Fall Family Outings Around Lowndes County: Pumpkin Patches, Corn Mazes and October Festivals, Weekend by Weekend
Key Takeaways
- This weekend (Oct. 3–4): the Honeybee parade in Hahira at noon Saturday, the South Georgia Fall Fest at the Rainwater Conference Center 10–4, and Fifth Day Farm’s pumpkin patch both days.
- Closest pumpkin patch: Fifth Day Farm on Clyattville-Nankin Road, Saturdays 10–5 and Sundays 11–5 through October, $12 a person, 2 and under free.
- Closest mazes: Raisin’ Cane on Newsome Road (corn), A-Maze-N-Cane south of Nashville (20-foot sugar cane, open weekends), and Rutland Farms in Tifton (five acres, flashlight nights).
- Wild Adventures’ Great Pumpkin LumiNights runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 1 and is included with regular admission.
- Free festivals: Georgia Peanut Festival in Sylvester Oct. 16–17, Festi-Fall at Unity Park Oct. 29, and a three-way Halloween Saturday: Ocilla’s Sweet Potato Festival, Boston’s Mini-Marathon & Festival, and Hahira’s trunk-or-treat.
Four kids, two of them small, and five October weekends. That is the math at our house every fall, and the trick is not finding something to do; it is finding the thing that fits the ages you have and the heat we still have. I went through every farm, park and festival within about an hour of Lowndes County and checked each one against its own 2026 page, because half the listings on the internet are quietly recycling last year. Where something was not confirmed for this year, I say so.
One weather note up front. October cools off here, but slowly: Valdosta’s normal high is 84°F on Oct. 3 and still 76 on Halloween, with lows sliding from 62 to 51 (NOAA 1991–2020 normals). Sunset moves from 7:17 p.m. at the start of the month to 6:47 by the end, so a “flashlight night” at a maze really is dark by 7:15 on Halloween weekend. Our fall outlook has the longer view; the forecast app has Saturday’s.
Where are the pumpkin patches and corn mazes near Valdosta?
Four within 45 minutes, and each one suits a different age. Fifth Day Farm south of Valdosta is the toddler-and-preschool pick, Raisin’ Cane is the quick after-lunch stop with a maze the little ones can finish, A-Maze-N-Cane near Nashville is the one older kids will talk about, and Rutland Farms in Tifton is the full-day trip.
| Farm | What you get | When & how much | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raisin’ Cane Country Store 3350 Newsome Rd., Valdosta · ~15 min raisincanevaldosta.com · 229-259-2000 | Corn maze plus a kids’ easy maze, wagon rides, farm animals, pumpkins, and a country store with a lunch café; u-pick satsumas open in November | Store Mon–Sat 10–6. Fall activity dates and prices weren’t posted for 2026 when I checked — call first. | Ages 3–8; a two-hour outing, not a whole day |
| Fifth Day Farm 5732 Clyattville-Nankin Rd., Valdosta · ~30 min fifthdayfarmllc.com · 229-413-3242 | Pumpkin patch, petting zoo, feeding Joe the camel, hayrides, kids’ activities, food trucks; pony rides extra. Touch-a-Tractor Oct. 17–18, reptile show Oct. 25 | Sat 10–5, Sun 11–5, Sept. 26 through October (2026 dates on their site). $12/person, 2 & under free | Toddlers and preschoolers; the most little-kid value near town |
| A-Maze-N-Cane 7158 Old Valdosta Rd., Nashville (5 mi. south of town) · ~20 min Facebook: A-Maze-N-Cane · listing | A winding maze cut into a seven-acre sugar cane field, cane 20 feet tall; marshmallow roasting, cane chewing and juice, farm animals, kids’ obstacle course, a cleared circle in the middle for stargazing | Weekends in October and November; Fridays run into the night, Sundays afternoon. Hours and price (listings say $5–$8, 3 and under free) are on their Facebook page — check before you drive. | 8 and up; teens; the after-dark one |
| Rutland Farms 5641 Union Rd., Tifton · ~40 min rutlandfarms.com · 229-386-5111 | Five-acre corn maze (they bill it Georgia’s largest), a mini maze for toddlers, pumpkin patch, Saturday fall festivals with hayrides, petting zoo and face painting, and flashlight nights in the maze | Saturday festivals through October; festival admission has been $14 (65+ $11, 2 & under free) and flashlight nights $10. Confirm this year’s Saturdays on their site — the 2026 schedule wasn’t posted when I checked. | Mixed ages; the make-a-day-of-it trip |
| Springhill Farm 795 Woodhull Rd., Bainbridge · ~1 hr 40 min springhilltreefarm.com | Corn maze, kiddie maze, hayrides, pig races, kids’ train, corn pool, pumpkin patch | October; $10 daytime armband ages 4+ per their site | Only if you’re headed that way; it’s a haul |
Two more that aren’t farms but scratch the same itch. Camp Rock of Georgia in Valdosta has run “Fall Days” the last few autumns — last year on four dates in October and Nov. 1, $10 a head, petting zoo to axe throwing — but its page still showed 2025 when I looked; what is on the calendar is the Camp Rock Rodeo, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 9–10, at 4391 Rocky Ford Road, evening performances (tickets). And if you want pumpkins without the drive, the Family Fun Finder has the parks and playgrounds around town for the afternoon after you buy one.
