The first clue that you have arrived at a sunflower farm is usually not the flowers. It is the line of cars carrying families in coordinated outfits, photographers guarding camera bags, and somebody debating whether white sneakers were a terrible decision.
Then the field appears: tall green stalks, dark centers, and thousands of yellow faces turned toward the sky. New Jersey’s sunflower season stretches from early summer into fall, but every farm handles it differently.
Some keep the experience simple with a quiet U-pick field and clippers. Others add wagon rides, mazes, food trucks, farm animals, wine tastings, and enough photo props to fill a camera roll.
Bloom dates can shift with heat, rain, and field conditions, so checking the farm’s same-day update before leaving is smart. From intimate Hammonton rows to sprawling festivals in Cream Ridge and Swedesboro, these ten farms offer plenty of ways to spend a day among the blooms.
1. Holland Ridge Farms
Few New Jersey flower fields create an entrance quite like the one at this Cream Ridge farm. The rows seem to keep going, with classic yellow sunflowers joined by red and white varieties, gladiolus, dahlias, and wildflowers.
That mix makes Holland Ridge more interesting than a single-color photo stop: you can wander, cut a bouquet with real contrast, and find a backdrop that does not look exactly like everyone else’s. The 2026 U-Pick Sunflowers Fall Festival is scheduled for September 10 through October 12, giving this list a true autumn option.
Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, and entry is managed through timed online tickets. Your arrival window matters, but once inside, you can stay until closing.
The farm also layers in oversized photo props and rotating food choices, so a visit can easily stretch beyond a quick walk through the flowers. Go early for cooler temperatures and cleaner sightlines, or aim for late afternoon when the lower light softens the whole field.
Either way, wear shoes you do not mind dusting off later. The smartest move is to decide how many flowers you actually want before you begin cutting; enthusiasm can turn into an unexpectedly large armful fast.
Holland Ridge is polished and popular, but the scale keeps it from feeling like one crowded patch of blooms.
2. Happy Day Farm
Early July brings a different kind of flower outing to Manalapan. Instead of building the day around a large fall festival, Happy Day Farm keeps the focus on summer U-pick rows, where sunflowers share the scene with zinnias and cosmos.
The result is a brighter, looser bouquet and a field that works especially well for families who want more than one color in their photos. Admission to the 2026 flower field is $18 for visitors age two and older, while sunflowers cost $2.50 per stem.
A tractor ride to the fields is included, which saves some walking before the real wandering begins. Bring your own cutting shears and a bucket with water if possible; rentals and buckets may be available, but arriving prepared makes the trip home much easier.
Purchases made in the fields are cash only. The small extras are well chosen rather than overwhelming.
Fresh-squeezed lemonade and shaved ice provide an excellent reward after standing in the sun, while goats, chickens, and gemstone mining give younger visitors something to do after the bouquet is finished. Last entrance is typically at 4 p.m., and the farm urges guests to wear appropriate shoes.
Because the flowers are entirely weather dependent, confirm field conditions before driving over. On a good bloom day, this is one of the easiest places to turn a simple flower-picking trip into a relaxed summer afternoon.
3. Johnson’s Locust Hall Farm
A hayride rolling across 325 acres sets the tone before the first flower is cut. Johnson’s Locust Hall Farm near Jobstown feels less like a staged floral attraction and more like a working farm that happens to have devoted a particularly photogenic corner to sunflowers.
The fields can include as many as 20 varieties of cut flowers, giving bouquet builders more freedom than the usual pick-three-yellow-stems approach. Summer picking generally runs from June through August, with sunflowers arriving after early field flowers and blackberries.
Hayrides to the fields operate Thursday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the farm closes at 5 p.m. Later in the season, sunflowers become part of a broader fall day that can include apples, pumpkins, a corn maze, animals, and scenic hayride tours.
Booking online is the safer choice, especially on weekends. Do not rush straight back to the car after picking.
The farm market is worth a look, and the cider donuts are baked fresh daily. During fall events, the Tomasello Winery outlet, grill, and live music add a more grown-up reason to linger while children make another pass by the animals.
The property’s open space is the real advantage: there is room to stroll, choose flowers carefully, and get a family photo without forming a polite queue behind five other groups. This is a strong pick for visitors who want the sunflower field to feel like one part of a full farm day.
4. Alstede Farms
The biggest challenge at this Chester destination is resisting the urge to add peaches, berries, vegetables, ice cream, and three extra farm activities to what began as a sunflower trip. Alstede Farms is built for a full day, and its Blooming Giants program fits naturally into that larger pick-your-own experience.
