A free-to-enter Adams County fruit farm and market where the pumpkins and apples are the point, not a ticketed attraction park - which makes it the lowest-risk fall outing in this part of Pennsylvania if you have unpredictable toddlers.
The market is free to enter and the Apple Harvest Weekends (October 3-4 and October 10-11, 2026, 12:00pm-4:00pm) are listed as free. Workshops and classes on the same calendar are separately ticketed - examples for autumn 2026 include a Pumpkin Planter Workshop at $45, a Sourdough Starter Class at $25, a Stained Glass Class at $55 and the Li'l Dumplings Fall Series at $10 per session.
Free to walk in. Your spend here is whatever you choose — pumpkins, food, and any paid activities. That makes it a low-risk stop if you are not sure how long the kids will last.
There is a category of fall farm that sells you a day out, and a category that sells you fruit. Hollabaugh is firmly the second. The market is free to walk into, the draw is pick-your-own apples and pumpkins, and the rest of the autumn programme is an events calendar rather than a midway. If you are picturing a corn maze and a jumping pillow, adjust now.
The single most useful fact here is that a family of four pays nothing at the door. That is worth more than it sounds, and not only to people watching their money.
Consider a two-year-old. At a ticketed farm charging ten dollars a head, a family arrives having spent forty dollars and needs the visit to last long enough to justify it, which is exactly the pressure that turns a nice morning into a bad one when the toddler decides after eighteen minutes that they are done. Here, a twenty-minute visit costs nothing but the drive. You buy a pumpkin, you leave, nobody has lost anything. For parents of unpredictable small children this is the structurally correct choice in a way that no attraction list can match.
The cost lives elsewhere: in the fruit, the baked goods, and in the events. That is a much easier budget to control, because you can see it in your hands before you pay for it.
The paid side of Hollabaugh is small-capacity and not cheap. The 2026 calendar carries a Pumpkin Planter Workshop at $45, a Stained Glass Class at $55, a Sourdough Starter Class at $25, and a Farm-to-Table Dinner at $100 that sold out well ahead. Two adults on the pumpkin workshop is $90, which is more than a family of four pays to get into most ticketed farm festivals in this region for a whole day.
That is not a criticism; a craft workshop with materials and instruction is a different product from a hayride. But it does mean the calendar is worth reading carefully rather than assuming the fall programme is broadly free because the market is.
The exception, and it is a good one, is Li’l Dumplings: a Thursday series running October 1 through November 12 at $10 a session, aimed squarely at toddlers. Ten dollars for a structured hour with very young children on a weekday is at the sensible end of the market.
Apple Harvest Weekends run October 3-4 and October 10-11, 12:00pm to 4:00pm, with in-market sampling, warm apple crisp, apple baked goods and local craft. Both are free.
Four hours is a short window, and free events in early October in Adams County draw a crowd. Arriving at noon rather than at three is the whole strategy. It is also worth understanding what these are: market events with sampling and craft, not a field festival with rides.
The farm is careful to state that it is not the site of the National Apple Harvest Festival. It opens alongside it. Adams County is apple country and the festival is a substantial regional event, so a steady stream of visitors arrives at Hollabaugh each autumn expecting to have found it. If the festival is what you are driving for, confirm the festival’s own location separately.
No overall 2026 fall season dates. The farm says the full line-up is still being finalised, and pick-your-own apple opening is described by reference to last year - the 2025 season began August 28. If a specific crop or a specific date is the reason for your trip, ring 717-677-8412 rather than assuming last year repeats.
The market is open Monday to Saturday 9:00am to 5:00pm and Sunday 12:00pm to 5:00pm. Apple Harvest Weekends fall on October 3-4 and October 10-11, 2026, running 12:00pm to 4:00pm, and both are free. Pick-your-own apples typically opens in late August - the 2025 season began August 28 - which is earlier than most farms in this list. No overall fall season start or end has been published for 2026; the farm says its full line-up is still being finalised.
An hour for a market-and-pumpkin trip. Two to three hours if you are picking apples as well, or if you have come for one of the Apple Harvest Weekends, which only run four hours each day.
The two Apple Harvest Weekends are the pressure points, partly because they are free and partly because they run only 12:00pm to 4:00pm, which puts everyone into a four-hour window. Early October in Adams County is also peak orchard traffic generally. An ordinary weekday morning at the market is a completely different experience.
Not published. This is a large working fruit farm and market on Carlisle Road, so expect a proper market car park rather than a field, though overflow on Apple Harvest Weekends may well be on grass.
Not published. A market building is generally the most manageable part of any farm, but pick-your-own rows are orchard ground - uneven, and soft after rain. Ring 717-677-8412 to ask about specific needs, particularly for the workshop spaces.
You want rides, slides, a corn maze or a jumping pillow. None of that is on the list here - this is an orchard and market, and the entertainment is the food, the picking and the events calendar. Skip it too if you were expecting the National Apple Harvest Festival; this farm is explicit that it is not the festival site.
Biglerville sits in the middle of Adams County orchard country, and early October is when the whole area is at its best and its busiest. Because a visit here can be as short as an hour, it pairs easily with a drive through the fruit belt rather than needing to fill a day on its own.
No. The market is free to enter, and the Apple Harvest Weekends on October 3-4 and 10-11, 2026 are listed as free. You pay for what you pick and what you buy. Workshops and classes on the events calendar are separately ticketed.
October 3-4 and October 10-11, both running 12:00pm to 4:00pm. They include in-market sampling, warm apple crisp, apple baked goods and local artisan craft.
No. The farm is careful to say it is not the festival site - it opens alongside the festival rather than hosting it. This trips up visitors every year, so check the festival's own location if that is what you are driving to Adams County for.
Pick-your-own apples typically open in late August; the 2025 season began August 28. The farm had not published a confirmed 2026 opening when we last checked, and says its full autumn line-up is still being finalised.
2026 dates had not been published when we last checked. In past seasons it has run: Monday-Sunday. Check with the farm before driving out.
Admission is free. The market is free to enter and the Apple Harvest Weekends (October 3-4 and October 10-11, 2026, 12:00pm-4:00pm) are listed as free. Workshops and classes on the same calendar are separately ticketed - examples for autumn 2026 include a Pumpkin Planter Workshop at $45, a Sourdough Starter Class at $25, a Stained Glass Class at $55 and the Li'l Dumplings Fall Series at $10 per session.
545 Carlisle Road, Biglerville, PA 17307, in Adams County. It is one of 4 patches we track in South Central PA.
We track 4 patches in South Central PA, 1 of which are free to walk into. Entry here costs nothing, which puts it in the minority even in a region with several free options.
What sets it apart locally: it has a market, bakery or taproom, which most South Central PA patches on our list do not.
One caveat worth repeating: this farm had not published its 2026 dates when we last checked, while 2 of the 4 patches we track in South Central PA had. Treat any date you see elsewhere as last year's until the farm confirms it.
There are 3 other patches we track in Adams County. All South Central PA patches →
Map pin is set to the town centre. Navigate to the street address above, not the pin.
hollabaughbros.com
Checked August 2026.