What’s happening each weekend in October 2026?
Here is the month the way I’d actually plan it: one anchor per weekend, and a farm to pair with it. Everything below is dated from the organizer’s own 2026 page unless noted.
Oct. 3–4: Honeybee Saturday
- Hahira Honeybee Festival parade, Saturday at noon, a mile of Main Street. Our parade guide has the map, the shady side and the closures; the festival guide has the vendors (Friday 9–6, Saturday 10–6) and the 4 p.m. quilt drawing.
- South Georgia Fall Fest, Saturday 10–4, Rainwater Conference Center, 1 Meeting Place, Valdosta: carnival games, petting zoo, craft vendors and food, per Visit Valdosta’s calendar. Admission wasn’t posted when I checked.
- Fifth Day Farm is open both days; Sunday 11–5 is the quieter one.
- Great Pumpkin LumiNights at Wild Adventures, Friday evening through Sunday (details below).
Oct. 9–11: witches, a rodeo and a market
- Downtown Hahira Witches Night Out, Friday, Oct. 9 — the sixth year; live music, vendors, games and prizes downtown. Grown-ups in hats, kids in tow. The city’s events page lists the date but not the hour yet.
- Camp Rock Rodeo, Friday and Saturday evenings, Rocky Ford Road: bareback, calf roping, barrels, bulls last.
- Makers Market, Saturday 10–2, Courthouse Square, downtown Valdosta: artisans, produce, treats.
- A-Maze-N-Cane pairs with any of these; Friday night is the one the teenagers want.
Oct. 16–18: peanuts and tractors
- Georgia Peanut Festival, Sylvester, Friday–Saturday, Oct. 16–17, T.C. Jeffords Park — about an hour north, past Tifton. Free admission, a parade the organizers call one of the largest in the Southeast, craftsmen from across the state, and Percy’s Peanut Patch with a petting zoo for the little ones (gapeanutfestival.org). The parade is Saturday morning downtown; the site hadn’t posted the 2026 step-off time when I checked, and in past years it has been 10 a.m.
- Fifth Day Farm’s Touch-a-Tractor & Kubota Showcase, Oct. 17–18, with a Barnyard Boogie (live music, line dancing) on Saturday. If you have a four-year-old boy, I don’t need to explain this one.
- Firearms deer season opens Saturday, Oct. 17. If half the family is in the woods, the other half has the farms to themselves; our opener checklist is for the first half.
- Watch for Burgers & Bluegrass at Lowndes Park: the county says it returns in October 2026, but no date was posted yet.
Oct. 20–25: the ag expo week, then art and a movie
- Sunbelt Ag Expo, Moultrie, Tuesday–Thursday, Oct. 20–22, Spence Field, 8:30–4 (Thursday to 3). It is a weekday farm show, not a festival — it bills itself North America’s premier farm show, with 1,200-plus exhibitors — and children 10 and under are free with a parent; adults $15 at the gate, $12 in advance, $30 for a multi-day ticket (sunbeltexpo.com). A teacher-workday-worthy trip for a kid who likes big machines.
- ARToberfest, Saturday, Oct. 24, Turner Center Art Park, Valdosta — the ninth year: artists, live music, food trucks, hands-on activities.
- Movie Night: Up, Saturday, Oct. 24, Unity Park — an outdoor movie on the city calendar; bring blankets.
- Fifth Day Farm reptile show, Sunday, Oct. 25, free with admission.
Oct. 29–Nov. 1: Halloween weekend, three towns at once
- Festi-Fall, Thursday, Oct. 29, 5:30–7:30 p.m., Unity Park Amphitheater, 301 E. Central Ave., Valdosta — the city’s free candy-and-games night; costumes encouraged.
- Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31, in Hahira: the Main Street Market at the Depot, Paint a Pumpkin with the Hahira Police Department, and Trunk or Treat with J3’s Just Jeeps, all on the city calendar (times weren’t posted yet).
- Georgia Sweet Potato Festival, Ocilla, Saturday, Oct. 31 — about 50 minutes north on U.S. 129. Parade at 11 a.m., arts and crafts, antique farm equipment and classic cars, face painters, games and kiddie rides (Ocilla-Irwin Chamber).