Sunflowers are succession planted across multiple fields, helping extend the display beyond a single short burst of peak bloom. For most visitors, the practical advantage is simple: access to the sunflower trail is included with pick-your-own admission.
The regular flower season typically runs from mid-July through mid-September, with sunflowers priced at $2 per stem and other flowers at 75 cents. A tractor-drawn wagon helps move guests around the farm, although there is still plenty of walking, so comfortable shoes, water, and sunscreen matter.
The best plan is to pair the trail with whatever crop is strongest that week. Pick peaches or berries first, visit the animals, then save the flowers for the end so the stems spend less time in a hot car.
The farm store and ice cream stand make an easy final stop, especially when younger visitors have reached their limit for “just one more picture.”
Weekends can be busy, and online tickets come with policies and fees, so read the details before booking. Alstede is not the quietest field on this list, but few places offer as much variety without requiring a second destination.
5. Dalton Farms
A wide South Jersey sky does a lot of the work at Dalton Farms. With fewer trees crowding the horizon, the sunflower rows in Swedesboro catch long stretches of light, especially near evening, and the farm’s oversized photo setups lean into that open-country look.
This is the place for visitors who want flower picking to come with a proper festival rather than a quiet hour in the field. Dalton’s sunflower season has traditionally blended U-pick flowers with a corn maze, giant slide, trike track, playground, low-ropes course, and seasonal photo stations.
Weekends add the bigger-event energy through food vendors, live music, a beer garden, farmers market, and sometimes pedal boat rentals. Flowers are purchased separately from admission, so set a bouquet budget before the cutting begins.
A date check is especially important for 2026 because the current sunflower ticket information lists operating details without a complete set of new season dates. Previous fall events have run from late summer well into October, but bloom timing and operating days can change.
Buying online has also generally been cheaper than walking up, and visitors age three and older have required admission. Arrive with a loose plan rather than trying to do every activity.
Start in the flower field while everyone is fresh, tackle the maze or playground next, then finish with food and music. Dalton works particularly well for mixed-age groups because nobody has to pretend that posing beside sunflowers is the only reason they came.
6. Stony Hill Farms
The wagon ride is part of the fun here, not merely transportation. Guests at Stony Hill Farms in Chester rumble out toward dedicated flower fields, then step into rows of sunflowers, zinnias, and wildflowers to build a bouquet that looks far less predictable than a bundle from the grocery store.
One field is designed for strolling and photos, while another supports cut-your-own picking. The 2026 Sunflower Festival is scheduled for August 8, 9, 15, and 16, with flower picking and hayrides from noon to 6 p.m.
General tickets are listed at $9.99 per person plus tax. For a quieter and more golden-hour-focused visit, Sunflower Sunset Sip & Pick events are planned for the evenings of August 7 and 14.
Those limited dates are important: this is not a festival you can casually postpone for several weeks. Adults have an extra incentive to stick around after the bouquet is finished.
Rebel Sheep Wine Co., located at the farm, offers a tasting room where a crisp pour can replace the usual post-picking lemonade. The pairing gives Stony Hill an easy date-day angle without making the experience feel adults-only.
Book ahead, bring a container for the flowers, and confirm exactly what your ticket includes before arrival. With just two festival weekends, crowds can concentrate quickly.
Stony Hill earns its place by keeping the event focused: a ride, a field, a bouquet, and just enough food, music, or wine to turn the outing into something more memorable.
7. Von Thun Farms
More than 20 photo setups are scattered around the New Jersey Sunflower Trail, but the flowers still manage to remain the main attraction.
Von Thun Farms’ Washington location in Warren County treats the trail as a full summer destination, combining broad sunflower rows with pick-your-own summer flowers, berries, farm animals, and a market stocked with Jersey-grown produce.
For 2026, the trail is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is anticipated to continue through Labor Day. Weekday admission has been listed at $14.99 online and $15.99 at the farm, with children under three admitted free.
Buying ahead is encouraged, and the ticket system allows date changes when plans or weather shift. That flexibility matters when a thunderstorm can flatten an afternoon itinerary.
Weekdays are best for visitors who mainly want to walk, photograph, and cut flowers. Festival weekends bring food trucks, drinks, craft vendors, hayrides, and an activity area, creating a much busier version of the same farm.
