Fall harvest with a midwest vibe at Dinges Farm is creative and fun for the whole family!

For an authentically Midwestern Fall Harvest experience, it's worth a trip across state lines to Michigan to get to Dinges Farm. Every Fall this generationally run family farm transforms into a silly, spooky, fun-filled and welcoming spot for everything fall... and most importantly, everything Halloween!

Nestled between the quaint (and hopping for a small town) city of Three Oaks and New Troy, this Michigan farm is along a nondescript country road. There are plenty of handmade pumpkin road signs guiding you along the way. There are a few pumpkin farms closer to the city of Chicago, but if you're looking for a worthwhile Fall road trip (with some leaf-peeping in between) or a quaint weekend getaway, Dinges would be my choice for pumpkins. It's an annual tradition in our family and hands down one of my most favorite weekends of the year.

The old family farmhouse is transformed into the old house from Amityville Horror. There are homemade pies, jams, treats, and crafts for sale in their old barn. The property is transformed into a Fall Harvest wonderland - tons to do, but still manageably small (so the littlest legs get tired out enough for a stellar nap but not so exhausted that you're dealing with meltdowns mid-visit).

There's a small train (engineered by a member of the family specifically for their fall harvest fest), a hayride through the grapevines (they grow grapes for the delicious Welch's jellies), swing sets and playhouses, corn mazes (one challenging and one made specifically for tots) and pony rides. There's a haunted truck trailer, corn husk tunnels, go-carts, an engineered tram, a space ship, a smoldering fire to warm your call hands at, goats, bunnies, a bouncy house pumpkin, tractors, and tons of Halloween creatures.

There's plenty of little spots to sit down and catch your breath or share a snack. They offer free coffee and sell popcorn and other little harvesty treats in the main barn. If you're lucky you can catch an appearance of their resident dinosaur (it's an impressive moment really and our family has named him "chomp").

They sell pumpkins and pumpkins galore. Cinderellas, pie pumpkins, beautifully warty ones. Tall ones, short ones, plump ones... the one calling your name. They're known for growing odd and extra-large pumpkins each year (they sell fast though, so plan to arrive at the beginning of the season). Dinges has wheelbarrows and wagons on hand for you to load up your seasonal gourds and push on over (across the road over the hand made wee footbridge) to the parking lot.

Dinges sells tickets to cover all the activities or you can buy per item (prices are so reasonable- thinks $2 for the small train ride). This year we all left pretty cold (it is fall in the Midwest after all), smiling from ear to ear with a car full of pumpkin beauties now proudly displayed on our front porch!

Grand Haven, MI

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