The biggest single-ticket fall farm in Bloomington-Normal, with 56 activities on one wristband and a genuinely long season, but at $21.95 a head on weekends a family of four is nearly ninety dollars in before they buy a pumpkin.
2026 admission: weekdays Wed-Fri $19.95 for ages 4-64; weekends and Columbus Day $21.95; seniors 65+ $9.95; children 3 and under free; military free with valid ID or proof of service. September Farm Fun Discount Days give $14.95 entry from 3-6pm on weekdays, sold at the admission building only. Flashlight Night Maze $10 per person. All sales final, no refunds on admission.
Rough cost for a family of four: about $39.80 in admission alone at the posted starting rate, before pumpkins, food, parking or any add-on listed above. Most families end up well north of that once they are through the gate.
Rader advertises 56 separate activities on a single admission, and that number is the whole argument for the place. A 12-acre corn maze with phone mapping, a zipline, a combine slide, pedal karts, mini golf, a paintball shooting gallery, a jumping pillow, duck races, a low-ropes course, an animated talking corn show and an animal barn are all inside the ticket. Nothing on the published activity roster is an upcharge except the Flashlight Night Maze.
That structure decides how you should use the day. At $19.95 on a weekday or $21.95 at a weekend, this is not a place to drop in for an hour. Two adults and two school-age children pay $79.80 midweek and $87.80 at a weekend, and the farm is explicit that admission sales are final with no refunds. Spend four to six hours or do not buy the ticket.
The first is the senior rate. Anyone 65 or over pays $9.95, less than half the adult price, and gets the identical wristband. In a multigenerational group that is a meaningful saving, and it makes Rader an unusually good choice for grandparents bringing grandchildren rather than the other way round.
The second is the September discount. On weekdays in September only, entry from 3pm to 6pm costs $14.95 instead of $19.95. There is a catch: it is sold at the admission building, in person, not online. So it rewards people who are confident enough to turn up without a booking. Three hours is a real visit at a farm this size if you triage, and $59.80 for a family of four instead of $79.80 is worth the mild inconvenience.
The farm runs 10am to 6pm from September 4 to November 1, closed Mondays and Tuesdays, plus Columbus Day. That is about 44 operating days, which is generous by Illinois standards, where plenty of farms run three or four weekends and nothing else.
But the same 6pm close means different things in September and October. On a September afternoon you leave in broad daylight with more than an hour of sun left. On the last weekend of October you are walking to the car at dusk in a cold field. If you are bringing small children, the September version of this farm is the easier day; if you want the Flashlight Night Maze to feel like anything, you want October.
One genuinely useful detail: pumpkins are sold in the free area around the Pumpkin Barn. You do not need an admission ticket to buy a pumpkin here. That turns Rader into two different businesses depending on what you want. If the goal is a pumpkin and a photograph, you can do that for the price of the pumpkin. If the goal is a day out for the children, you are paying eighty to ninety dollars for the family before food.
Both are legitimate. What is not sensible is buying full admission and staying ninety minutes.
Children 14 and under must be accompanied by a paying adult 18 or over, so a drop-off is not an option for younger teenagers. Payment is mixed: cards and Venmo generally work, but the admission building takes cash only for some transactions, which is exactly the sort of thing you discover at the front of a queue. Bring some notes.
And the no-refund policy is worth repeating because central Illinois October weather does not cooperate on demand. If you buy in advance for a Saturday and it rains, that is your loss. Buying at the gate on the day costs the same and carries none of that risk, which is another quiet argument for turning up rather than booking ahead.
The 2026 season runs September 4 through November 1, Wednesday to Sunday plus Columbus Day, 10am to 6pm. That is roughly 44 operating days, which is long for an Illinois fall farm. September weekdays are the value window because of the $14.95 late-entry deal from 3pm to 6pm. For the best mix of price and atmosphere, a September Wednesday or Thursday afternoon; for peak season with everything running, an October Friday rather than a Saturday.
Four to six hours if you intend to use the ticket properly. With 56 activities on one admission and no refunds, a two-hour visit is money thrown away. The 10am to 6pm day gives you eight hours to work with, which is enough to include lunch on site.
Weekends and Columbus Day carry the $21.95 rate for a reason. Wednesday through Friday is the quieter half of the week, and the farm being shut Mondays and Tuesdays compresses everyone into five days. Early October weekends are the peak of the peak in central Illinois.
Not published in the record. Assume field or gravel parking, which is standard for a farm of this size in McLean County, and expect soft ground after October rain.
Not published. A farm built around slides, a low-ropes course, a zipline and a 12-acre corn maze is physically demanding by design, and much of it sits on field ground. Ask before booking if mobility is a factor.
You want a quick pumpkin run. There is a free area around the Pumpkin Barn where pumpkins are sold, so a short stop is possible without a ticket, but the admission price only makes sense for a long visit. Skip it too if Monday or Tuesday is your only free day, because the farm is closed both days all season, and skip it if you need flexibility on a booking, because all admission sales are final with no refunds.
Ropp Road sits on the edge of Normal, so this is an easy pairing with anything in Bloomington-Normal rather than a rural expedition. Central Illinois also puts you inside striking distance of Morton, which bills itself the Pumpkin Capital of the World, if you want to build a pumpkin weekend rather than a pumpkin afternoon.
Weekdays Wednesday to Friday are $19.95 for ages 4 to 64. Weekends and Columbus Day are $21.95. Seniors 65 and over pay $9.95, children 3 and under are free, and military enter free with valid ID or proof of service. The Flashlight Night Maze is a separate $10 per person.
Two adults and two children aged 4 or over is $79.80 on a weekday and $87.80 at a weekend, before food, the night maze or a pumpkin. Using the September 3pm to 6pm discount instead brings that to $59.80.
Wednesday through Sunday from September 4 to November 1, 2026, plus Columbus Day, 10am to 6pm. It is closed Mondays and Tuesdays for the whole season.
No. The farm states plainly that all admission sales are final and there are no refunds, so a marginal forecast is your risk, not theirs.
September 4 – November 1, 2026. Wednesday through Sunday, plus Columbus Day. Hours: 10am-6pm.
Admission starts at $9.95 per person. 2026 admission: weekdays Wed-Fri $19.95 for ages 4-64; weekends and Columbus Day $21.95; seniors 65+ $9.95; children 3 and under free; military free with valid ID or proof of service. September Farm Fun Discount Days give $14.95 entry from 3-6pm on weekdays, sold at the admission building only. Flashlight Night Maze $10 per person. All sales final, no refunds on admission.
1312 Ropp Rd, Normal, IL 61761, in McLean County. It is one of 5 patches we track in Central Illinois.
We track 5 patches in Central Illinois, 3 of which are free to walk into. At $9.95 a head this one sits right on the regional median of $9.95.
Its season runs about 59 days against a regional average of 36, so it is a notably longer window than most of its neighbours, which takes the pressure off picking a weekend.
What sets it apart locally: it has rides and play structures, which most Central Illinois patches on our list do not.
Map pin is set to the town centre. Navigate to the street address above, not the pin.
raderfamilyfarms.com
Checked August 2026.