoy Hobbledown’s ultimate adventure playground and zoo, too. 

Hobbledown Heath’s Pumpkin Patch is open 10am to 4pm every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from September 27 to October 20. Then daily until November 3. 

Head to Essex and you'll find not one but two popular Foxes Farm pumpkin patches: one in Basildon and one in Colchester. They'll be open every weekend in October, plus each day over halfterm. As well as selecting and uprooting squashes, you and the kids can scale a haybale mountain, get lost in a five acre corn maze, and play outdoor games galore. At the Colchester location, you can do all that – but as dusk settles in for some extra spooky atmospherics. Book your timeslot in advance to secure a spot.  

Watch House Farm, SS15 4ER and Green Lane, CO6 3PR. £5

Lathcoats Farm in Essex earns its living mainly from fruit, but in October the pumpkins pop up. Some of them grow undercover in a massive polytunnel, so pumpkin-picking can be an all-weather activity here. The farm’s Pumpkin Festival also offers carving and a Halloween hunt. While you’re there, fill your boots with apples too. Keep your eyes peeled for 2024 dates to be announced. 

Beehive Lane, CM2 8LX. TBC.

The Pumpkin Picking Village in Chelmsford, Essex is as rustic as it sounds. Its fields of gourds situated on a picturesque farm that sits alongside rolling green hills and sweet village houses. Head along on weekend when the farm hosts pumpkin festivals full ay bales, farm animals, and pumpkin-themed games. If you’re looking for a way to get into the Halloween spirit, try their pumpkin picking nights when the fields are open after dark with fairground rides. Ghost train anyone? 

Marsh Farm, South Woodham Ferrers, Chelmsford, CM3 5WP. Daily 10am to 5pm. 

This farm working family farm in Maldon, Essex is packed full of pumpkins in every shade of orange imaginable. If you’re after some good-looking gourds for a decorative display, this is the place to get them. It’s also free entry, so perfect for large families. 

Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, Essex, CM9 8BQ. Open October 18 to 20 & 24 to 31, 10am to 4pm. 

If you want to go all out on the spooky vibes this Halloween, then head to the family-run Cammas Hall farm in Hertfordshire this October. It's got 60 varieties of pumpkin, but the real thrill comes from the extras that usually take up residence in its fields: costumed Hallowe'en characters roaming the fields, a Terror Tunnel, and a haunted Maize Maze. By day, it's all kid-friendly fun, but the twilight sessions amp up the fear factor.

Needham Green, CM22 7JT. £5-£6 admission.

Surrey pumpkin patch Priory Farm has the added lure of tractor rides that'll take you straight to the field. If that seems too much like hard work, you can also buy a pre-picked squash from the free-to-enter Pumpkin Palace. Once you've secured your future jack-o’-lantern, take the kids on a treasure hunt or follow the Halloween trail.

Sandy Lane, RH1 4EJ. Until Oct 31. TBC.

Surrey's Secretts is bringing back its annual Pumpkin Week, which boasts a ton of activities around the key event of picking your own pumpkins. Expect fancy dress competitions, scavenger hunts and pumpkin-themed refreshments. Tickets will go on sale on September 1. 

Hurst Farm, Chapel Lane, GU8 5HU. Oct 19-31. £3 entry.