Nash Ranch Pumpkin Patch

Simpler than Hawes farm and a lot closer. And best haunted house iv ever experienced and probably ever will. Friday and Saturday night the corn maze and haunt are open till midnight. During the day its more family oriented and at night more for the teens and adults.

The Nash Ranch (NR) is Shasta County’s «original» Pumpkin Patch (PP) since 1991. NR is a real working farm that actually grows its own pumpkins, as well as a host of other things (i.e., sheep, alfalfa, oats, barley, and bird seed millet). Once again, I was here in Redding visiting relatives, and decided to look for something for me and the boy to do. Seeing as how it’s October –and we are Unilocal’s unofficial PumpKings– we decided to check out a local Patch, and this is the first one that came up. A majority (if not all) of the proceeds of the PP here at NR go towards local charities/​clubs (e.g., FFA, 4-​H, library, Boy Scouts, etc). NR offers up the usual PP fun – on a smaller scale. Here’s the rundown:
Parking ($ 2) — When you turn into the farm, off the Old Oregon Trail, you’ll follow a clearly marked road for about a mile until you reach the PP. I was a little perturbed at having to pay for parking, but the $ 2 does go towards the local library.
Corn Maze– Usually, NR has a really amazing Corn Maze that we can run through, but due to the current drought and water restrictions, it had to be sacrificed – for the good of the Pumpkins. Bummer…
Hay Bale Maze (free) — Nice, little hay bale maze setup for the kids to run around in. Not very impressive, but the boy and his new little buddies approved.
Pony Rides ($ 5/​$ 15pic) — The boy’s not into ponies, so we skipped this.
Train ($ 2) — It’s essentially a steam engine shell that’s been put on some kind of tractor. Pretty fun –and bumpy!- five minute ride that takes you around the PP. Not the best ride, but it’s a train!
Bouncy House ($ 2) — One of the nicer bouncy houses we’ve seen; it’s got ladders, a slide and stuff to plow through. Throw in some new friends and you’ve got an instant hit!
Tot Lot (free) — Cute little area setup for the really young kids. It’s just a bunch of slides, houses and misc toys for kids to get the energy out.
Petting Zoo ($ 1) — Run by the local 4-​H Club, they had a nice, kid-​friendly selection of baby goats, piglets, sheep and roosters with more animals to come (according to the lady).
Picnic area– If you choose to bring your own lunch, there is a shaded picnic area provided for you. If not they have a little setup to sell hot dogs, and the like.
Pumpkins (35¢/lb regular & 50¢/lb specialties) — Last, but not least, are the stars of the show – the Pumpkins! NR offers up a good selection with over 30 varieties of pumpkins, winter squash, gourds, and decorative indian corn. You can actually take a wheel barrow, and go right out into the PP and pick your pumpkin straight off the vine! Not too many Patches I’ve been to offer that. From what my sister-​in-​law was telling me, at the end of the year they take all the leftover pumpkins; put them in a crate; and drop them right back into the field from a helicopter! How much fun would that be?!?
The best way to describe this PP is «nice.» Everything is cool, but nothing really blows you away; I was originally going to give it a 3-​star rating, but I factored in the charitable aspect, and the fact that everyone I talked to, who was working the PP, was really friendly and interactive – even after a full day of 90° temps! So, I decide to give it a full star bump – because I can.