The biggest fall operation in the south metro, and the one with the most useful loophole — the market and the pumpkin patch cost nothing to walk into, while the activity side runs $18.95 to $24.95 a head on weekends only.
2025 pricing: non-peak weekends $18.95 (ages 3-64), $16.95 seniors/military; peak October weekends $24.95 / $22.95. Ages 2 and under free. Gem mining, paintball and pumpkin painting cost extra; activity punch cards $10-$14. Entering the market and pumpkin patch alone carries no charge.
Rough cost for a family of four: about $75.80 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.
Southern Belle is the south metro’s flagship fall farm and it operates like two businesses stacked on one property. Understanding which one you are buying is the whole game here.
The free side is the market, the bakery and the pumpkin patch. No ticket, no wristband — you walk in, you buy a pumpkin, you buy something from the bakery, you leave. That side runs Tuesday through Sunday, which means it is available on weekdays when the rest of the farm is closed to the public.
The paid side is the activity area, and it is substantial: a corn maze, hayrides, a cow train, pig races, a jumping pillow, pedal carts, slides and a petting zoo, all included in one admission. That side runs Saturdays and Sundays only, because Monday to Friday belongs to school field trips.
The 2025 pricing was $18.95 for ages 3 to 64 on non-peak weekends and $24.95 on peak October weekends, with seniors and military $2 cheaper on either tier. That $6 gap per head is not arbitrary. A farm charging a third more for certain Saturdays is telling you, in the plainest language available to a business, which Saturdays are unpleasantly full.
For a family of four the difference is $24 — a real number for the identical farm. If your October has any flexibility in it at all, spend it on a non-peak weekend.
Admission is generous in what it covers, which makes the extras easier to say no to than at farms with a low gate and a token economy. But the extras here are the ones children lobby hardest for: gem mining, paintball, pumpkin painting. Punch cards ran $10 to $14.
Run the peak-weekend arithmetic honestly. Two adults and two children at $24.95 is $99.80 before you have touched a pumpkin. Add two punch cards, four pumpkins and a stop at the bakery and $150 is not an extreme outcome. That is not a criticism of the farm — the included list genuinely fills a day — but it is the number to bring, not the $24.95 on the page.
Saturday runs 10am to 7pm. Sunday does not open until 1pm and still stops admitting at 6pm. That is a five-hour window on Sunday against nine on Saturday, for the same ticket price. If you are paying peak, Sunday is materially worse value, and a Sunday arrival at 3pm gives you three hours to use a farm that wants four or five.
Henry County in October gives you the thing the marketing photos are actually promising. The corn in that maze grew here, the pumpkins came out of Georgia ground rather than off a truck from another state, and the weather cooperates in a way it does not further south. Autumn is real here.
Two practical consequences. First, an operation that closes at 7pm means the last stretch of your visit is after sunset in late October, and it gets cold fast once the light goes — bring more layers than the afternoon suggests. Second, peak patch season is also peak leaf season, and the metro’s roads carry that traffic whether or not you are part of it. Give yourself more driving time than the map claims, particularly for a 10am Saturday opening you actually want to hit.
The fall activities run Saturdays and Sundays only, so there is no weekday version of this visit — weekdays are reserved for school field trips. Saturday opens at 10am and Sunday not until 1pm, and both stop admitting at 6pm before a 7pm close. That makes Sunday a genuinely short day: five hours from opening to last entry. If you are paying peak-weekend prices, Saturday at 10am is the only slot that gets you full value. If you only want pumpkins and the bakery, come Tuesday to Friday when the market is open and the crowds are at school.
Four to five hours to justify a peak weekend ticket. With a corn maze, hayrides, a cow train, pig races, a jumping pillow, pedal carts, slides and a petting zoo included, families who leave after ninety minutes have paid roughly $100 for a fraction of the farm.
A weekends-only activity season at the largest farm in the south metro concentrates enormous demand into a handful of days. The farm itself prices for it, charging $6 more a head on peak October weekends than on non-peak ones — that premium is the clearest possible statement about which dates are busiest.
Not published. Assume a field rather than a lot, and assume it does not drain quickly after the sustained autumn rain a Georgia October can produce. Footwear you do not mind ruining, not sandals.
Not documented. Corn maze rows, hayride steps and farm terrain are the obvious pressure points, and the market building is likely to be the most accessible part of the property. Call ahead if this matters rather than paying at the gate to find out.
Your only free day is a weekday. The fall activities simply do not run Monday to Friday for the public, and turning up midweek gets you the market and the patch and nothing else. Also skip the ticket if you are bringing a baby or a teenager — neither is the audience for a cow train.
In the 2025 season, non-peak weekends were $18.95 for ages 3 to 64 and $16.95 for seniors and military; peak October weekends were $24.95 and $22.95. Children 2 and under were free. Gem mining, paintball and pumpkin painting were extra, with activity punch cards at $10 to $14. No 2026 prices had been posted when we checked.
Yes. Entering the market, the bakery and the pumpkin patch carries no charge — the admission price is for the fall activity area. That makes it one of the better free pumpkin stops in the metro if you skip the rides.
The market, bakery and pumpkin patch run Tuesday through Sunday. The fall activities are Saturdays and Sundays only, with weekdays reserved for booked school field trips.
2026 dates had not been published when we last checked. In past seasons it has run: Fall activities Saturdays and Sundays only; market/bakery/pumpkin patch Tuesday-Sunday. Weekdays reserved for school field trips.. Check with the farm before driving out.
Admission starts at $18.95 per person. 2025 pricing: non-peak weekends $18.95 (ages 3-64), $16.95 seniors/military; peak October weekends $24.95 / $22.95. Ages 2 and under free. Gem mining, paintball and pumpkin painting cost extra; activity punch cards $10-$14. Entering the market and pumpkin patch alone carries no charge.
1658 Turner Church Road, McDonough, GA 30252, in Henry County. It is one of 12 patches we track in Atlanta Metro.
We track 12 patches in Atlanta Metro, 3 of which are free to walk into. At $18.95 a head this one sits above the regional median of $15.
What sets it apart locally: it has a market, bakery or taproom, which most Atlanta Metro patches on our list do not.
One caveat worth repeating: this farm had not published its 2026 dates when we last checked, while 3 of the 12 patches we track in Atlanta Metro had. Treat any date you see elsewhere as last year's until the farm confirms it.
There is 1 other patch we track in Henry County. All Atlanta Metro patches →
southernbellefarm.com · atlantaonthecheap.com · atlantaparent.com
Checked August 2026.