- Boston Mini-Marathon & Festival, Boston, Saturday, Oct. 31 — about 50 minutes west on U.S. 84. Half marathon 8 a.m., 5K 8:15, 5K walk 8:30, then a parade through downtown around 11:30, entertainment in Watt Park from 12:30, and a trunk-or-treat at 6:30 p.m. downtown (event page). You cannot do Ocilla and Boston both; pick by which direction Grandma lives.
- Great Pumpkin LumiNights runs its final nights Friday through Sunday, Nov. 1.
Is Great Pumpkin LumiNights at Wild Adventures worth it?
If you already have a season pass, yes, without a second thought: it is included, and it turns a hot park into a cool evening. LumiNights runs Sept. 26 through Nov. 1, 2026, Fridays 5–9, Saturdays noon–9 and Sundays noon–8, with hundreds of illuminated pumpkins, the 100-foot Twilight Tunnel, a glow maze, a foggy forest and a carved-pumpkin gallery of nearly 200 (Valdosta Today, Sept. 9). New this year: Spookley’s Trick-or-Treat Trail with scavenger hunts and bubble stations, more Pumpkin Spice Festival food, and a new pumpkin sculpture. The park’s public relations specialist, Asher Raymond, put it plainly: “This event has become a staple for family fall traditions.”
If you are buying a day ticket just for this, go on a Saturday: you get the rides in daylight and the lights after dark for one admission, and with sunset between 7:17 and 6:47 this month the glow doesn’t really start until the last two hours. Fridays are shorter but emptier. The park is at 3766 Old Clyattville Road, and 2027 season passes were on sale from $89.99 when this was written, which is the cheapest way to do it if you will be back in the spring.
Tips for doing this with little ones
Go early, bring a wagon, and treat the first three weekends like summer. That is most of it; the rest is detail I have learned the hard way with a 4-year-old and a 3-year-old.
- Mornings until mid-month. An 84-degree pumpkin patch at 2 p.m. is a nap-skipping meltdown waiting to happen. Fifth Day Farm opens at 10; be there at 10.
- Cash and small bills. Farms, festival vendors and church-run booths still run on it, and the pony ride line is not the place to discover the card reader is down.
- Wash hands after the petting zoo and before the funnel cake. Camels are wonderful. Camel germs are not.
- Check the organizer’s Facebook page the morning of. Every one of these farms posts weather calls and food-truck lineups there first, and October is still hurricane season; our free storm email alerts cover Lowndes County if something is brewing.
- A flashlight each for the night mazes, not one for the group. Every kid wants to hold it.
- Get the flu shots done before the crowds, not after. Hogan’s Pharmacy, one of our sponsors and an independent Valdosta pharmacy since 1976, gives them with no appointment needed.
- Gas up on the way out. Sylvester, Ocilla and Tifton are real drives; the Gas Finder shows who is cheapest along U.S. 41 and I-75, from neighbors’ reports.
Common Questions
Is there a pumpkin patch in Valdosta?
Yes. Fifth Day Farm, 5732 Clyattville-Nankin Road, Saturdays 10–5 and Sundays 11–5 through October, $12 a person, 2 and under free. Raisin’ Cane on Newsome Road sells pumpkins too.
Where is the closest corn maze?
Raisin’ Cane in Lowndes County has one, plus a kids’ maze. A-Maze-N-Cane south of Nashville is a sugar-cane maze open weekends; Rutland Farms in Tifton has the big five-acre one with flashlight nights.
Which festivals are free?
The Honeybee (Oct. 3), the Georgia Peanut Festival (Oct. 16–17), Festi-Fall (Oct. 29), Hahira’s Halloween events, the Sweet Potato Festival (Oct. 31) and Boston’s festival (Oct. 31; the races cost, the festival doesn’t).
Is LumiNights extra?
No — it is included with regular Wild Adventures admission or a season pass, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 1.
How hot will it be?
Normal highs run 84°F on Oct. 3 down to 76 on Oct. 31; lows 62 down to 51. Water early in the month, a jacket for evenings late in it.
What about trick-or-treating itself?
Halloween is a Saturday this year. Hahira’s trunk-or-treat and Boston’s (6:30 p.m.) are the organized options; Festi-Fall on Thursday the 29th is the city of Valdosta’s.
The Bottom Line
You do not need to drive to a mountain to get a fall. Between a camel on Clyattville-Nankin Road, a sugar-cane maze outside Nashville, what Rutland Farms bills as the state’s biggest corn maze 40 minutes up the interstate, a theme park full of glowing pumpkins, and a free festival within an hour every single Saturday, October in Lowndes County is the easiest month of the year to fill. Pick one anchor per weekend, go in the morning while it is still warm, and let the small ones fall asleep on the way home with a pumpkin in their lap. Ours will.