I took my niece to Modesto’s Dutch Hollow Farms on a $20 budget. Here’s what we did

The calendar says it’s spooky season, but this early October, heat is the scariest part of the month — for me, at least.

Usually, I’d be 20 caramel apple ciders and several already-rotting pumpkins deep by now and ready to buy a second round of them, but I was late to being early for the fall festivities this year.

Thursday, I decided it was finally time to go outside and celebrate the season. Just in time to experience the heat wave that fell in the middle of mild temperatures.

I wanted to take my niece to Dutch Hollow Farms for some corn mazin’ and pumpkin pickin’ fun. Selfishly, I wanted to go, too, because I had never been.

For a midweek activity, $20 sounded like a reasonable budget, so little Josie and I set out to see what all we could accomplish with that amount. My two sisters also joined (as seen in photos) but the budget was spent on the two of us. Here’s what we did:

Entrance and parking fees at Dutch Hollow Farms

Parking at the farm is free. The entrance to the lot is on Santa Fe Avenue.

I spent $13 for adult admission to visit the farm attractions. Josie is 2, so she got in free.

Pro tip: The best time to visit Dutch Hollow Farms is during the week before school gets out.

Visitors do not need to purchase an entrance wristband to visit the pumpkin patch and the photo props that are on the left side of the admission booth. To the right of the booth is the entrance to the attractions, and the price of wristbands varies by age and time of your visit:

• Monday-Thursday and Friday before 4 p.m. - $13

• Friday after 4 p.m. through Sunday - $15

• 65 and older with ID - $8

• Military - $8

• 2 and under - Free

• Season pass - $30

• Senior or military season pass - $22

Friday afternoon, Dutch Hollow Farms owner John Bos posted in a story on the company’s Instagram page that children with special needs also get free entrance at the farm.

We really could’ve gotten away with spending the $13 for entry and had more than enough fun for a day without spending more. Visitors can visit all of the free attractions as many times as they want and can stay at the farm as long as they wish, said “Farmer Laurie,” one of Dutch Hollow’s managers.

We stayed only an hour, because the heat eventually overpowered the fun. But we already have plans to go back when it cools down.

What we got for $20 at Dutch Hollow Farms in Modesto

I’m sure my niece would have stayed all day if we let her, but here’s what we accomplished in an hour with $20:

The first attraction you see when you walk through the paid admission side of the farm is the petting zoo. There’s a bucket of brushes outside the entrance gate that you can use to brush the sheep and goats.

From there, we walked through the Critter Barn, filled with calves, little ponies, chickens, peacocks and more, to the open field that has the rest of the attractions and photo ops.

I stopped by the “pumpkin cannons,” where you get to shoot three tennis balls for free. Visitors can purchase an additional bucket for $5. The cannons used to shoot pumpkins, but one of the farmers said the stems would make the pumpkins stick, so they switched to balls.

We then visited the corn pit, and I don’t know if Josie or I had more fun there. Think: ball pit but with thousands of dry corn kernels.

Fun game: How many kernels do you think are in the pit? Find a farmer to see if he or she has an idea!

Next, we took Josie down the Super Slide (they have two other slides on the farm). I’m admittedly afraid of heights, so I was on camera duty while my sister Kensey rode down with her.

The zip line was our next stop, and it’s way less intimidating than the ones that glide high in the air. Children of smaller sizes can be held on the seat and walked down the line.

After that, Josie wanted to walk through the hay maze. Then she spotted the bounce pad.

Josie is not one to pass up a photo op, so we hit a few of those on the way to the pumpkin patch — and back through the Critter Barn.

We spent the remainder of our money on pumpkins. We bought two mini pumpkins for $1.25 each (or 10/$10) and two pie pumpkins for $5 (or $3 each).

Full disclosure: We went 50 cents over budget in order to take advantage of the 2/$5 pie pumpkin deal.

The farm also has a variety of heirloom pumpkins and, of course, carving pumpkins. The price of those vary by size.

More to do at Dutch Hollow Farms

There are more than 20 attractions included with general admission. Some of the ones we didn’t visit are:

• Tug-o-war

• Tire dinosaur

• Trike track

• Tire slide

• Hamster wheels

• Wagon ride

• Corn maze

• Combine slide

• Duckie races

• Spider web

• Fall photo cut outs

• Games, including hopper balls

There are displays of old trucks and equipment that visitors can climb on and get in.

The farm has a vendor that comes on the weekends to do pony rides for a fee, which is determined by the vendor.

Gem mining is also a separate purchase. Prices vary between $5 and $45.

Tractor Land, where visitors can operate a tractor that doesn’t go anywhere but can spin and move dirt and water, costs $5 for five minutes.

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