Pumpkin Weekends at Blackberry Farm close at 4 p.m. The dinner menu at The Orchard Social, the Fox Valley Park District's rebuilt restaurant at Orchard Valley Golf Course, starts at 5. Last October, only the first half of that day existed. Orchard Valley closed in November 2024 for a renovation that ran more than a year. This fall, both halves of a family Saturday on Aurora's west side happen at park district properties, and the one-hour gap between them is the only planning required.
Pumpkin Weekends opens today, October 3, so the calendar starts now.
The Afternoon Half Still Belongs to Blackberry Farm
Blackberry Farm, at 100 S. Barnes Road on Aurora's far west side, runs Pumpkin Weekends every Saturday and Sunday from Oct. 3 through Oct. 25. It also opens Monday, Oct. 12, for Columbus Day. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and admission is $11 for every guest age 1 and older. Admission covers the replica steam-engine train, hay wagons, carousel and ponies. Pumpkins to decorate cost $3 more at the gate.
Five golden pumpkins are hidden around the park this season. Finding one gives you a chance to win a 2027 Individual Season Pass to Blackberry Farm.
"Pumpkin Weekends is truly about enjoying fall at your own pace," says Abby Oldenburg, Blackberry Farm's facility manager.
Each date has its own extra attraction, and all of them are included in regular admission:
- Sat., Oct. 3: Bounce House, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Sun., Oct. 4: Bubble Making, noon to 3 p.m.
- Sat., Oct. 10: Pumpkin Carver, 1 to 3 p.m.
- Sun., Oct. 11: Face Painter, noon to 3 p.m.
- Sat., Oct. 17: Trick-or-Treat, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Sun., Oct. 18: Ben Tatar Children's Concert, 1 to 1:45 p.m.
- Sat., Oct. 24: Balloon Artist, noon to 3 p.m.
- Sun., Oct. 25: World's Tallest Scarecrow, noon to 3 p.m.
Trick-or-Treat Day on Oct. 17 is the one the park district calls "always a favorite."
Two Farm Nights Run Past Closing Time
The farm doesn't always close at 4. Two October events run into the evening, and both need advance registration or tickets beyond regular Pumpkin Weekends admission.
The Halloween Hayride is Sunday, Oct. 18, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. It costs $11 for residents and $16 for nonresidents and is open to ages 1 and up. Every attendee has to register, and children must come with an adult. The Ben Tatar concert is earlier that same afternoon, so Oct. 18 can be a full day at the farm.
The Haunted Train Ride is Friday, Oct. 23, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $16, the event is recommended for ages 4 to 10, and everyone age 1 and older needs a ticket, adults included. Count the adults when you budget. A family of four pays $64.
On a Friday, the train lets out about an hour before The Orchard Social's kitchen closes at 9 p.m.
Where the Evening Half Now Lives
For 31 years, Orchard Valley was mostly a golf property. It opened in 1993, and golfers played more than 80,000 rounds there across the 2023 and 2024 seasons combined before it closed in November 2024. The park district built the renovated clubhouse restaurant with a wider audience in mind.
"We want to make sure that Orchard Valley feels welcoming to everybody," says FVPD Executive Director Jen Paprocki.
The Orchard Social, at 2411 W. Illinois Ave., opened to the public on Aug. 14, 2026. It has 194 seats across several indoor and outdoor dining areas, plus private event spaces, a full-service bar, 17 televisions and an expanded patio with its own fireplace. The interior has darker, earth-toned finishes, floor-to-ceiling glass curtain walls facing the 18th hole, and see-through fireplaces. Troon Golf manages the restaurant.
With the course back in play, the restaurant has moved off its opening-month schedule. The kitchen now opens at 11 a.m. every day. It runs until 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The entrée menu starts at 5 p.m. Check bar hours on the restaurant's site or call 630-907-0500 before you go. The park district has said it takes dinner reservations online at orchardvalleygolf.com or by phone, accepts walk-ins when there's room, and doesn't need reservations for the bar.
The September all-day menu has fall flavors, including a Korean Fire & Honey Pinsa at $17 and a Thai Peanut Harvest Salad at $14. The drinks list includes a Maple Smoked Manhattan at $16.
The Course Under the Windows Changed Too
The view from the dining room has been rebuilt as well. Orchard Valley reopened Sept. 5 after an $8.8 million renovation paid for with bond proceeds and the park district's existing capital development fund. The work included a new irrigation system, reconstructed bunkers, expanded greens and tee boxes, new retaining walls and some rebuilt cart paths. The course was supposed to reopen in summer, but heavy rain and storms pushed the date back.
The biggest change is on the 13th hole, a 440-yard par 4. The tee shot is as demanding as before, but a wider fairway now gives golfers a bailout area down the left side. Players who used to face water on their second shot now have an easier approach. Greg Martin of Sugar Grove-based Martin Design Golf led the redesign. He worked to keep Ken Kavanaugh's original layout, and the greens were reshaped to bring back parts of the 1993 design.
"Maintain the fun, update the infrastructure and modify the strategy," Martin said, describing what the project set out to do.
Short October afternoons make twilight golf a natural fit with dinner. Under the 2026 rate table, twilight starts at 3 p.m. It costs $50 with cart Monday through Thursday and $60 Friday through Sunday. Regular rates are $80 and $110. You can reserve tee times online up to two weeks ahead. The course hasn't announced when the 2026 season ends, so book while it's still open.
One Saturday, In Order
Here's how Saturday, Oct. 17, Trick-or-Treat Day, fits together:
- Get to Blackberry Farm around 11 a.m., when Pumpkin Weekends and Trick-or-Treat both start.
- Collect treats before the 3 p.m. cutoff, and pick out a $3 pumpkin on the way to the train.
- Leave when the farm closes at 4. If you're playing nine holes, the twilight rate began at 3, so this works best on a day when one parent took the clubs and the other took the hay wagon.
- Sit down at The Orchard Social once the entrée menu starts at 5. The kitchen is open until 9 on Saturdays.
A Sunday works the same way, except the kitchen closes at 8.
Later in the Season, the Action Moves East
Once Pumpkin Weekends end on Oct. 25, the next big park events are across town. At Phillips Park Zoo, 1000 Ray Moses Drive, two Bennett's wallabies named Wally and Bindi are the zoo's first marsupials. The zoo is open Thursday through Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The city lists its free Festival of Lights drive-through in the same park from Nov. 27 through Dec. 27, nightly from 5 to 9 p.m., with the entrance at Smith Boulevard and Fifth Avenue.
Before that, the weekend Pumpkin Weekends ends also overlaps with Fox Valley Mall's listed Día de los Muertos Festival in Round 1 Court on Oct. 24 and 25, with cultural presentations, performances and local vendors. The World's Tallest Scarecrow at Blackberry Farm is the same Sunday, from noon to 3 p.m.
If a Blackberry Farm Saturday and a dinner overlooking the 18th hole are part of what you love about your part of Aurora, that matters when it's time to sell. Buyers respond to how a home fits into the life around it. Holzl Homes builds that into every listing, from staging to photography to the story we tell about the neighborhood. Request your free home valuation, and we'll show you what your home could bring this season.
