5 Idaho Farm Stands That Only Open a Couple Months a Year

Idaho Preferred, the state’s farm-marketing program, has more than 80 stands across Idaho.

A handful stay open only a couple months each fall.

These are the Idaho farm stands that only open a couple months a year.

Tubbs Berry Farm

Tubbs Berry Farm in Twin Falls opens its pumpkin patch and farm stand for one stretch each year, and the 2026 season runs from Sept. 18 through Oct. 31.

That’s about six weeks.

The stand sells raw honey, jams, and handmade soap alongside pumpkins priced by the pound.

It also runs with no running water, just outhouses, a detail the farm posts on its site so nobody shows up surprised.

Families come for a straw maze, a petting zoo, and apple blaster cannons that launch fruit clear across a field.

Concession stands serve pumpkin chili made from ingredients grown right on the property.

The stand closes early on the last day, wrapping up at 6 p.m. instead of its usual evening close.

Earlier in the summer, the same farm opens its rows for u-pick raspberries on a separate, shorter calendar.

Show up looking for pumpkins in July, and you won’t find any to buy.

Arrive after Halloween, and the gate is already locked for the year.

Shindig Farms

Shindig Farms in Nampa keeps its straw maze and pumpkin patch open from Sept. 12 through Oct. 31, and it’s shut the rest of the year.

You’ll pay $13 for weekday admission, or $9 if you go on a Tuesday.

Weekends jump to $15, and an after-dark haunted maze on select nights costs $25.

None of that’s included.

A mechanical bull, a corn cannon, and ax throwing each need a separate ticket on top of the gate price.

September weekend hours run 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., stretching to 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. once October’s crowds show up.

The farm sits about 25 minutes from Boise, close enough for a weeknight trip after work.

The zip line, at least, comes included with general admission.

Ten Mile Farms

Ten Mile Farms in Meridian runs its corn maze and pumpkin patch from Sept. 11 through Oct. 31, roughly seven weeks total.

The farm sits about 15 minutes from Boise, 20 minutes from Nampa, and 25 minutes from Caldwell.

You won’t pay for parking, which isn’t a given at every fall attraction in the valley.

Its stand sells pie pumpkins and full buckets, not just carve-and-toss jack-o’-lanterns.

An Autumn Market brings in other local vendors on opening weekend, selling goods that have nothing to do with pumpkins.

Hayrides, a barrel train, straw slides, and a corn pit round out the grounds.

You can buy tickets online in advance, choosing weekday, weekend, or season-pass options, or grab them right at the gate.

Weekday hours run 4 to 9 p.m., and Saturdays start earlier, at 10 a.m.

Saturday’s the long day here.

Psst! How much do you know about Idaho’s farms and harvests? Take our quiz and see how many you can get right.

Quiz

Idaho Harvest IQ

Answer these questions on Idaho’s farms, crops, and harvests. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?

Question 1 of 9

Idaho’s official state fruit has never been successfully grown on a single farm in the state. Which fruit is it?

Cherry Hill Farms

Cherry Hill Farms in Caldwell runs a u-pick orchard through much of the summer, but its Fall Festival and Corn Maze farm stand only opens from Sept. 25 through Oct. 31, about five weeks.

Cherry Hill Farms sits at 19125 Apricot Lane, a street name almost too fitting for an orchard.

The orchard itself picks apricots, cherries, peaches, nectarines, and apples between late July and early October.

That's fruit season.

The corn maze stand runs a separate five-week window that starts once fall does.

Idaho Preferred counts more than 80 stands like these across the state, and many run on similarly short fall calendars.

Once the corn maze stand opens, the farm adds Apple Days on Oct. 23 and 24, with cider pressing and other one-weekend activities.

The regular stand keeps Tuesday-through-Saturday hours, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., all season long.

Miss that window, and you'll wait until next fall for the corn maze and its stand to reopen.

Why Idaho's Farm Stands Keep Such Short Windows

Idaho's short growing season sets the clock for farm stands like the five above, since many can't open until the pumpkins, corn, or fruit are ready.

They close again once the harvest runs out or frost ends it, sometimes with only a few days of warning.

Four of the five stands above post explicit Sunday closures on their sites.

Tubbs Berry Farm's listed hours simply stop after Saturday, so treat a Sunday drive as a gamble at any of them.

In practice, calling ahead means checking a stand's Facebook or Instagram post from that same week before you drive out.

A small crew running a folding table can shift closing day on short notice.

U-Pick Red Barn

U-Pick Red Barn in Idaho Falls charges nothing just to buy a pumpkin, and its farm stand only runs from Sept. 19 through Oct. 31.

There's no entrance fee at all.

Just walk in.

Wristbands only come into play for the extras, hayrides, a corn pit, and other activities parents pay for separately.

Wristbands come in standard and unlimited versions, so families can pick how much of the activity list they want to tackle.

Bins range from the huge to the fist-sized, in orange, white, and freckled varieties visitors don't always expect.

Show a valid ID as active military or a veteran, and you'll get 20% off those wristbands.

The farm sits on McNeil Drive on the edge of Idaho Falls, far enough east that it pulls from a different crowd than the Boise-area stands on this list.

You can visit weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., or stay later, until 10 p.m., on Fridays and Saturdays.

The season doesn't run past Halloween week, either.

Come November, the gate closes for good, and any pumpkins still sitting in the field wait unsold until next fall.

9 Things Idahoans Say That Confuse Everyone Who Visits

Image Credit: Shutterstock.com.

Almost nobody outside Idaho pronounces the state capital the way a native does, and many Idahoans have stopped bothering to correct visitors.

The Treasure Valley, the Bench, and a handful of other local terms throw off newcomers just as fast.

9 Things Idahoans Say That Confuse Everyone Who Visits

22 Timeless Summer Vacation Destinations Idahoans Love

Image Credit: Depositphotos

A slower kind of summer still exists a short drive from any of these farm stands, root beer floats, porch swings, and crickets included.

Idahoans keep coming back to the same handful of spots for exactly that reason.

22 Timeless Summer Vacation Destinations Idahoans Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *