A trip to Northern North Dakota is well worth it to visit one of the top five pumpkin patches in the state: Berry Acres in Minot.

Fall is synonymous with pumpkins and corn mazes. Even if you are not a fan of Halloween, the experience of picking the perfect pumpkin to festively decorate your home is a big part of the season of colorful leaves.

For those who really get into the spirit of the season, the hunt for the perfect pumpkin patch is a carefully considered process. For those with the means to travel farther into the interior of the state, a trip to the outskirts of Minot, North Dakota affords a near perfect experience.

Pumpkins galore

Pumpkins are no longer your basic orange. Warty goblin pumpkins, lunch lady gourds, Cinderella pumpkins, Turk’s turban and (my personal favorite) peanut pumpkins can all be found at Berry Acres.

The pumpkins range in price from $1 for the mini pumpkins to 40 cents per pound in most cases. I purchased three pumpkins for only $8, which is a steal if you ask me.

Another great aspect, given North Dakota’s climate, is the ability for all of the pumpkins to be brought indoors to the farm’s shop on inclement days. So you don’t have to worry about a hard frost or premature blizzard dashing your dreams of experiencing a pumpkin patch that year. Because, let’s be honest, growing up in the upper Midwest we’ve all experienced snowy Halloweens.

Activities for all

A common misconception of pumpkin patches in general is they are meant only for young children. Berry Acres handily proves this assumption false. With a seemingly endless list of activities, one could easily spend the entire day exploring them all.

For the youngest kids, there is a corn-pit (think sandpit, but dried corn kernels), a kiddy tractor “train, hay ride,” a petting zoo complete with bunnies, miniature horses and an alpaca, and slides made out of hay bales and split plastic culvert pipe.

For others, there is a catch and release fishing pond, mini golf, pumpkin cannon target practice, laser tag, paintball wagon and an eight-acre corn maze, not to mention concessions.

It is hard to think of anything one could possibly add to make this pumpkin patch more complete.

Yearly themes

Each year Berry Acres has a theme for their patch. This year it was the instant classic Disney/Pixar’s “Up.” To go along with this theme, circle hale bales stacked two high are painted with insane accuracy to depict the characters. Russell has all of his Wilderness Explorer badges, and you can even see Mr. Fredricksen’s hearing aid. Kevin and her babies also earn a depiction, and the ever-lovable Doug greets visitors at the entrance.

Minot State University even sponsored an outdoor showing of the movie at the patch earlier this month.

I’ve already started planning my visit next year. After all, it’s never too early to begin preparing for next All Hallows’ Eve.