The 2026 calendar rotates themes involving bacon, pickles, barbecue, brews, and Latin food, so choosing the right weekend can make the difference between a quiet bouquet trip and a full-day event. Stop at the market before leaving, but pick flowers last whenever possible.
They will fare better on the ride home, and you will avoid carrying stems while visiting animals or berry rows. Von Thun is the most customizable outing here: calm on an ordinary weekday, energetic during a themed festival, and worthwhile either way.
8. Sussex County Sunflower Maze at Liberty Farm
Getting turned around is the entire point at Liberty Farm. Rather than placing a straight walking lane beside a field, this Sandyston farm cuts a maze through an enormous planting of sunflowers, creating tall, leafy corridors where the next turn may lead to a photo opening, a dead end, or another stretch of yellow blooms.
The farm describes it as New Jersey’s first sunflower maze and says the planting reaches roughly 1.5 million flowers. That scale makes the visit feel more adventurous than decorative.
Children can lead the navigation, adults can pretend they know the way out, and photographers get backgrounds with fewer visible fences and parking lots. The maze sits in rural Sussex County near the Delaware Water Gap, so the drive itself feels like a change of pace from more suburban farm stops.
Heat is the main practical consideration. Tall plants block some breeze, the field can become hot quickly, and Liberty Farm recommends morning visits for guests bringing pets.
Bring water, wear a hat, and choose shoes suitable for uneven ground. Parking for the sunflower attraction is located just south of the farm’s main gate, and visitors should follow attendants rather than improvising a roadside space.
Before leaving, check the farmers market for sweet corn, hardneck garlic, seasonal produce, honey, handmade soaps, and the farm’s Jersey Devil salsa. Bloom windows and daily conditions can change, so confirm opening information before making the drive.
For visitors bored by ordinary flower rows, this maze supplies the missing sense of challenge.
9. Bellemont Farm
Five acres of sunflowers make a persuasive reason to leave Lambertville’s galleries and cafés for the countryside. Bellemont Farm sits just outside the city’s busiest blocks, giving visitors an easy way to combine a morning of shopping or riverside walking with an afternoon among the flowers.
The field is large enough for wandering, while the festival format gives non-photographers plenty to do. The 2026 Lambertville Sunflower Festival is scheduled for weekends from August 15 through September 13, including the three-day Labor Day weekend.
Cut-your-own flowers are part of the experience, along with food trucks, live music, a beer garden, craft vendors, and family activities. The farm also promotes animal encounters such as a petting zoo and pony rides on festival days, making this one of the stronger choices for families with younger children.
Dress for the field rather than downtown Lambertville. Closed-toe shoes are a better bet than sandals, and a hat will be more useful than an elaborate photo outfit once the midday sun settles in.
Arriving close to opening usually means easier parking, cooler temperatures, and fewer people in the best photo spots. The ideal itinerary is not complicated: visit the sunflower field first, eat lunch from a vendor, then head into Lambertville for coffee, antiques, or a walk by the Delaware River.
Bellemont stands out because it can anchor a full day without demanding that every hour be spent on the farm. It is equal parts sunflower stop and convenient excuse for a Lambertville outing.
10. Timberline Farms
Homemade donuts change the mood of a flower-picking trip immediately. At Timberline Farms in Hammonton, they share top billing with a two-acre sunflower field, pasture-raised eggs, baked goods, handmade soap, and the easygoing feel of a small family operation.
Compared with New Jersey’s large festival farms, this one is intentionally compact and personal. The field holds more than 30,000 sunflowers and operates by reservation only, a system designed to keep crowd levels manageable.
The typical picking window runs from mid-July into August, but exact availability follows the bloom rather than a fixed calendar. Reservations are therefore essential, not merely a suggestion.
The farm’s regular public hours are limited, with Saturday hours listed from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., so double-check the picking appointment and market schedule before leaving home. The smaller scale is the attraction.
You can take your time choosing stems, photograph the rows without a festival crowd behind you, and still finish the visit before the hottest part of the afternoon. Bring a container that will keep the flowers upright in the car, particularly if you plan to stop elsewhere in Hammonton.
Do not leave without checking the bakery selection. A box of homemade donuts is a more useful souvenir than another decorative sign, and the eggs or soaps make good additions when available.
Timberline is ideal for anyone who finds hayrides, amplified music, and large vendor areas distracting. It proves that a memorable sunflower outing does not need acres of attractions—just healthy blooms, sensible reservations, and something excellent to eat afterward.